Newsletter

No. 1, May 2017 Entrepreneurial Universities for Industry Alliances– EUFORIA

This project aims to establish and develop links between universities and enterprises in order to enhance teaching and learning, upgrade the curricula in line with the needs of enterprises and improve the financial sustainability of HEIs in Kosovo. Enterprise managers will be appointed to a number of university committees as the voice of the private sector to help the universities design programmes of study in line with the needs of enterprises and the labour market. Universities will send a number of their lecturers to companies for a short placement period to observe the working of the company and, in consultation with company managers, identify challenges facing them. The lecturers will use their knowledge of the companies and insights they have gained to formulate case studies for their sub- EUFORIA is a collaboration project between the jects. Experienced EU partners will assist the Kosovar lecturers to following partners: write case studies which can be used in the classroom. The use of case studies, particularly those based on Kosovar companies, is Kosovo Partners rather unusual in Kosovo and will require a change in teaching, learning and assessment strategy. It will have a profound impact University of Gjakova “Fehmi Agani” on students’ learning experience and their preparation for the la- University “Kadri Zeka” Gjilan bour market. University “Haxhi Zeka”, Peja The project started on 15 October 2015 and will run to 14 October RIINVEST College 2018. The total project budget is €722,093.00. University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina” University of Applied Sciences in Ferizaj Specific objectives:

EU Partners

Staffordshire University (Project Coordinator), UK  Establishing bilateral links between partner country HEIs and Munich University of Applied Sciences, DE enterprises on a formal basis to arrange representation of University of Zagreb, HR enterprises on university committees and placements for Università Politecnica delle Marche, IT staff and students Nottingham Trent University, UK  Improving teaching and learning methods by developing and using case studies based on partner firms’ specific experi- Industry Partners ences

Hotel Dukagjini  Conducting surveys of companies and using feedback on Uje Rugove student placements to identify skills and knowledge shortag- TREPHARM es of university students and graduates and upgrading the ENRAD curricula by embedding these skills, thus enhancing the em- ployability of graduates NGO Partners  Enhancing the financial sustainability of partner country HEIs Kosovo Chamber of Commerce by enabling them to develop additional sources of income Women in Business (e.g., by organising training courses and offering services to companies based on their identified needs)

 Setting up advice centres for SMEs run by staff and postgrad- uate students Page 3 Kick-Off Meeting

The kick-off meeting of the project took place in February 2016 at the Faculty of Eco- nomics, University of Pristina. Representatives of all EU and Kosovo partner univer- sities and the Kosovar companies and NGOs participated in this meeting. This was the first opportunity for all partners to meet and get to know each other. In this meeting, the project activities were reviewed and the role and responsibility of all partners discussed. Plans for the activities of the first year of the project were elaborated in detail. The rules for administrative and financial management of the project were explained by the Project Manager, Mrs Jenny Herbert, who also explained other rules and regulations governing the project.

Seminar on University - Visit of Senior Staff of Kosovar Universities to EU partners Industry Links 12 Senior members of staff including, Rectors, Deans, Vice Deans and senior profes- sors from six Kosovar univesities (2 from each university) visited three partner uni- The first project seminar was organ- versities in the EU to learn about the host university's links with industry and how ised on University-Industry Links in these links have been developed. February 2016. EU partners explained the type of relationships and links they have FEB Welcomes Delegation from Kosovo Universities established with industry over the years and the bene-fits they have As part of the EUFORIA project, the delega- versities and the Kosovo industry through derived from these links. tion from two universities from the Re- examples of cooperation at the public of Kosovo paid a working visit to University of Zagreb. Within the project These benefits include the develop- FEB from 2 – 6 May 2016. The delegati- Euforia the development of cooperation ment of relevant academic program- on consisted of Professors But Dedaj, between the universities and the industry mes in univeristies that match the Dean of the Faculty of Economics in in Kosovo will be promoted by establis- needs of the industry, placement of Priština and Ymer Havolli from the hing the university counselling centres students on internships, employment University of Priština, and Professors for small and medium enterprises, the of graduates, consultancy and rese- Fejzulla Berisha and Bashkim Nurboja development of an online platform for arch projects. from University of Peja “Haxhi Zeka”. university centres, and by curriculum im- provement to comply with the industry The representatives of Kosovo universi- requirements. ties met with FEB’s Dean Professor La- još Žager, Vice Dean Professor Jurica The delegation attended the presentati- Pavičić and Professor Marina Dabić to ons delivered by the Head of the BDiB discuss the modalities of future coope- programme Professor Mario Spremić, ration. The aim of the working visit was CEO of NOVAMINE Ernest Vlačić, MSc, to promote co-operation between uni- Ms. Ivana Žorž and Mrs. Dunja Petercol of HAMAG BICRO, Mr. Radoš and Mr. Pavi- čin from the Croatian Chamber of Com- merce and by FEB students Karla Petek and Mihaela Bešlić (eSTUDENT). They also visited the Končar Metal Structures d.d. plant and the first Croatian start-up incubator ZIP. Page 4 Senior staff from Kosovo partner universities visited Munich University of Applied Sciences

