Proyecto Erasmus

By signing the application for the Erasmus Charter, Higher Education our centre, confirms that the participation in the Program is part of its own European Modernization and Internationalization policy, recognizing the high value of mobility of students and staff and of European and /or international project cooperation.

We will develop strategic partnerships with foreign business using already established liaisons. We will also get in contact with Comenius participating centers so that they put us in contact with Vocational Training institutions in their countries with the aim of developing cooperation partnerships.

We are open to destination with any member state. However, due to the fact that we have already established cooperation contacts, we will build upon business contacts in the following countries: France, Germany and Greece.

We are also in contact with Vocational Learning Centers who have already established internship arrangements but in different specialties to ours, and are willing to contact their business partners to get a partner for us to get institutions for training.

The chamber of commerce and other official bodies can help us to find partners ideally interested in striving for excellence in mobility learning.

The José Ramón Otero Cooperative is immersed in the modernization of the school in line with European and International principles. In our strive to achieve quality excellence in teaching and learning we have been awarded with European Excellence Seal of Quality 400+ by EFQM.

For our institution, in line with European Modernization Agenda, it is of great importance to work towards the development of European citizenship sentiment. We will strongly work to create the sense of European citizenship in our students and staff.

All our exchanges will take place through strategic partnerships and following only prior agreements to guarantee an appropriate design of the program, full recognition of the achievements met, and ensuring learning curricular relevance by carefully drawing adequate mobility learning agreements.

We will aim at developing effective, quality mobility , and work to create a link among mobility students research and businesses.

As explained in question C3, C4 and C5 in this Application Form, we are commited to implement all procedures to prepare and monitor the mobility of students, as well as to develop key ways to improve and evaluate the mobility.

Regarding recognition of Credit transfer in the curriculum of the mobility student, we commit to ensure the efficient recognition of credits gained abroad and a consistent use of ECTS following European and Spanish legislation. Also, we will provide a Diploma Supplement as present in the European Qualification Scheme.

In our globalized new world, there are new opportunities for higher education students. However, the challenge is to provide the students with the tools to succeed in the new labor market environment. Introducing European Mobility Programs is essential to train students to understand the international and European business culture and new modes of working, living in other member states, thus developing key long life transferable skills.

In this context, our educational project strategically includes the implementation of mobility at the heart of our project of modernization within the European Principle of innovation and teaching/learning excellence and research. Actions to develop these principles include talks to motivate student participation in the programs and other European Union projects,publicize the program on our web site, or celebrating important days such as Europe´s Day.

Our centre is firmly compromised to carry out the implementation of Modernization, and internationalization of our institution, following the principles stated in the European Modernization agenda for higher education, putting quality and relevance learning of mobility at the core of all other actions.

International exchanging partners are key to the program. Partnership development is a prerequisite to mobility. Our center will allocate the necessary resources to develop such partnerships.

Partnerships will be chosen in terms of having similar degrees, contents, evaluating systems, etc. etc. as well as being committed to maximize the opportunity for mobility agreements and international cooperation projects. It is important that our partners consider relevance in learning an essential part of the modernization policy.

-We consider innovation as crucial in our training system and we thus are committed to promote innovation in the learning process . In this sense, we are members of the assotiation FPEmpresa, made up of more than one hundred Vocational Training institutions with the common objective of devising new ways of cooperation between Vocational Training Centres and businesses. FPEmresa manages a web page (www.fpempresa.com) which includes a job offer section, a training section, to communicate with other skateholders.

We also participate in innovation projects with businesses. We are currently immersed in a energy efficiency project with Artica Ltd. and the university of Montpellier.

We use an educational social network platform to improve comunication between students, staff can communicate better with each other, where students have all materials and exercise available at all times. We would like to expand this platform to contact European or international institutions to create an international cooperation project.

In addition , we also participate in a sustainable development and environmental project that could become and international cooperation. We would very much like to continue with it as an international cooperation projects.

-To increase the quality attainment levels for students and researchers, we promote a student-centered teaching methodology and encourage autonomous learning which helps the student to develop key transferable skills such as learning to commit to teamwork, leadership, willpower, cooperation and creativity competences.

To promote Vocational Training and associated degrees, we organize open days where students carry out profesional presentations of their work to the general public . In addition, we also encourage our students to prepare and participate in professional competitions.

Regarding the improvement of quality and relevance in our degrees, we offer and prepare the students to obtain international professional qualifications increase their employability.

In order to improve quality in higher education through mobility, we consider the following objectives as key:

-To ensure the high quality of placements,we will organize initial visits to the partner institution to make sure that facilities,their teaching methodologies and approach to training are in accordance to our needs. To agree on the terms of the learning agreement in detail.

-Participants will be selected following objective criteria (academic results, destination language proficiency,personal interview). Criteria and mechanisms will be published on our web site.

-If the applicant belongs to a lower socio-economic background and his/her obstacle is the economic factor, the center will facilitate the means of funding his/her mobility.

-The selected candidates will be given all information about his/her mobility and placement. They will also be given an orientation course covering cultural aspects, given psychological support, etc. Selected students will also undertake an intensive destination language course. Accomodation will be sorted before mobility in coordination with the partnerorganization. These same measures will be taken to incoming students.

In order to ensure the quality of the students´ assessment and final evaluation , we will develop a common assessment system where the tutor of the origin institution will be in contact with the tutor in the destination centre and with the student at least once every two weeks. Also, the student will fill in a document including the daily tasks completed. This document will be read by the tutors both in the sending and the receiving institution.

-At the end of the mobility period, both coordinators in the sending and receiving institution will ensure that the learning agreement is recognized.

-Students will also get a Europass supplement to their official final degree certificate.

-In order to promote the mobility of Erasmus Program,the student/staff returned form mobility Erasmus Program will share his/her experience among other students,to motivate other students/staff to participate in the Program.

In our institution, we participate in several projects that link education, research and businesses as explained above.