Erasmus Policy Statement (EPS)

The Institution agrees to publish this overall strategy (all three parts) on its website within one month after the signature of the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education by the European Commission.
Please describe your institution's international (EU and non-EU) strategy. In your description please explain
 
a)how you choose your partners,
b) in which geographical area(s) and
c) the most important objectives and target groups of your mobility activities (with regard to staff and students in first, second and third cycles,including study and training, and short cycles). If applicable, also explain how your institution participates in the development of double/multiple/joint degrees. (max. 5000 characters)

Internationalization is one of the top five strategic areas of priorities for İzmir University of Economics, which is the first foundation university in İzmir and the Aegean region. For IUE, objectives and activities about “internationalization” strategic area of priority are as follows: To make sure that academic programs of İzmir University of Economics are internationally recognized and accredited; to increase and develop international collaborations, make them more active and participative and maintain them for a long time; to train graduates who have a “global” point of view in both their personal and professional lives.

İzmir University of Economics places great emphasis on internationalization, which is also mentioned in detail in our Strategic Plan and with this goal in mind strong relations have been formed with distinctive universities around the world for student and faculty exchange, joint research and scientific studies. In the framework of Erasmus program, IUE has 104 bilateral agreements with universities around Europe and 27 academic cooperation protocols around the world. By means of these agreements, both the students and staff of IUE efficiently take part in mobility activities and the number of participants are increasing year by year. IUE tries to construct strong ties with international institutions in different areas to increase quality of education offered and equip the graduates with a global way of thinking.

Since 2009, IUE has been active in joining academic and research networks. 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 a vast range of partners within a large selection of projects, collaborating. IUE is currently a member of EUA (European Universities Association), CMU (Community of Mediterranean Universities), Magna Charta Universitatum, IAU (International Association of Universities), Nice Network, CEEMAN, United Nations Global Compact, and World Tourism Organization. Another point on which IUE focuses on deeply is to create an international teaching and studying environment. For this reason, steps have been taken to increase the number of international students and qualified international faculty. According to the statistics gathered by Higher Education Council of Turkey in 2012, IUE is one of the leading four Universities in Turkey in terms of the number of foreign faculty members employed. IUE has also been active in international student recruitment. For this purpose, IUE is offering an EXPO scholarship to promote the candidacy of Izmir for the Expo World Fair. IUE has had a presence at student fairs in carefully selected countries for the last two years. These efforts resulted in an increase in the full time international student body.

IUE currently has international students from 47 countries including Panama, Sierra Leone, Togo, Grenada, Azerbaijan, Georgia, USA, Germany, Serbia, Montenegro among others. IUE is working hard to get all academic programs in our university to be accredited by international accreditation organizations proving that education offered at IUE is internationally recognized. In this respect, IUE strictly follows the updates on the Bologna Process and adapts new implementations according to the recent curriculum. As a result of this punctual tracking of current trends, IUE was awarded with Diploma Supplement Label (DS Label) in 2010 and European Credit Transfer System Label (ECTS Label) in 2011 both of which are indicators of excellence in education offered in a more transparent and transferable system. At departmental level, each academic unit is deeply working on acquiring accreditation from international organizations. IUE also places great emphasis on exchange programs for students and staff in creating an international environment.

Erasmus program has been an important part of the exchange programs and the demand of both students and staff is increasing year by year. To support the mobility activities, IUE Office of International Affairs promotes the programs by organizing information sessions, presentations, face-to-face meetings and other social events. Apart from the impact of exchange programs, IUE tries to develop dual diploma programs with universities abroad in various fields. Currently, IUE has 7 dual diploma programs mutually conducted with 4 campuses of State University of New York (SUNY), USA in the areas of Computer and Software Engineering, Public Relations, Business Administration, Economics, Psychology, and Culinary Arts and Management. There is also a dual diploma program at master’s level conducted with University of Abertay Dundee in the area of Computer Games. IUE is working on new models of dual diploma and joint programs in niche areas to respond to the demands of regional and international markets.

