Student exchange and international mobility has been difficult during the pandemic, but still the International Office at VUC has been working hard to find new and exciting opportunities for exchange. Recently, VUC signed two groundbreaking new agreements with universities in the USA and Germany.

On Wednesday 9 February, the VUC International Day will be held as an online study abroad fair where students and staff get the chance to learn more about VUC's exchange agreements. This year, we also present two brand new agreements that are the result of the international project Global Co-Space, in which VUC is represented by the Faculty of Media and Journalism.

Erasmus+ exchange to the USA

Through the Global Co-Space project, VUC has established close contact with the University of Wisconsin River Falls (UWRF) and their media and art programmes. An exchange agreement was signed in late autumn of 2021 and the first exchange student from Volda is already in place in Wisconsin for the spring term of 2022.

The unique thing about this cooperation is that it includes an Erasmus+ agreement, which means that students and staff may receive Erasmus grants for exchange even though UWRF is not a European university.

– We believe that UW River Falls will be a very attractive destination for our students and staff, says Arne Humberset, Head of the international office at VUC. He adds that the university has many similarities with VUC both in terms of the academic offer and the type of institution.

– UW River Falls is also located in a relatively small town that is dominated by students and the university, but unlike Volda, the twin cities Minneapolis/St. Paul (pop. 3,6 million) lies only 30 minute drive from River Falls - so at UWRF you can experience both the small town America and big city life, says Humberset.

 

Double degree at Master’s level

The Global Co-Space project is coordinated by RheinMain University of Applied Science (HSRM) in Wiesbaden, Germany, and also with HSRM there has been a new groundbreaking agreement. This is a Double Degree Agreement between the Master in Media Practices (MMP) at HVO and Master in Creative Media Conception at RheinMain.

The agreement makes it possible for students in the MMP program to be awarded a master's degree from both VUC and HSRM if they exchange to Wiesbaden and complete a minimum of 45 credits there and write a master's thesis with a supervisor from both institutions.

This is VUC's second double degree agreement, the second is an agreement with media subjects at Fachhochschule Kiel at bachelor's level.

- Double degrees are not very common in Norway and therefore new to many students, but this is a great alternative for students who want to get a solid international experience, but at the same time do not want to take the whole degree abroad. Germany is one of our closest trading partners and expect students with qualifications from Germany to become more attractive in the job market, says Humberset.