1. Bologna Conference on Student Mobility
Bologna and the internationalization of higher education:
risks and opportunities
for the Louvain School of Engineering
Marc Lobelle

2. Contents
Traditional student mobility in the Louvain School of Engineering
« Bologna » induced changes in student mobility practices
Un projet en cours: Dual masters
Le problème des langues: nouvelles initiatives
D'autres pistes possibles
Discussion

3. Traditional student mobility in Louvain School of Engineering
ERASMUS/SOCRATES mobility
1 year in 4th
1 term in 5th (courses or final work)‏
TIME Double Degrees
6 year study program, including 2 years in another TIME institution
2 different engineering degrees from 2 universities (or French Grandes Ecoles).
Most attractive destinations for our students:
Ecole Centrale Paris: 2+2+2
Supaéro: 4+2

4. Traditional student mobility in Louvain School of engineering(2)‏

5. Traditional student mobility in EPL (3)‏
Going to ( )‏

6. Traditional student mobility in Louvain School of Engineering (4)‏
Coming from ( )‏

7. Changes induced by the « Bologna » scheme
no more 5 year integrated stydy program in engineering
bachelor (3 years)‏
master (2 years)
Traditional mobility : horizontal mobility
The student goes and comes back
New possible mobility: vertical mobility
The student goes away for his master and does not come back

8. Changes induced by the « Bologna » scheme (2)‏
Principle of vertical mobility:
good students do their master degree in the best institutions for the (sub) orientation they have selectedl
Opportunity and risk:
Opportunity: attract good students from other institutions after the bachelor degree targets: best students in « weaker » universities students interested in our fields of excellence (even in « strong » universities)‏
Risk: our good students might leave us after getting their bachelor degree when our fileds of excellence do not match what they are looking for or if they find even better somewhere else target: our own best students

9. Changes induced by the « Bologna » scheme (3)‏
The challenge:
exploit opportunities and reduce risks
develop our attractivity
Two ways to improve our attractiveness
Dual masters
Accessibility for non French speaking people
(without frightening the French speaking people)‏
+, of course, communicate

10. two (good) institutions set up a
Dual masters
Principle of the « dual master »:
two (good) institutions set up a
common program
Strenghten the strong points (broader choice of advanced courses)‏
Provide more subdomains of excellence
Give an international dimension to the program (or inter-regional)‏
Typically one year in each institution
Students get 2 degrees from the two institutions
The degrees are clearly linked: single pre-established program
Differences with TIME “double degree”
Same field of study in both institutions vs different fields (complementary) (computing/computing) vs (computing/aeronautics)‏
Integrated program vs concatenated programs
No lengthening of studies vs 1 more year

11. Dual masters (2)‏ Practical issues
One year here and one year at the partner (usually in any order)‏
Registration and fees in the home university
Open for students coming from third institutions (they register wher they spend the 1st year)‏
Like in ERASMUS/SOCRATES, exchanges must be balanced

12. TWO DEGREES (but clearly linked to each other)‏
Dual masters (3)‏
Differences with traditional ERASMUS scheme
(e.g. one year exchange in 4th study year)‏
Fulfill the requirements of the 2 instrtutions and not only of the home institution
structured program,
cset-up jointly by the partner institutions
TWO DEGREES (but clearly linked to each other)‏

13. Dual masters (4)‏
With whom ?
Other CLUSTER institutions
KULeuven
Clemson, ...,
Developping countries ?

14. Dual masters (5)‏ Programs starting in 2008
Cluster:
Barcelona (UPC): Computing, Telecom
Lisbon (IST): Telecom
Stockholm (KTH): Nuclear
KULeuven: probably most engineering fields (computing was first ready)‏
Clemson: mecanical engineering
Projets 2009: KTH, TKK, INPG, IST, ...
What language ?
KULeuven: each institution in her own language
CLUSTER, Clemson, ...: English

15. Dual masters (6)‏

16. Dual masters (7)‏

17. The teaching language issue
What language for the masters ?
French ? (traditional situation)‏
Our attractivity is decreasing (less ERASMUS IN)‏
English is the universal second language
The status of the French language is decreasing from ''the diplomatic language” to a “local language” such as Dutcg or Letton
The higher education offering in English is increasing. (Northern countries, the Nethernands, Prague, Barcelonee,... This attracts studentsn even in out universities.
English ?
Like everybody else, no choice after all ?
Risk of loosing one's own student (perhaps not the best, but...)who could leave us for another Belgian higer education studies.

18. The language issue (2)‏ New initiatives related to teaching in English
Physics, computing (since September 2007)
Fall term in anglais
Spring term in French
(final work: free choice)‏
Others have specific tracks in english (e.g. courses included in ERASMUS MUNDUS programs)‏

19. Discussion