The CHARM effect
On December 14, the eight rectors of the European University CHARM-EU gathered in Barcelona to sign the agreement formalizing the integration of three new partners. With CHARM-EIGHT, a new project funded to the tune of €12.8 million by the European Union, the alliance, which now brings together seven universities and one school, aims to expand its activities and thus benefit as many students as possible.
"If I had to sum up our objectives for the coming years in two words, I would say'transformative effect,'" says Gilles Subra, Professor UM and project manager for CHARM EU.CHARM-EIGHT is the largest project of the CHARM-EU alliance, the most structuring, the most emblematic."It is also the most heavily funded, with Europe granting €12.8 million to this European university alliance, which now includes eight partners thanks to the addition of Finland's Abo Akademi University, Germany's Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg, and Hochschule Ruhr West, also located in Germany.
A master's degree for experimentation
On December 14, the rectors of these eight institutions met in Barcelona to sign a new agreement, thereby demonstrating their commitment to fully implementing their plans following the successful trial of the joint master's degree program entitled "Global Challenges for Sustainable Development." "This European master's degree was not the goal of our alliance, but rather the means, the object that allowed us to experiment with collaboration in multiple fields, to propose a mode of governance, and to overcome the many barriers that exist when creating an alliance such as ours," explains Gilles Subra.
Sharing registration fees, issuing joint degrees, student and Professors mobility, accounting for teaching hours, managing shared funds... Many issues have indeed been put on the table. "The last two years have allowed us to learn to work together, to acquire not only intercultural skills but also confidence in each other's institutions. Now that these foundations have been laid, we will ensure that the alliance has a real impact," the teachercontinues .
Make a real impact
While around 70 students are currently enrolled in the first cohort of the European master's program, the CHARM-EIGHT project aims to reach at least 50% of those enrolled in the eight partner universities and schools. "This could be mobility, participation in a joint EU program or summer school, access to an internship—in short, all the opportunities that the CHARM-EU alliance can offer," explains Gilles Subra. New joint courses based on innovative teaching methods are also set to be introduced at bachelor's and master's level. Doctoral training will also benefit from the CHARM effect, with greater international openness and the development of interdisciplinary doctorates. As for the original European master's degree, it will be continued, enriched with new themes and probably open to apprenticeships.
CHARM-EIGHT also wants to reach out more broadly to teachers, Professors research professors. While there have been around 20 members of the master's teaching team, known as the " knowledge creative teams, " new "ambassadors" have been recruited from departments, schools, and institutes. "The idea is that they act as relays to activate the alliance whenever possible, thereby multiplying opportunities for their students and staff from all departments. This may involve, for example, identifying new recruitment pools for existing courses and internship locations, but also promoting mobility, including for university staff. Our aim is to foster and support all types of collaboration within the alliance, not only in terms of teaching, of course, but also in terms of research projects." Today, around fifteen teachers from different faculties are already actively involved in the various Charm work packages.
Enter normal operation
To achieve these objectives, the CHARM team plans to deploy staff within each department of the University of Montpellier. Specifically, personnel will soon be recruited as part of CHARM so that most departments will have an agent to work jointly on CHARM and UM projects. " We want CHARM to no longer be a separate project but to become a major structuring project aligned with the University's other projects, strengthening their international dimension and becoming part of normal operations," explains Gilles Subra. Given the diversity of objectives, we need to have agents in the communications department, the DIPA, the DFE, the DRED, the DSIN, etc."
Virtual offices, or joint virtual administrative offices, shared by the eight partners in the alliance, should also be set up to provide the various target audiences with a one-stop shop where they can submit their applications and ask questions. This formula has already been successfully tested as part of the CHARM master's program. "This virtual office is managed by staff from each university and functions as a single point of entry for all requests: registrations, mobility requests, student grades, and teacher hours tracking. It's something that works very well."
A strong identity
With this project, the CHARM-EU alliance is affirming more than ever the uniqueness of a strong identity built on values of inclusion, multiculturalism, interdisciplinarity, and accessibility for all. "We don't want the benefits of this alliance to be enjoyed only by a select few, a hand-picked elite. We are committed to showing that every student, regardless of their background, will be able to benefit from this new international campus."Courses will also soon be offered in different languages, not just English.
Partnerships between the alliance and other universities in South America and Africa will be developed as part of CHARM-EIGHT, for example with the University of Pretoria in South Africa. Finally, special attention will also be paid to the civic dimension with a work package led by the University of Montpellier and dedicated to relations with local authorities, civil society, associations, etc. "We want the CHARM-EU alliance to be a driving force for establishing an international network of privileged partnerships in all fields, connecting our campuses and our territories," concludes Gilles Subra.