Professor Muhamet Mustafa and Professor Arben Damoni from Riin- vest College and Professor Shaban Buza, Rector and Professor Luan Ahma from the University of Gjakova “Fehmi Agani” visited Munich University of Applied Sciences (MUAS) May 9-13, 2016. Kosovar colleagues discussed university-enterprise cooperation with senior staff of the host university. Visits were made to the Strascheg Centre for Entrepreneurship, Offices of T-Systems and the University Incubator. Develop and Utilise Case Studies in Teaching

Staff from the 6 partner universities in Kosovo (Universities of Gjakova, Gjilan, Peja, Prishtina, Ferizaj and Riinvest College) attended a Work- shop on ‘Preparing case studies of Kosovar companies to use in teaching’ on 6-8 June 2016 in Prishtina.

Senior staff from Kosovo partner universities visited The Workshop was run by Prof Marina the Universita Politecnica delle Marche Dabić and Prof Jurica Pavičić (University of Za- greb) at Riinvest College. The purpose of the Professor Bajram Kosumi, Rector, and Dr Gezim Tosuni from the workshop was to train the participants in the University “Kadri Zeka” Gjilan and Professor Agron Bajraktari, Rec- use of case studies as a teaching and learning tor, and Professor Bujar Pira, Vice Rector, of the University of Applie- tool and also the writing of case studies of ac- d Sciences in Ferizaj visited the Universita Politecnica delle Marche, tual companies in Kosovo. Participants contin- Ancona, Italy (UNIVPM) from 17 to 21 May 2016. ued to work on these case studies in Kosovo, including visiting local companies, before par- Kosovar colleagues discussed university-enterprise cooperation with ticipating in a final Workshop at Nottingham senior staff of the host university. Visits were made to the Loccioni Trent University, UK in January 2017 where Group, Rainbow Company and the “Contamination Lab”. they completed their case studies and pre- sented them to members of staff there.

Page 5 Workshop on Writing Case Studies 12 academic members of staff from 5 partner universities in Kosovo (Universities of Gjakova, Gjilan, Prishtina, Ferizaj and Riinvest College) attended a follow-up Workshop on Writing Case Studies from 16 to 20 January 2017 at Nottin- gham Trent University, UK. The workshop was run by Professor Marina Dabic and Dr Usha Ra- manathan from Nottingham Trent University and Professor Jurica Pavicic from the Faculty of Eco- nomics and Business, University of Zagreb. During the workshop the participants worked with the workshop leaders, both individually and collectively to develop the case studies which they had already begun in the first workshop in Kosovo in June 2016. All the case studies are ba- sed on companies in Kosovo and will be used in teaching in the partner universities in Kosovo.

Launch of tender for the Seminar on the Skill and Knowledge Gap of Kosovar Graduates: purchase of equipment the Views of Large and Small Enterprises

On 13 May 2016, the tender Staff from the 6 partner universities in Koso- curricula of our partner universities so for the purchase of equipment vo (Universities of Gjakova, Gjilan, Peja, that these skills and knowledge elements for the EUFORIA project was Prishtina, Ferizaj and Riinvest College), par- are built into the curricula. launched through the national tner companies and NGO partners (Uje Ru- public procurement website. gove, Hotel Dukagjini, Enrad, Trepharm, In order to do this, we commissioned As the budget for the purchase Women in Business and Kosovo Chamber of surveys on the views of enterprises about of equipment was more than Commerce) of the EUFORIA project atten- Kosovar university graduates. The survey €134,000, the tender has had ded the Seminar on ‘the Skill and Knowledge was conducted in 100 large and medium to be launched according to Gap of Kosovar Graduates: the Views of Lar- sized companied by Riinvest Institute and the national regulations in Ko- ge and Small Enterprises’ on 27 September, in 50 small and micro companies by our sovo. The University of Peja is 2016 in Prishtina. The Seminar was jointly partner ‘Women in Business’. The results conducting the tender process organized by Staffordshire University and were presented in the Seminar. on behalf of Staffordshire the University of Peja “Haxhi Zeka”. Re- University. There was also a presentation by Prof marks on the Graduate Skill Gap were given Besnik Krasniqi from the Faculty of Eco- by HE Minister of Education and Science, The tender process was com- nomics, University of Prishtina on his re- Prof Dr Arsim Bajrami and HE Minister of pleted in June and by October search on the views of graduates about Trade and Industry Prof Dr Hykmete Bajra- 2016 all the purchased the challenges they faced when they en- mi. In addition the results of the surveys on equipment was delivered to tered the world of employment. the views of enterprises about Kosovar partner universities in Kosovo. university graduates were presented. In addition to the presentations by Koso- var colleagues, Dr Jana Fiserova an Eco- One of the objectives of the project is to nomist from Staffordshire University pre- identify the skill and knowledge gaps of sented the experience of Staffordshire university graduates from the point of view University in developing its ‘employability of employers (small, medium and large com- project’ and embedding employability panies in Kosovo), and then improve the skills in the curricula of its entire study. Placement Officers appointed at six partner universities in Kosovo Page 6 and undergo training in the EU

