Abstract:

University Jaume I is openly decided to promote employability of students and to assume high responsibilities in the university-to-work transition. Indeed, the focus on internalization and mobility programmes for our graduates was set some years ago.
This paper shows how we organise such programmes from the Career Service Area. The Área de Inserción Profesional (Career service Area) is a unit in the Office for International and Educational Cooperation, and it depends organically on the Vice-rectorate for Students and Employment. Its aim is introducing added value to the students’ educational experience, to increase their chances and prepare them to work in an international environment.

Since 2002 more than 120 graduates have spent an international placement in an enterprise or institution in Europe through the Leonardo mobility programme. The results show that those who participate in this programme get a job quickly, usually abroad, and have a high satisfaction with the experience. Since 2007 we have applied all the know-how acquired in Leonardo and have applied it to the new Erasmus Placements project for last year students. We have a group of stakeholders who cooperate in the programme and some external funding has been achieved. Three academic coordinators (one per faculty) cooperate with the Institutional Coordinator (Career Service Area) in organising international internships. A public call is launched once a year at least, which includes a complete selection process. Every participant gets a specific pathway of vocational guidance and cultural and language training. Every student has a double and complementary assessment: a professional in the enterprise and a teacher at the University. The placement is recognised as a compulsory subject into the curriculum, regardless of the discipline. This academic year 2008/09, 21 students have benefited of the placements. We advance some results and comment the synergies from and to other programmes. Finally, the implications for future development of the project is discussed.

Keywords:

erasmus placements, mobility programmes, university-industry collaboration.