Faculty of Architecture | RWTH Aachen

Compatibility Study 2010/2011 Preface XI
1.02 Introduction
In 1980s the Erasmus programme began as an experimental, very personal and quite
small exchange programme between departments of well acquainted partner institutions.
Since then it developed into a programme of much larger scale that, usually
basing on the university level, broadly fosters the international exchange of students,
while it explicitly avoided becoming a mere merit program by addressing all students
of all faculties. Latest with the early 2000s the European Union introduced a ‘professionalization’
and ‘automation’ of the processes and workflows involved in the exchange,
especially by enforcing a series of guidelines and exigencies also through
National Agencies such as the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). They
are effective until today on the administrative as well as on the academic level.
As long as the exchange had not been taking place in a ‘quality-output’ related system,
the programs were more or less oriented to personalities: the students who wished
to study abroad were registered, their language skills were tested and their general
abilities and motivation were checked. An additional component was their social
awareness. Soon after the introduction of the Erasmus program the Aachen faculty of
architecture appointed specific ‘country coordinators’ or ‘academic advisors’ to take
care of exchange students from abroad (incomings) as well as of those students from
our university chosen to study at one of our partner universities (outgoings). These
advisors obviously spoke the according language and thus took care of controlling
the language capability of the applicants. Once coming back home they also acknowledged
the students’ achievements from abroad in the name of the faculty’s examination
board by producing committees of at least two advisors. These activities, while
being constantly improved, remain basically the same until today.
Here, one of their particular activities, of course, is to evaluate the academic results of
the ‘homecoming outgoings’ according to RWTH standards and to the defined Learning
Agreement. This is a new form, which has to be filled in by the students and
signed by all the participating “stakeholders”, such as departmental and institutional
coordinators on both sides, before the students leave their home universities, and
which has to be updated during their stay abroad.
Given the ongoing bureaucratization that happens within the framework of the
Erasmus Programme today the following routine workload has to be managed by the
faculty:
1. ‘Outgoings’
1.1 Preparatory actions for the studies abroad:
1.1.1 Annual announcement of the exchange programmes
1.1.2 Preparation of Learning Agreements
1.1.3 Control of the students’ professional/academic competence in their field
1.1.4 Checking of the envisaged study programmes
1.1.5 Evaluation of language capabilities
1.1.6 Checking of motivations and socio-cultural awareness
1.2 Return after one year:
1.2.1 Checking of field reports
1.2.2 Checking of study results in relation to Learning Agreements
1.2.3 Integration into the local syllabus
Faculty of Architecture | RWTH Aachen