The six newly appointed Placement Officers from the partner universities in Kosovo (the universities of Ferizaj, Gjakova, Gji- lan, Peja, Prishtina and Riinvest College) attended a week of tra- ining at Staffordshire University, UK from 7-11 November 2016. They participated in events as part of the CareersFest Week, as well as attending meetings with SU’s Placement Team, and aca- demics involved in monitoring students on placement and as- sessing their progress. CareersFest was a week-long festival of events, lectures, seminars and practical sessi- ons aimed at promoting the many options available to SU graduates entering the world of work, including placements and work experience in companies and enterpri- ses. The Placement Officers were able to explore the e-Coach online system for care- ers coaching, attend sessions on updating and improving their CVs, interview techniques and the academic and practical benefits of placements for students.

Workshop on improving the curricula by embedding Dissemination meeting employability skills and graduate attributes Staff from the 6 partner universities in Kosovo (Universities of Gjakova, Gjilan, Peja, A Dissemination Meeting of the Prishtina, Ferizaj and Riinvest College) attended a Workshop on Embedding project was held at Hotel Sirius, Employability Skills and Graduate Attributes in the Curricula (9 – 13 January 2017) Prishtina on 6 March 2017. All held at Staffordshire University. Kosovar university partners made presentations on the impact of The workshop was run by Dr Jana Fiserova and Professor Iraj Hashi. The workshop the project on their institutions, highlighted the issue of the employability of university graduates (which has been and their expectations for the re- well recognized as a major problem in most European countries) and introduced the mainder of the project. EU part- participants to the Staffordshire Graduate Programme and the way employability ners from Staffordshire, Munich skills and graduate attributes are embedded into the curricula at SU. The participants and Ancona universities made then worked on their own individual subjects and tried to amend the syllabus to en- presentations on the involvement sure that crucial employability skills and graduate attributes are covered in their cur- of their universities. ricula and to revise the assessment methods to ensure that these skills are assessed. The outcome of this Workshop was the preparation of 12 revised syllabi which will be Suggestions at the meeting includ- used as examples in partner institutions in Kosovo. ed the idea that the project run a series of seminars on the out- comes of the curriculum develop- ment and case study work packag- es in partner universities in Koso- vo so that the results (updated curricula and case studies based on Kosovar companies) are dis- seminated to a large number of staff at each partner university.

Planning and Monitoring Meeting Staff from the 5 EU universities (Staffordshire University, Munich University of Appli- ed Sciences, University of Zagreb, Universita Politecnica delle Marche and Nottin- gham Trent University), 6 partner universities in Kosovo (Universities of Gjakova, Gji- lan, Peja, Prishtina, Ferizaj and Riinvest College), and 2 NGO partners attended a ‘Project Planning and Monitoring’ meeting on Monday 26 September at University “Haxhi Zeka”, Peja. Matters under discussion included reviewing the activities of the first year of the pro- ject, identifying any deviations from the Work Plan and finding solutions to any po- tential problems. The completion of the process of tendering for equipment was dis- cussed. The need for registering the equipment in each University’s Inventory List and also putting special stickers supplied by EACEA on the equipment was also hig- hlighted. Workshop to train staff and postgraduate students on running Advice Centres for SMEs

Staff and postgraduate students from partner universities in Kosovo attended a Workshop on ‘Advice Centr- es’ on Wednesday 28 and Thursday 29 September at Riinvest College, Prishtina. The Workshop was run by Professor Marina Dabic (Nottingham Trent University) and Prof Jurica Pavicic (University of Zagreb) with material prepared by Dr Usha Ramanathan (Nottingham Trent University). The purpose of the workshop was to train the participants to set up an SME Advice/ Support Centre in their home universities and provide guidance to local small businesses.

Seminar on Financial Sustainability of Universities

On 7 March 2017 the Seminar on Financial Sustainability of Universities: Experiences from EU Countries and Lessons for Kosovo was held at Hotel Sirius, Prishti- na. Examples of different methods of fun- ding of higher education in EU countries were given by project partners from Mu- nich, Ancona and Staffordshire universities. The Minister of Education, Science and Technology, Prof Dr Arsim Bajrami and Deputy Minister of Finance Mr Agim Krasniqi also spoke at the seminar. Prof But Dedaj, Dean of the Faculty of Economics, UP gave a presentation on the White Paper on Financing of Universities after which partici- pants discussed the findings.

Meeting the Prime Minister of Kosovo

Prof Iraj Hashi, the Coordinator and Mrs Jenny Herbert, the Manager, of the EUFORIA project met the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Professor Isa Mustafa, on 8 March 2017 in his office. They informed the Prime Minister of EUFORIA the aims and objectives of the EUFORIA project and how the activities of the project benefit the partner universi- ties in Kosovo.

http://euforia-kosovo.com/