TEMPUS CORINTHIAM

Part IV : Management of International Projects 459First of all, it is important to consider the strategic value of the project for the institution,whether the participation has multiple advantages for the University and forthe people involved in terms of enriching their knowledge or making it available fordeveloping common frameworks and relations with other Institutions. The Institutionalsupport for the project is absolutely essential in order to develop and implementsuccessful project proposals. Secondly, a serious capacity evaluation, operational andfinancial, must be done by the University or Higher Education Institution.The operational capacity can be established by answering the following questions:does my Institution have the resources, the abilities, and the competences to run theproject? This evaluation implies both human resources competences in the field ofinterest, as well as experience in running projects. The financial capacity establishesthe stable economic base under which the project may be undertaken.A further capacity analysis is necessary in order to identify any potential risk thatthe Higher Education Institution could encounter. A deep risk analysis, done wellbefore the project building and implementation, can help prevent possible problemsand minimize negative outcomes.After these considerations, the following step is to look for partner Institutions, eitherfrom existing contacts within networks tied to the University or from previous projectcollaborations. Alternately, partners could be found through seminars organized bydifferent National Agencies, as well as through specific project orientation sessionsorganized at the national or European level. Taking UCSC’s experience as an example,partner institutions are most commonly found through the university’s networks.However, for a current Erasmus Multilateral Project, the participants were the sameconsortium of universities as for a previous project. It is easier to develop and workon a project with institutions and collaborators that are familiar and reliable, than withinstitutions with no prior collaboration history.When identifying partners it is important to develop the project idea following theformat dictated by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency. Thereare two important guidelines to follow:Read and adopt the strategic documents provided by the EACEA in responding to acall for proposal, namely the guidelines for project management and administration,as well as the strategic priorities that might be clearly identified;Carry out an in-depth needs-analysis related to the sector, the subject and the targetgroups of the project. It obviously implies that the literature and the results of previousprojects are taken into account.Therefore, good project proposals are always the product of a compromise betweenthe format, the objectives and the conditions stated in the call for proposal, and theideas developed by the consortium of partners.