Tempus ALIGN - Ukraina site visits - Taras Shevchenko National University webpage!

Here's a link (from Olga Yamkova) on Taras Shevchenko National University's website (all in Ukrainian), discussing our recent Tempus ALIGN site visit...

http://univ.kiev.ua/news/7855
http://vnz.org.ua/novyny/podiyi/9318-u-kyyivskomu-natsionalnomu-universyteti-imeni-tarasa-shevchenka-tryvae-realizatsija-proektu-tempus-align

panel arrives at the university (image from Vladimir Zaslavskiy)

panel at Museum Village outside Kyiv - Olga, DQ, Hyland, Iryna, Vladimir, Stefania

(image from Vladimir Zaslavskiy)

panel at Museum Village outside Kyiv -  Hyland, Iryna, Stefania, DQ, Vladimir

(image from Vladimir Zaslavskiy)

Tempus ALIGN site visits - Ukraina - Khmelnitskiiy!

The 9th and 10th of June saw us conducting Tempus ALIGN site visits in Khmelnitskiiy University. Two programmes 'Cybernetics' and 'Applied Mathematics' were peer reviewed, again from a developmental rather than an accreditation perspective. Thanks to our great friends Svitlana and Pavlo Grigoryuk from Khmelnitskiiy for looking after us during our trip! Especially interesting was our tour to Medzhybizh Fort, where Baal Shem Tov died in 1760. Thanks also to the members of our Khmelnitskiiy peer review panel - especially Hanna, Laryssa, Roman, Iryna Romanets as well as our core panel Stefania, Liza Sozinova and I, again expertly chaired by Paul Hyland!



Khmelnitskiiy University, with its relative proximity to Moldova, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland, is uniquely placed to take advantage of the international and mobility opportunities which will be presented over the coming years as education in Ukraina moves towards closer alignment with Europe's Bologna Process.

Kyiv (en route for Khmelnitskiiy) - Paul signs Letters of Invitation

five and a half hour bus to Khmelnitskiiy

Khmelnitskiiy

Museum Restaurant in Khmelnitskiiy

Khmelnitskiiy - meet the Rector

Khmelnitskiiy - Panel meets the Rector

Khmelnitskiiy - Medzhybizh Fort - gateway

Khmelnitskiiy - Medzhybizh Fort - Julia, guide, Alla, Olena

Khmelnitskiiy - Medzhybizh guided tour

Khmelnitskiiy - city tour - Liza, Stefania, Pavlo, Olena, Alla

Khmelnitskiiy - city tour - playground

Khmelnitskiiy - official meal

Khmelnitskiiy - Sergei, Pavlo and Svitlana wave us away! Next stop Taras Shevchenko, Kyiv.

Tempus ALIGN site visits - Ukraina - Sumy

Monday the 6th and Tuesday 7th of June saw us conducting Tempus ALIGN site visits in Sumy State University. Two programmes 'Computational Mechanics' and 'Management of Organisations and Administration' were peer reviewed, but from a developmental rather than an accreditation perspective. Thanks to our great friend and colleague Kostyantyn Kyrychenko from Sumy State for looking after us royally during our work! And thanks to all the members of our Sumy peer review panel - especially Iryna Skliar, Julia, Dasha, Michael, as well as our core panel members Stefania, Liza Sozinova and I, expertly chaired by Paul Hyland!

Sumy State University is working hard against geographical and regional challenges to take advantage of the international and mobility opportunities which will be presented over the coming years as education in Ukraina moves towards closer alignment with Europe's Bologna Process. Kostyantyn and his team are to be commended on their efforts!

sumy - Konstantin's picnic on the minibus journey to Sumy

sumy - Konstantin's picnic

sumy - hyland and konstantin

sumy - great patriotic war memorial

sumy - konstantin's guided tour - graveyard

sumy - konstantin as guide

sumy - konstantin's guided tour

sumy - konstantin, hyland, vlodimir and stefania

sumy - two vice rectors and konstantin

sumy - hyland explains the panel

Sumy - the peer panel group shot (from Liza Sozinova)

Sumy - o grady's irish pub - yes, an Irish pub in Sumy!

sumy - train to kyiv

sumy - train to kyiv - window 

sumy - train to kyiv - hyland and konstantin

sumy - train to kyiv - conductor

Tempus MAHATMA in Tbilisi

Thanks to the Tempus MAHATMA project team for inviting me to address their Dissemination conference in Tbilisi last week on the IBUS (International Black Sea University) campus! I was responsible for an 'inter-project coaching session', describing the crossovers between Tempus ALIGN and Tempus MAHATMA. Feeling very envious of the MAHATMA participants - their 4 year Tempus project and their hard work is almost at an end, with great success - 8 MA programmes in Education Management up and running!

Tempus MAHATMA banner

Tempus MAHATMA Conference kickoff - discussions on their Journal

Tempus MAHATMA banner

DQ does 'inter project coaching'

DQ does 'inter project coaching'

Group shot

Waiting for the bus - IBUS campus

George and Cristianu - IBUS campus

Gabridze's Puppet Theatre Clocktower - Tbilisi 

Tbilisi Centre

Tara Moves Onwards and Upwards!

Thursday the 19th of November 2015 saw Dr. Tara Ryan moving on from IADT (after 4 years) to become Registrar at Hibernia College. Whilst delighted for Tara in her new job, we're naturally sad to be losing such a valuable human being in IADT. We relied on Tara as an energetic and inventive, student-centred resource. My partnership with Tara began when we started working together (from October 2013) on the Tempus ALIGN project - Tara singlehandedly steered the project's Work Package 1 through with enormous effort and rigour. We all learned from her.

Tara is not gone far away and my two promises to her were that I'd visit her in her new Hibernia office as soon as she was settled in AND that I was determined to work with her again very soon! The best of luck to you Madame!

Thanks to David Doyle for the photographs of the going away party!

Miss Ryan in full flight - picture by David Doyle

Tara, Andrew, looking mischievous with a knife, Laura and Annie - picture by David Doyle

 Barry Dig and Tara - picture by David Doyle

NCPA and Tempus ALIGN Dissemination Conference - Moskva

Arrived back on Sunday from the First Dissemination Tempus Conference in Moscow, November 13-14, organised by Anna Tarasova's NCPA team. The conference 'gathered the widest possible expert, academic, professional and student communities from Russia, Armenia, Ukraine and EU countries: Belgium, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Poland. There were over 160 participants (64 of them were ALIGN project partners).

The conference lasted for two days and was hosted in Moscow State Pedagogical University. The first day presentations dealt with issues around the main conference theme ‘Enhancing the quality and relevance of students’ learning experience’. Tempus ALIGN held a 'coordination' meeting in the afternoon.

On the second day, participants split into three working sessions:

1.      Writing and Using Good Learning Outcomes for Quality Progression of Students
2.      Tools and Mechanisms for Assessing Students’ Leaning Outcomes
3.      Achieving Excellence in Higher Education through Quality Assurance

Bath Spa's Paul Hyland and Inna Pomorina gave an excellent and inspirational closing workshop on 'Student Centred Learning'. Thanks to all!

Conference Opening Address

Conference Room

ALIGN coordination meeting

ALIGN coordination meeting room

NCPA conference - DQ with Ukrainian students and Liza Sozinova

Moskva - metro map

Moskva - traffic

Moskva - climb to Red Square

Moskva - Lenin Mausoleum

Moskva - Gum Department Store

Moskva - Red Square

Moskva Conference NCPA webpage

http://ncpa.ru/index.php?lang=en

Moskva - Shermetyovo - ice on wing