International guests impressed by VUC
During the first week of September, a group of 13 international guests from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain & Switzerland visited Volda University College (VUC) and participated in the annual International Staff Week. The group was full of praise about their experience in Volda.
During the first week of September, a group of 13 international guests from Austria, Czechia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Spain & Switzerland visited Volda University College (VUC) and participated in the annual International Staff Week. The group was full of praise about their experience in Volda.
The international guests were given a varied programme which included a tour of the VUC campus, meetings with staff and students, discussions on topics of shared interests and a local excursion in Volda. Among the facilities displayed was the VUC Library, the Digital Learning Lab (Læringsverkstaden) and the new media building. At the Media Faculty, the journalism students were well under way in the internal practice period, which meant that the guests were able to observe students making both radio- and TV-shows from current local events.
Another focus of the event has been to introduce the guests to the quite extensive student services offered by VUC. The Library, Student Parliament, Buddy Week, Pangaia and the Welfare Group has all been showcased to illustrate the focus on student wellbeing at VUC.
A common feedback from the participants has been an admiration of the close and personal service VUC offers to its students, both international and local. Especially, Pangaia, the international social hub, has been an inspiration for the visitors and something they may wish to introduce at their own institutions.
"It's been a very interesting week learning how you manage so well to make your incoming students be in a "safe and warm" academic environment. There's so much to learn and adapt to our own realities" - participant feedback.
Head of the International Office, Arne Humberset is pleased with the week and the interactions between guests and staff at VUC.
-One of the main lessons we take from this event is that we are doing quite well at VUC and that we can boast both facilities and services that are world-class. I want to thank my colleagues at VUC who took part and I am glad to see that they get a boost from speaking to the international guests and discovering that their everyday work can be considered best-practice by outsiders, says Humberset.
