- Launch of the Internationalisation at Home project, enabling the transformation of the University services
- “We want to transform the internal mentality and enable CEU UCH to become a truly internationalised institution,” says Merche Gimeno, Head of the International Relations Office
Raising awareness among the service and administration staff of the CEU Cardenal Herrera University’s internationalisation process and encouraging the development of intercultural projects at the different student services: these are the aims of the training sessions provided by the International Relations Office.
Merche Gimeno, who leads the International Relations Office, and Pia Mahmoudi are both qualified trainers in Systemic University Change Towards Internationalisation (SUCTI, a European project). They have now begun internationalisation training for the administrative staff who work at the different student services and faculties.
The aim is for each University service to launch its own Internationalisation at Home project in 2021-2022
“The service and administrative staff are the backbone of any university, and if they are persuaded of the importance of internationalisation and the added value it can provide, then they can become real change agents,” Merche Gimeno said. “This is the way that they can make a crucial contribution to the overall aim, which is to transform the internal mentality and enable CEU UCH to become a truly internationalised institution, improving student satisfaction with the University’s services.”
The “Our University and Internationalization: the reality and intercultural projects” course is providing the service and administrative staff with the knowledge and skills needed for the internationalization process. It is a training opportunity which has the potential to make a major impact, as it enables the staff to learn about what Internationalization at Home is and what the University is doing with regard to internationalization, intercultural communication, culture shock and cultural stereotypes. All this forms part of the project to internationalize the University’s student services.
