Erasmus Policy Statement
Ad1.
Ludovika - University of Public Service (Ludovika-UPS) is a special higher education institution, which – in the spirit of lifelong learning – provides BA, MA and PhD programmes for students aiming at a career in the public service as well as in-service training and executive leadership training for public servants. The mission of Ludovika-UPS is to act as a link between the government, higher education institutions, research institutes and for-profit and non-profit organisations in order to facilitate national and international knowledge transfer. This innovative education and research cooperation includes participating in international networks as well as student, academic and staff mobility, which are given priority in the institutional development plan.
The existing international network of Ludovika-UPS is based on relationships initiated by its legal predecessors as well as membership in international organisations, which are also important elements of the foreign affairs policy of the ministries. Ludovika-UPS is striving for develop multidimensional international relationships that support programme development, student, academic and staff mobility as well as knowledge transfer and research capacity development New partners will be selected and existing relationships will be reviewed in this spirit.. It is a top priority of Ludovika-UPS to establish a network specific to the public administration, law enforcement and military sciences, which supports smooth credit transfer in student exchange programmes and outcome-oriented academic/staff mobility. Progress is required in research and education cooperation with the international higher education sector, which has to be closely linked to Ludovika-UPS’ research strategy and doctoral programme development.
As regards geographical and geopolitical considerations, Ludovika-UPS is going to strengthen cooperation with EU member states, especially with higher education institutions of Central and Eastern European countries, and of the Visegrad - Group. It also wishes to establish relationships with non-EU countries, particularly with Western-Balkans countries, the USA and China. The “national” mission of the university in establishing trans-border connections with Hungarian higher education institutions of neighbouring countries requires a strategy compliant with nation policy. It will be an important task to support the Hungarian higher education of neighbouring countries, networking with Hungarian initiatives, at the outset within the framework of Erasmus. The strategic mission of the university is supporting and networking with trans-border Hungarian higher education. This activity can be facilitated by the Erasmus programme.
The first Master programme offered in English is under development, with four specialisations specific to the disciplines of Ludovika-UPS, which will be the key interface for incoming and outgoing mobility. Double and joint degree courses can be launched with institutions where credit transfer works efficiently. A quality assurance system compliant with European standards has to be developed for the foreign language programme and courses.
The Management of the University ensures the regulatory environment and conditions encourage lifelong learning and the mobility of students, staff and academics.. The objective is to ensure that 2 out of 10 students have completed courses abroad by 2020. In this spirit Ludovika-UPS strives for ensuring more opportunities of gaining credits abroad, with special conditions and guarantees, for students of career officer status as well.
Mobility can also be encouraged in the case of traineeship. Furthermore Ludovika-UPS places special emphasis on personal career guidance and therefore it is building up a network of outstanding European public administration, law enforcement and military institutions for providing traineeship opportunities. Feedback from partner institutions will be an important input for programme development.
Since PhD students are a priority target group, encouraging international research partnership and mobility is essential for developing collective expertise.
Staff mobility is part employees’ career path, which is an integral part of the institutional human resource development policy and modernisation of the Ludovika-UPS.
Taking into consideration of the past years’ experiences, the means of encouraging incoming mobility will be reviewed administrative procedures and services will become more userfriendly. A special mentoring programme is going to support the integration of incoming students. The objective is to increase incoming mobility to the same level as of the outgoing one by 2020.
In order to provide information and ensure transparency, Ludovika-UPS is making use of all communication channels to raise awareness of mobility opportunities. It places a great emphasis on anti-discrimination policy.
Ad2.
Ludovika-UPS concentred the international resources of the Faculties in a central Institute for International Studies with the aim of concentrating curriculum, international teaching and organisational capacity of the University in order to facilitate international educational and research cooperation and mobility. Although the preparatory and administrative part of the international relations and mobility remained at the Faculties, the Institute for International
Studies and the Office of International Relations guarantee the standardised, central administration and quality assurance.
The ECTS compatible courses offered in foreign languages are continuously developed by the Faculties. The Institute will serve as the organisational basis for the Master in International Relations of Public Service to be launched in 2014. This Master programme and its specialisations (European Studies, International Public Administration, Defence and Security, Policing) will provide the basics for the University to build its long-term and multidimensional international relations. The modules of the specialisations will offer a scope for establishing education cooperation (joint master degree, double degree programs) and the courses of the Master programme will serve as the interface of incoming mobility.. Certain modules of the programme are also applicable as short-cycle international in-service training courses and executive leadership training courses. Besides the content, emphasis shall be put on diverse and up-to-date teaching methods (e-learning etc.).
When developing the new MA as well as its modules and courses, Ludovika-UPS relies on the international knowledge transfer, intensifying cooperation with experienced international partners and inviting international visiting professors for curriculum development and teaching some of the courses of the programme from the autumn of 2014.
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Institutional policy focuses on increasing the effectiveness of studies, reducing drop-out rates and meeting the demand for public servants. Increasing mobility opportunities contributes to increase attractivity of PA among young people, indicated by the fact that the programmes offered by Ludovika-UPS head the Hungarian higher education application statistics.
A unique element of the quality assurance of Ludovika-UPS’ education and research is both receiving a direct feedback from public service partners concerning the quality of the human resource provided and on programme development needs. The continuous quality improvement of education is ensured by regular dialogue with public service institutions and joint development forums. The research activity of the University is also based on functionalism: it serves as a basis for public service development processes, especially in the field of civil public administration, law enforcement and defence. The University’s researches are internationally acknowledged through the feedback of international partners of our clients, in sharing experience with other universities and organisations of the consulting sector (e.g. NATO, OECD, EUROPOL, CEPOL, EUPAN, EIPA).
Public service institutes constitute the ‘market’ which determines the education and research capacities and the directions of future development for the University. European and international developments and partnerships also have an impact on the trends of Ludovika-UPS’ education and research. The knowledge triangle is fully functioning. Although the tasks of the State and public service are changing rapidly, adaptability to these changes are supported by Ludovika-UPS through research. The results of these researches also become integrated in education.
The core element of outstanding quality is the teaching, research and administrative staff with adequate expertise, talent and competences. One of the major instruments of HR development is international knowledge transfer, through mobility programmes. HR development is addressed at strategic level at Ludovika-UPS. Excellence Fund is an internal system of financial incentives and acknowledgement of the outstanding performance of students, academics, researchers and staff. Another criterion of outstanding quality is the adequacy of the curriculum. The experience of international partners is fed into curriculum development and teaching methodologies are modernised (e-learning, distance education etc.) by establishing joint programmes. Mobility programmes also enable students to test themselves internationally and further develop interpersonal skills and professional expertise. Therefore Ludovika-UPS strives for encouraging student mobility by establishing a smooth credit transfer system and improving access to the programmes.
As a Centre of Excellence, Ludovika-UPS is responsible for having high quality research staff. Therefore the student career strategy of Ludovika-UPS emphasises making PhD research career more attractive. Its key priorities include research conducted in international partnership, teaching abroad as well as student mobility.