COMMIT project meeting
Investigating the contribution of lifelong to the social dimension of higher education HERC is the Irish partner and member of the Advisory Group in an EU suported project investigating the ways in which lifelong learning can contribute to the social dimension of higher education. Following an initial kick off meeting of the Advisory Group, the first full COMMIT project meeting was held in Barcelona from the 19-21 May 2014, hosted by the coordinating body, European Universities Continuing Education Network (EUCEN) (http://commit.eucen.eu/).
The keynote speech was given by Professor Ada Pellert, president of Berlin University for Professional Studies (BufPS) and Professor of educational management and organizational development. Ada’s particular expertise lies in change management, organization and personnel development, human resource management and leadership, quality and diversity management and life-long learning strategies. Her presentation dealt with the challenge of implementing a new mission in higher education institutions. In particular she examined the following aspects:
• The understanding of the issue of social dimension in BUfPS.
• The ways in which the social dimension issue is addressed at BUfPS, and the evaluation tools used.
• How might other institutions be encouraged to implement similar approaches?
• What might be done top-down and bottom up?
This input was followed by group workshops on the four tools that will be used during this project. The first three tools build on those developed by a previous project ALLUME. (A Lifelong Learning University Model for Europe, http://allume.eucen.eu/) Tool 1, is a self-analysis strategizing tool whose objective is to highlight five permanent guiding principles during the process, namely:
1. Understand, make explicit and share the rationale to change
2. Identify actors and agree on leadership to pilot the change
3. Get a sustainable commitment of the top and other actors
4. Use pertinent tools/techniques
5. Communicate on a recurrent and collaborative way
Tool 2 works on identifying and evaluating the institution’s current lifelong learning strategy. Once the strategy is mapped, it will be reviewed and 3 priorities for the medium term will be identified, which will then be analysed in more detail and for which an action plan will be produced.
Tool 3 was previously used by the ALLUME project and contains the 10 commitments from the EUA Lifelong charter.(http://www.ond.vlaanderen.be/hogeronderwijs/Bologna/ActionLines/documen…). The aim of the Charter was to help HEIs in identifying obstacles and facilitators in the pathway to become LLL Universities in their own reality and context. COMMIT will amend this tool with a focus on the Social Dimension, thus each of the commitments will help identify the HEIs’ contribution to their third mission.
Tool 4 intends to describe and define more clearly what is involved in the Social Dimension of HE, promoting strategies for a more comprehensive approach to LLL and to monitoring not just participation but also attainment levels.
Next steps: The tools will be distributed and filled in by relevant stakeholders in the partner institutions, which will be followed by a workshop/focus group so that the institutional response will be crystalized and a final document agreed upon. This document will be sent to the visiting partner prior to their arrival and will be discussed during their visit in meetings with institutional and external stakeholders. A series of bilateral visits will take place to review developments across partner institutions over the period June 2014-October 2014. The project runs to the 31st of May 2016.