International Exchange
The Tischner European University is exchanging students and staff with many universities abroad. The geographical area covered and the number of our partner institutions is growing every year. Today we collaborate with 34 institutions from 17 countries, including USA.
Since 2004 Tischner European University has been a proud holder of an Erasmus University Charter, entitling it to participation in the EU-founded Erasmus programme, which supports Higher Education Institutions and since 2007 constitutes an element of the Lifelong Learning Program developed on the European level. Every year we successfully apply for Erasmus grants, which give significant administrative and financial support to those students who wish to study for a semester or complete an internship abroad. Every year we also host students from our partner institutions, or individuals coming as "visiting students".
Besides spending one or two semester abroad on Erasmus programme, TEU students have possibility to participate in many short-term programmes, which is a great chance to meet new friends, taste other cultures and take part in serious, multinational debates. International students willing to learn more about Poland and Central Europe in a short period of time, come to TEU for a few weeks to participate in summer schools, or to take part in projects organized by student associations, some co-funded by the EU programme "Youth in Action".
Exchanges, study trips and intensive programs involving local and international students, are complemented by lectures offered by professors from abroad, open meetings with distinguished guests and conferences gathering speakers from all over the world.
Jose Maria Aznar, former Prime Minister of Spain; Rocco Butigilione, Italian Minister of European Politics; Prof. Clyde Wilcox from the Georgetown University (USA); Prof. Anjoo Sharan Upadhyaya from the Banaras Hindu University in India; Gyaliong Tsetrin, former political prisoner from Tibet - these are just a few of those who have visited us up till now.
ECTS
European Credit Transfer System
ECTS is the acronym for “European Credit Transfer System”. It is not only a system for the transfer of credits but also for their calculation. ECTS is used within all kinds and modes of studies. It enables students to be educated in their own countries and abroad, ensuring that those who spend some time at a host university complete a similar workload to those who spend all their studies at their home university. ECTS constitutes a set of procedures and tools regulating the transfer of credits between universities. ECTS is also an instrument for accumulating credits in order to organise and integrate an individual student’s study programme. ECTS facilitates student mobility and is compulsory at most universities participating in exchanges, providing the opportunity to compare syllabi and ensuring the formal recognition of students’ achievements in other institutions.
At TEU there are ECTS credits assigned to each particular course. This assessment takes into consideration the student’s contribution and the amount of work required to achieve learning outcomes (evaluated by an exam, a test, a position paper etc.). Student obtains ECTS credits for every course successfully completed at TEU.
Academic regulation guarantees that ECTS works as a transfer and accumulation system. In ECTS the whole academic year is 60 credits, one semester – 30 credits. One must obtain 180 credits to be granted a Bachelor degree in full-time studies at TEU and 175 credits for extramural studies. There can be a difference between the number of credits in the two semesters of the year, but a student must obtain a minimum of 25 credits during each semester in full-time studies, and a minimum of 20 credits in extramural studies. The ECTS grading scale, converted to TEU marks, is as follows:
ECTS grade | Description of the ECTS grade | TEU grade |
|---|---|---|
A | excellent, outstanding performance, without any errors
outstanding performance with only minor | celujący/excellent
5.0 |
B | above the average standard, but with a few errors | 4.5 |
C | good, generally sound work with a number of errors | 4.0 |
D | satisfactory, but with significant shortcomings | 3.5 |
E | sufficient, performance meets the minimum criteria | 3.0 |
FX | fail, some additional work required before the credit can be awarded | 2.0 |
G | fail, considerable further work is required |
Outgoing students completing part of their programme in another country within the framework of Erasmus (programme available to the citizens of all 27 Member States of the European Union, Turkey and the three countries of the European Economic Area, i.e. Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) are guaranteed recognition of their studies abroad. The recognition is made on the basis of ECTS documents, by the ECTS Institutional Coordinator.
- Learning Agreement - a “trilateral contract” between the student and the co-operating universities (TEU and the host university), in which a student undertakes to accomplish a recorded study programme during her/his exchange. An agreement is concluded before the student’s departure on exchange.
- Home institution’s transcript of academic records – a document prepared by the home university before the student’s departure on exchange, which states all the academic records which a student has obtained before her/his exchange.
- Host university’s transcript of academic records – a document prepared by the host university with all the academic records obtained during the exchange, which a student receives after completing her/his studies abroad.
In both transcript of academic records, all of a student’s courses from the period are mentioned, as well as the amount of credits received and the marks awarded.