Shanghai Declaration on Universitas 21 Student Mobility

Purpose

This Declaration, made on behalf of the Universities whose Presidents have executed it as set out below, affirms the commitment of the members of Universitas 21 to promote international collaboration through the establishment of the Student Mobility Network.  The Declaration builds on the strong support expressed for student mobility at the Vancouver 2003 Meeting of Universitas 21 Presidents and Managers.

 Background

1. Universitas 21 was established as an international network of leading research-intensive universities to facilitate innovation through collaboration and co-operation in global learning, research and higher education and to create entrepreneurial opportunities.  It is the expectation of the members of Universitas 21  that these initiatives will be on a scale that no single member can achieve operating independently or through traditional bilateral alliances.
    
2. The members of Universitas 21 have agreed that Student Mobility Programmes are an important activity through which international engagement can be fostered by providing enhanced opportunities for students to complete or complement a portion of their studies at their home university through a period of study at another university within the Universitas 21 network.
    
3. In promoting student mobility programmes the members of Universitas 21 are seeking both to increase opportunities for students to participate in traditional exchange programmes and to develop new approaches to student mobility that will extend the range of international mobility activities available to undergraduate and post graduate and research students.
    
4. Members of Universitas 21 have appointed Student Mobility Officers who, in collaboration with their respective Universitas 21 Managers, have responsibility for the successful implementation of Student Mobility Programmes.
    
5. The members of Universitas 21 have appointed a Universitas 21 Student Mobility Coordinator to strengthen the network’s Student Mobility Officers, raising awareness within Universitas 21 members of student mobility programmes and thereby contributing to an increased level across the Universitas 21 network.

 Operative Provisions

We, the Presidents of the member universities of Universitas 21 hereby agree to establish a Universitas 21 Student Mobility Network, the objectives of which are to: 

• Enhance the quality of the “university experience” afforded to students of Universitas 21 members through providing increased opportunities for international engagements and global citizenship through student mobility  programmes with partner Universitas 21 members;
   
• Increase the numbers of students from Universitas 21 members participating in student exchanges and extend the range of student mobility initiatives beyond traditional exchange programmes.;
   
• Foster innovative approaches to traditional mobility activities and develop additional mobility initiatives thereby contributing over time to the development of a distinctive and differentiated Universitas 21 Student Mobility Programme;
   
• Promote increased levels of student participation in high quality global learning through the identification and sharing of good practices within the Universitas 21 network.

We, the Presidents of member universities of Universitas 21 seek to pursue these objectives through a variety of student mobility activities which include, but are not limited to: 

• Undergraduate and postgraduate student exchanges
• Universitas 21 terms abroad
• Research higher/doctoral student mobility programmes
• Short term training and study tours and international engagement activities, including the Universitas 21 Summer School and the Universitas 21 Undergraduate Research Conference.
• Virtual exchange opportunities afforded by e-learning across Universitas 21 members
• Other collaborative engagement activities, such as participation in jointly developed and flexibly delivered award course programmes which include mobility options, on international issues and global citizenship

In pursuit of the objectives we have specified for the Universitas 21 Student Mobility Network, we, the Presidents of the member universities of Universitas 21, commit our respective universities, within the capacity of the resources available for such purposes, to implement the strategies and achieve the targets as set out below:

1.      Undergraduate student exchanges

1.1.  To increase by the end of 2010 the number of undergraduate students participating annually in student exchanges by 150%.

1.2.  To broaden access for incoming students to academic programmes, to the extent practicable within the structure and places available in those programmes;

1.3.  To facilitate timely access to information about host university academic requirements and availability of places;

1.4.  To authorise the admission of incoming students on the basis of their nomination by their home university, subject to their meeting any course prerequisites and the availability of places for the courses in which they are seeking to enrol;

1.5.  To seek to reduce reliance on bilateral agreements as a means of arranging student exchanges through the development of multilateral alternatives, including a possible Universitas 21-wide undergraduate student exchange multilateral, clearing house approach to increase the number of qualified students undertaking a period of exchange.

 2.      Other student mobility activities

2.1.  To increase by the end of 2010 the number of research higher degree/doctoral students participating in an exchange programme with another Universitas 21 university to at least 30 a year for each Universitas 21 member;

2.2.  To increase by the end of 2010 the number of students participating in other student mobility activities by 150%;

2.3.  To encourage all faculties within their respective universities to collaborate on creating Universitas 21 student mobility opportunities appropriate to their discipline.

 3.      Support for Student Mobility

3.1.  To promote and support to the fullest extent practicable other Universitas 21 initiatives, such as the Universitas 21 Summer School and the Universitas 21 Undergraduate Research Conference, joint curriculum on Global Issues, that both provide enhanced opportunities for student mobility and international engagements and contribute to the recognition for international innovation to which Universitas 21 aspires.

3.2.  Within the resources available to each university, to provide financial assistance, including where appropriate, scholarships and bursaries, that will assist all qualified students, regardless of their financial circumstance, to seek participation in Universitas 21 student mobility activities;

3.3.  To provide incoming students participating in Universitas 21 mobility programmes with accurate and relevant advice about academic programmes and the student life they will be experiencing within our universities;

3.4.  To record, in a manner appropriate to the practices in place within each respective university, details of participation in Universitas 21 mobility programmes on the academic records of individual students;

3.5.  To promote within each of our universities the academic, cultural and social benefits of Universitas 21 student mobility activities to students, faculty and the wider community.

 4.      Management of Student Mobility

4.1.  To develop mechanisms and collaborate on protocols for their implementation for monitoring, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the outcomes of Universitas 21 student mobility activities and their contribution to the broader aims of Universitas 21;

4.2.  To participate in an annual review and contribute to an annual report to the Annual Meeting of Universitas 21 Presidents on student mobility activities and to conduct an audit of Universitas 21 Student Mobility Network in 2009;

4.3.  To support a suitably qualified officer within each of our universities to be the Universitas 21 Student Mobility Officer to collaborate with the Universitas Student Mobility Officer and our respective Universitas 21 Managers on the implementation of the strategies and targets set out in this declaration.

SIGNED as a true record of agreement reached by the Presidents of participating Universities at the Annual Meeting of Universitas 21 in Shanghai, April 2005.

For a pdf version of this declaration, click here