FRENCH COOPERATION IN MACEDONIA AT SOUTH EASTERN EUROPE UNIVERSITY

This project has cooperation agreements with the French universities of Nantes, Angers and Rennes 1.

I. PROJECT RESUME

• Title

Support a multicultural university in Macedonia.

Main objectives

Contribute to capacity building and teaching development by reinforcing pedagogy methods;
Support and widen teaching opportunities, experiences and languages towards students;
Provide up-to-date teaching material in English, Albanian and Macedonian languages;
Initiate and develop regular cooperation links with West European universities.

• Project activities

1 - Set up a regular trend of visiting professors from the universities of Nantes, Angers and Rennes1. For the 3 years of the project, the project aims at financing 65 weeks of lecturing.

These missions provide lectures for students (regular courses, free and advanced electives, special conferences, etc.) and/or pedagogy training seminars or workshops for teachers.
The aim, topics, subjects, themes of these missions will answer specific needs for all the five faculties of the SEEU. Each lecture will provide the students with ECTS credits.

2 - Provide new editions of pedagogic material (books and teaching material), translated in Albanian and Macedonian. The main objectives of this component are to:

- Answer the basic priorities in terms of text books for the students of the five faculties of SEEU;
- Create up-to-date pedagogic material in English and in both national languages;
- Introduce new learning material and give access to recent university literature;
- Provide books with high quality contents;
- Reinforce the outcome and performance of the component focused on visiting professors;
- Supply the books at the best affordable selling price for students;
- Support the building of links between SEEU and other national and sub regional universities.

3 - Set up and equip resource centers for the purpose of providing consulting services and research in order to promote the university towards public and private institutions of the socio economic environment of SEEU.

• Expected outcomes of the project

- Reinforce the image and attractiveness of the university in direction of the different ethnic communities.
- Develop and diversify a European academic opening, modernize teaching practices, provide up- to-date teaching data.
- Educate and train Albanian executives for private and public employment.
- Support the contribution of SEEU to national economic and social development.
- Create a network with West European universities and reinforce the visibility of international co-operation.

• The project is managed by a full time project manager on site

For more information:

Michel Crepon
Building 301 room 11
Tel: (0)44 356 022 (office) 070 885 416 (mobile)
m.crepon@seeu.edu.mk

I - THE FOLLOWING VISITING PROFESSORS FROM NANTES, ANGERS AND RENNES 1 UNIVERSITIES CAME TO SEEU IN 2003/2004

DURING ACADEMIC YEAR 2004/2005 THE PROJECT PLANS TO SET UP MORE LECTURING MISSIONS AND A SET OF CONFERENCES ON SPECIFIC ISSUES RELATED TO EUROPEAN LAW.

II – TRANSLATION OF BOOKS

On December 7^th an event attended by the French Ambassador to Macedonia presented the university text books that the project has translated from French to Albanian and Macedonian. These books will shortly be made available to students and teachers and they cover the fields of studies of all five Faculties and the Language Centre of SEEU.

• Michele Pendax
  Veprimtaritë e të Mësuarit në Orën e Gjuhës së Huaj
  Активности за учење на час по странски јазик
  
• C. Baylon and X. Mignot
  Komunikimi
  Комуникација
  
• Olivier Duhamel
  E drejta Kushtetuese
  Уставно Право
  
• André Boyer
  Drejtimi i ndërmarrjes
  Преглед на Управувањето
  
• Maurice Durousset
  Bashkimi Evropian nw shekullin XXI
  Европска Унија во XXI век

All books are of recent publication; their contents are of high quality and will provide valuable reading material and education inputs. The French cooperation project is happy and proud to contribute to the goals of SEEU in providing the best quality standards in higher education in Macedonia.

These books will also be provided to Skopje, Bitola, Pristine and Tirana universities.

In 2004/2005 the project is aiming at helping to finance more books so as to widen expertise and literature in both languages of Macedonia.

Statement from the project manager

After one year of activity in SEEU I want to express, as project manager for the French Cooperation, my personal acknowledgement towards all the actors at SEEU who facilitated the setting up and implementation of this project.

A cooperation program needs commitment for collaboration, a good understanding of what are shared objectives, decision, will and flexibility in the process of realizing the actions which were planned at the start of the project.

With high support and backing from SEEU Administration, assistance from and positive working sessions with Deans of the five Faculties, I think we were able to promote mutual comprehension. Academic staff was involved and encouraging.

I can forward mostly positive appreciations from our French partners from Nantes, Angers and Rennes 1 Universities. They were impressed by what SEEU has achieved in a so short period and are quite committed to continuing to provide, if needed, expertise and assistance to this young university. Every visiting professor, prior to his/her mission prepared pedagogic material either directly in English, either in French and translated by the project in English. This complete documentation was provided to every student free of charge: full texts or extracts, resumes, complete set of photocopies of slides, full legal texts, exercises and case studies, software, CDs.

I finally would like to thank the students of SEEU which I have come to know and, yes, admire after the experiences of this first year. Without their willingness to participate in the lectures delivered and their commitment towards high education objectives we would not have been this successful. Evaluations and feed backs from the students were mostly very positive. On the side of the French professors they all were quite impressed by the education level and achievements of the students who attended their lectures. For these students (lets hope not only these ones?), their motivation for education and will for additional knowledge are a very good basis establishing why international standards should be continually introduced and regarded as important at SEEU.

I am strongly convinced that this first year of the project is a constructive experience. I am sure that I can rely on the engagement and responsibility of SEEU as a team, to work out even better outputs for next year.

Michel Crepon
Project Manager
Tetovo, October 30th 2004.