UCPH delegation visits two Canadian partners

A delegation of administrative staff and academics working with internationalization of education at UCPH visited University of British Columbia (UBC) and University of Victoria (UVic) in October. During the 3-day visit, UBC and UVic shared their perspectives on international engagement and strategic development with the UCPH delegation. Among other things, the delegation was very inspired by the way Canadian institutions work with Cooperative Education (Co-op).

The presentations about the federal Co-op programmes at UBC and UVic gave great insight into how to incorporate paid internships in students’ individual study plans in order for students to acquire work experience in parallel to their degree programme. Although it will not be possible to copy the programme directly into the Danish system, it gave the delegation ideas of how to work more closely with companies and to think differently about internships.

Visiting UBC and UVic also started discussions about increased mobility and cooperation in the future. UCPH and UVic are planning to extend the existing agreement to include Law, and UBC and UCPH will look into summer-school exchange. UCPH and UBC will also apply for Erasmus+ funds for mobility including both students and faculty.

Meeting UCPH students abroad

Meeting students from the University of Copenhagen currently on exchange at UBC and UVic gave the delegation insight into how the students experience their stay in Canada. Full of energy and enthusiasm, they let the delegation know what they are learning from the different educational cultures, teaching methods, courses and campus life.

Learning from ourselves by travelling together

As with previous partner visits, the UCPH delegation returned home full of inspiration. The visits, however, have also taught us the value of travelling together as one university across faculties, academics and professionals.

We would also like to emphasize the value of these special university visits, which truly support the basis of not only creation of international, but also inter-faculty collaborations (Marta Andhov, Assistant Professor, Head of Education for the International LL.M. program, Faculty of Law).

These visits provide the opportunity to meet colleagues across disciplines and faculties in a different context and setup and they create a space where impressions and input can be discussed. A space that somehow can be difficult to create in our everyday work lives.

Previous visits

UCPH delegations of administrative and academic staff have previously visited our “Super Partners”, the University of Toronto, the University of Sydney and the National University of Singapore. In addition to new knowledge within the areas of educational portfolio, employability and internationalization, the visits have also increased the numbers of exchange students.