Erasmus Charter for Higher Education
Read and download the Erasmus Charter for Higher Education 2014–2020 (PDF) here.
Erasmus Policy Statement
The University of Portsmouth’s international objectives are embedded in the University’s Strategy 2012–17 (www.port.ac.uk/strategy). This five year plan is driven by three core strategies – Education; Research; and Knowledge Services – which are supported in turn by Departmental/Faculty and collaborative strategic criteria.
Our vision is to enhance the University’s position as a leading modern university through the delivery of excellent teaching; through engagement in research of international quality and in knowledge services of the highest standard; enabling the University to make a major contribution to social, cultural, educational and economic development. The global reach of the University is key to this, and our intention is to harness our global networks and influence to benefit our students and staff, and to extend our international collaborations in relation to all three core strategies.
In setting out our commitment to sustain and strengthen our international engagement we will contribute to a number of fundamental cornerstones, including:
- Attracting students from a balanced diversity of countries and backgrounds;
- Developing opportunities for all of our students to study/work abroad, learn languages, and attain high levels of cultural awareness and academic excellence both within the curriculum and further afield;
- Promoting and developing partnerships based on mutual interest and respect with organisations and educational institutions abroad;
- Undertaking research programmes which address international issues, and in the content of our curricula;
- Creating opportunities for staff development to support our aims;
- Fostering a culture in the University which manifests cross-cultural awareness and delivers a quality international staff and student experience.
The University currently engages in collaborative provision which brings reputational benefits through association; contributes to identified educational needs; responds to local or national employer demands; broadens international understanding, cooperation and tolerance; contributes to the internationalisation of the curriculum at the University; and encourages widening access to study higher education.
In this way, the University’s identification of partners and the development of collaborative arrangements is based on a foundation of strategic compatibility. The selection process for developing institutional partnerships is not primarily based on an institutionally preset geographic area or prescriptive set of criteria. Instead, provision is assessed by compatibility with the current mission, taking long-term implications into account, and characterised by mutual benefit and development potential.
The Erasmus programme has historically supported these activities within the participating countries and the University’s involvement has grown in recent years in line with increased recognition and promotion of mobility to support institutional strategic objectives, and improved awareness and support at an individual, personal level for both staff and students. We have a new centralised team dedicated to administering to the Programme, and growth is anticipated to continue, with staff mobility in particular increasingly promoted to strengthen and expand qualitative links for research and strategic partnerships.
Involvement with the Erasmus programme has historically meant that the majority of staff and student mobility has been geographically Eurocentric. Although it is anticipated that this will continue in the medium term, there are aspirations for increased engagement beyond the participating countries, driven by academic and student priorities; institutional enthusiasm and support for internationalisation; increasing numbers of robust international links for mobility; research and knowledge services; and recognition of the need for international engagement by both the UK government and the European Commission.
These activities will consolidate and build on our excellent record of establishing international links and developing a global reach in our marketing and recruitment. Our international student body is an integral part of our identity and we are firmly committed to enhancing the staff and student experience at Portsmouth in a cosmopolitan, diverse and mutually supportive community. In doing so we reflect our ambition to deepen and to develop Portsmouth’s aspiration to be a genuinely internationalised university where a sense of global citizenship and a sensitivity to diversity and mutual interest pervades and informs all that we do, whether academic or personal.