On September 16th, the Abdullah Gül University (AGU) organised its third Internationalisation Workshop, after the first in 2015, which resulted in the creation of the 2015-2020 AGU’s Internationalisation Strategy, and the second edition, which took place in February 2017 and helped refine the objectives, including the international ranking strategy.
The purpose of this year’s meeting was to:
- Re-introduce the strategy, objectives and implementation plan
- Determine guidelines to boost the 2015-2020 Strategy final year
- Enable AGU members’ involvement in international strategies and activities
- Enhance AGU’s international development through the integration and use of key stakeholders’ input
- Explain and improve AGU’s international processes (including International partnerships and International mobility, projects and operations)
- Lay the groundwork of the new 2020-2025 Internationalisation Strategy
The session, which gathered AGU Faculty and Administrative members, was opened by the University’s Rector, Prof. Dr. İhsan Sabuncuoğlu, who re-stated the importance of the University’s internationalisation objectives as well as all AGU members’ involvement in the process.
The Rector’s introduction was followed by presentations of the Head of the AGU International Office, Mr. Emeric Abrignani, as well as Ms. Zeynep Tuğçe Çiftçibaşı Güç, Head of the AGU Erasmus/Exchange Office who introduced:
- Reasons for internationalisation
- AGU’s Internationalisation Development and status
- AGU’s internationalisation highlights
- The progress accomplished on each Internationalisation Strategy goals
- AGU’s current international partnership situation
- AGU’s international mobility and project situation
After the presentations and a Q&A session, the participants were divided into two workshop groups, each to discuss one of the following:
- Ways to increase AGU’s Internationalisation (at home/abroad)
- Ways to improve AGU’s partnership, mobility and project processes
After an hour of group discussions, the plenary session was resumed to share the groups’ findings and suggestions.
This third AGU Internationalisation Workshop has brought to light crucial improvement points for the University’s current internationalisation agenda items and has given new momentum to AGU’s Internationalisation process as a whole, which remains a University-wide effort.