Strategy, objectives and priorities for Erasmus activities

Saimaa University of Applied Sciences acts as an active partner in the field of European higher education participating in student and staff mobility programs. The cooperation with existing Erasmus partners will be deepened and expanded and special emphasis will be made on new EU member states when looking for new partners.

During the previous Socrates programs staff mobility has concentrated in teaching and networking. During the new LLL period (2007-2013) in addition to teaching Saimaa University of Applied Sciences will produce joint research and development projects with Erasmus partners.

Saimaa University of Applied Sciences will increase the number of bilateral Erasmus agreements 30 % mainly with new EU member states. Accordingly the number of incoming and outgoing students and staff will increase.

The key areas in which the cooperation will be activated in the field of engineering are paper technology; information technology and civil engineering.

In the field of business administration the focus of attention is the economic cooperation between EU and Russia. In the International Business Program there is a specialisation option in Russian Trade, which might be interesting to our European partners.

The demand of health care and social services is increasing in Finland as well as in other countries. The yearly intake of students will increase in the near future which creates pressure to expand the network of European institutions of higher education.

In the faculty of tourism and hospitality the new degree program in English gives the groundwork for international mobility. Especially placement abroad is recommended to the students of the faculty.

The faculty of fine arts and design will find some new partners among new EU members.

In addition to quantitative objectives there are also qualitative aspects. Through the staff mobility teachers can expand their professional knowledge, become familiar with different cultures, meet with European colleagues and this way create possibilities for joint research and development projects.

Curricula are developed with partners in order to make the process of planning and recognition of studies abroad easier and more realistic.