View Annual Review - IAESTE

Support
Services
to IAESTE
Internet Development Team (IDT)
The IDT, Internet Development Team, was founded in Copenhagen
in 1998 by volunteers from fi ve different countries, with the goal to
deliver IT services to IAESTE. Today 13 volunteers from 8 countries are
involved in IDT.
The services include anything which the organisation requests, such as
web and e-mail services. The web services include a private website,
the IAESTE IntraWeb and provide technical assistance for the Friends of
IAESTE Network, FoIN.
Csaba Stoia
IDT Co-ordinator
The IDT maintains the public Internet pages, www.iaeste.org, which provides information
on IAESTE and links to all Members countries’ home pages and contact details.
Friends of IAESTE Network (FoIN)
The International IAESTE Alumni organisation; Friends of IAESTE
Network (FoIN) is now celebrating its 10th year of prosperous activity
in IAESTE. Today we can count more than 10,000 members in our
strong network which was fi rst organised on an international level in
1996. IAESTE has a distinguished tradition of keeping in touch with
former trainees, as a result of which the Friends of IAESTE Network has
successfully brought Alumni together from around the world. There is
no doubt that many of our members feel a strong allegiance to IAESTE
as this organisation has infl uenced their personal life and careers to a
great extent.
Maryam Farahani
FoIN Co-ordinator
The main purpose of FoIN is to make it easy for National IAESTE organisations to keep
in touch with their alumni in order to support the concept of student exchange and
international understanding. Members receive the FoIN quarterly Newsletter about FoIN
activities, news from members and reports from trainees as well as IAESTE upcoming
events. Members can also fi nd former friends they have made through IAESTE with a search
function in the network.
To become a member of the friends of IAESTE Network
please visit our website and sign up: http://www.iaeste.org/friends
Seminar on IAESTE Development (SID)
SID serves IAESTE by bringing together IAESTE Members and Cooperating
Institutions to discuss issues of best practice, administration,
organisational advancement and the development of the organisation.
Unlike the Annual Conference, which focuses on the exchange of
traineeships, SID provides a structured forum for delegates to discuss
ideas and actions to improve IAESTE as an International organisation.
Work Groups on specifi c tasks requested by the General Conference,
IAESTE Board and the Membership at large provide the topics to
be discussed at SID. In addition, a number of ongoing tasks such as
Thomas Faltner
SID Co-ordinator
Mentoring, General Conference Introductory sessions and updating of IAESTE forms and
materials are tackled by SID. The results from the Work Groups are refi ned over the year
into recommendations that go back to the Board and then to the General Conference for
offi cial voting and implementation.
The IAESTE Ombudsman
The post of Ombudsman was created by a decision of the 2001 General Conference
of IAESTE held in Durban, South Africa. The Ombudsman is an independent person, to
whom students can report complaints about unfair treatment, with the aim of arriving at
a fair settlement. The Ombudsman reports to the General Conference each year about
all incidents reported to him from students. He also proposes measures to prevent similar
incidents in future.
Bernardo J Herold, the former National Secretary of IAESTE Portugal, is the IAESTE
Ombudsman.
For further information on the Ombudsman please go to www.iaeste.org
or contact him at ombudsman@iaeste.org
or write to: Offi ce of the Ombudsman, P.O Box 1066
2771-901 Paço de Arcos, Portugal