If applicable, please describe your institution's strategy for the organisation and implementation of international

(EU and non-EU) cooperation projects in teaching and training in relation to projects implemented under the

Programme. (max. 2000 characters)

In order to strengthen EU and non-EU partnerships, the university tries to facilitate and coordinate applying, planning and submitting applications for international projects.Since internationalization is one of the strategic targets of IUE, increasing possibilities for networking and cooperation is crucial. For this end, IUE assumes its responsibilities in the best way it can relating to organization and implementation of both national and international projects. With the purpose of effectively coordinating those projects from a central office, named as the Project Development and Technology Transfer Office was established in 2010 with a mission to advance the research capacity of the university by encouraging and supporting faculty,staff and students in the acquisition and administration of internally and externally funded projects. The ultimate aim is to help turning scientific and technological developments into social and economic benefits for the society while increasing the application and the dissemination of knowledge. To serve this aim, the office develops policies for the effective administration of research activities within the university and maintains their implementation in a coordinated way.

All scientific research projects that are carried out by the academic units, research and application centers of the university, are supervised and controlled by this office. In addition, the Project Development and Technology Transfer Office organizes seminars, meetings and sessions to inform our academic staff and students about various European and international cooperation projects and, thus, tries to increase awareness about the importance of getting involved in those projects either as a partner or coordinator. To that end, the research areas of all our academic staff are listed in database and that list is widely circulated in several European/international research networks to increase the IUE’s participation in international projects.

Please explain the expected impact of your participation in the Programme on the modernisation of your institution (for each of the 5 priorities of the Modernisation Agenda*) in terms of the policy objectives you intend to achieve. (max. 3000 characters)

İzmir University of Economics has been participating in Lifelong-Learning Programs since 2004,when we first received the Erasmus University Charter(Erasmus Extended University Charter in 2007).Since then,IUE properly conducted student and staff mobility activities within the framework of the program and these mobility activities contributed a lot to the quality of education and internationalization of IUE. 
 
As the mission of IUE is to educate and equip qualified students with leadership attributes,entrepreneurial capabilities,critical thinking skills and the ability to contribute valuable research in a variety of areas,IUE continuously looks for opportunities to serve for this aim.In this respect,providing the graduates and researchers needed globally and regionally, IUE adopted to be a research-oriented university and formed the institutional Strategic Plan by defining certain areas of priority which are:Research,Orientation,Differentiation in Education,Institutionalization,Contribution to Regional Development and Progress,and Internationalization.In order to improve the quality of higher education IUE adheres to the promotion of the European dimension in higher education,particularly with regard to curricular development,inter-institutional cooperation, mobility schemes and integrated programs,training and research,closely pursuing all components of the Bologna Process to contribute to the enhancement of the European Higher Education Area.As a result of successful conduction of Bologna Process, IUE has been awarded with ECTS Label,which is a proof of excellence in higher education,by European Commission in 2011.To move further on and strengthen quality,IUE eagerly participates in activities under the Program and focuses strictly on internationalization.For an efficient integration and participation,IUE develops cross-border cooperation with universities and institutions abroad in the areas of education and research.Currently,IUE has 104 Erasmus bilateral agreements with European universities and 27 academic protocols with non-European countries.In this framework,the number of students and staff participating in mobility activities significantly increased in the last couple of years as well as the mobility grants provided by the European Commission.

In order to serve both regionally and internationally,IUE links higher education, research and business for excellence and regional development. As a proof for this,“Izmir Science Park” was established with the collaboration of total of 16 institutions,under the leadership of Izmir University of Economics and Izmir Chamber of Commerce.İzmir Science Park will be a techno park that is open to all kinds of research and development,informatics,and software activities.There will be studies on sustainable energy,sustainable agriculture,and seed improvement,hi-tech food technologies,sustainable energy and related technologies, geothermal energy,wind energy,solar energy,wave energy,and bio fuel technologies.