Erasmus Policy Statement (EPS)

Izmir University of Economics was established by the Izmir Chamber of Commerce Education and Health Foundation in 2001. It is the first foundation university in İzmir and the Aegean region. IUE places “internationalization” among top strategic areas for development and takes actions periodically to reach the defined targets. Under the theme of “global visibility”, objectives for internationalization have been specified in detail in our 10-year Strategic Plan 2013-2023 and the means of achieving these goals have been operated with relevant stakeholders. The objectives set by IUE for “global visibility” are listed below:

• To include global issues and views in curriculum and create awareness,
• To support international exchange programs and international collaborations that will gather students and academics on a global level,
• To promote internationalization and increase the rate of international faculty and students,
• To promote implementation and participation in research activities focused on globalization.

Supporting and developing international exchange programs to create a global teaching and learning environment for all is one of the key objectives of internationalization. In this respect, participation in Erasmus+ program plays a vital role to access IUE’s target of creating opportunities for international mobility that leads the road to “global visibility”.

Since its establishment in 2001, IUE provides high quality education with its esteemed academic staff. The university administration invests in projects and services specifically designed for better educational and professional opportunities accessible for everyone with different educational, social, cultural, and financial backgrounds. In the framework of its fundamental approach to higher education, IUE’s basic features fully correspond with the key objectives of education defined by “European Education Area”. This similarity is more visible when we consider the facts that IUE:

• Offers all academic programs in English,
• Provides compulsory second foreign language education,
• Extends its national and international institutional networks to enable an international experience for its stakeholders so that they will have the opportunity to grow  a “global citizen identity”,
• Uses European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) that can be transferred and recognized across all EU and partner countries (IUE is the first foundation university in Turkey to be awarded ECTS Label in 2011).
• Invests in the digital and distance education with the most up-to-date technical infrastructure (IUE has the first smart campus of Turkey).
• Provides financial support to national and international students to make higher education accessible to everyone.

When it is elaborated deeply on the priorities of European Education Area such as recognition and, digital skills, it can easily be seen that IUE takes actions targeting similar preferences. As for recognition, IUE follows the latest trends in the Bologna Process and provides high quality and transparent education which can easily be transferred to the European or non-European educational systems. In addition, IUE provides full recognition for the mobility programs as for digital skills, IUE uses the latest technological infrastructure and methods to equip students with digital competencies. Uniquely, IUE has the first smart campus of Turkey giving students the chance to follow classes online by means of Blackboard and Panopto systems. IUE Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) also provides training to both students and staff to develop their digital skills. Especially, during the time of pandemic of new Covid-19, IUE easily switched to distance education with its smart campus infrastructure without searching for any other solution. IUE has transferred 1,687 sections to distance education in the Spring 2020 semester with the start of the pandemic.

Considering all these features, it is obvious that participation in Erasmus program contributes to ongoing modernisation of IUE in terms of creating an effective platform and tool for international mobility and global visibility which in turn helps participants display their personal and professional skills in a different language and culture.

IUE first started Erasmus program in 2004-2005 academic year. After the renewal of our extended Erasmus charter in 2013, IUE continued participating in Erasmus mobility activities intensively. To benefit from the opportunities offered by Erasmus program at the highest level, IUE developed strong relations with distinctive universities around the world for student-faculty exchange, joint research and scientific studies. In the framework of Erasmus program, IUE has 175 bilateral agreements with universities around Europe and 35 academic cooperation protocols around the world. Since 2004, 1000+ IUE students participated in Erasmus mobility for studies and traineeships. In addition, IUE hosted approximately 1000 students from international partner universities. By means of these international collaborations and exchange programs, both students and staff of IUE efficiently take part in mobility activities and the number of participants has been on the rise over the years. The strong ties with international institutions in different areas help IUE increase the quality of education offered and equip the graduates with a global way of thinking.

IUE partners with international institutions not only for student/staff mobility activities but also for joint research projects. Pursuing the guidance of IUE Project and Technology and Transfer Office, IUE faculty members, academic departments, and research centres frequently take part in national and international research projects to contribute to scientific developments and encourage exchange of knowledge about global issues. In this respect, IUE has been active in joining international academic and research networks such as EUA, CMU, IAU, NICE Network, WTO, IBSEN Network, EMUNI etc. Memberships to these networks not only helps IUE get its name across borders but also gives its faculty members the chance to work together with their colleagues around the world by sharing experience.

In addition to all, IUE focuses deeply on internationalization at home as well. Aiming to create a multi-cultural teaching and studying environment, IUE tries to increase the number of international students and qualified international faculty year by year. While attending conferences about international education (EAIE etc.) serves for expanding international network, IUE supports an increase in international population on campus by participating in international student recruitment fairs/events as promotional activities.

IUE has international students from 45 countries studying in first cycle, second cycle, and third cycle academic programs. Additionally, we either have international faculty members or faculty members with international academic/professional experience. IUE’s conducting Erasmus student and staff mobility strongly supports the international atmosphere on campus by creating the multi-cultural environment desired.

IUE is working intensely to get all academic programs to be accredited by international accreditation organizations. In addition to current accreditations held (such as ACCA, MÜDEK, İLEDAK) academic departments at IUE use their resources to be recognized by relevant authorities/institutions to prove the excellence in education offered in a transparent and transferable system.

Apart from developing exchange programs, IUE works on new models of dual/joint degree programs with universities abroad in various fields in order to increase international teaching/studying activities as well as responding to the demands of regional and international markets in niche areas. Erasmus Mundus program works well for this significant target of IUE.