Education-e-valuation 1st semester 2004-2005 launched
Mid-February saw the official launch of the 2004-2005 Education-e-valuation,
where students of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel can evaluate the
educational components of the first semester just finished via an
on-line survey. This annual anonymous survey of students gives the
Vrije Universiteit Brussel feedback on the quality of the lectures,
the teaching staff, the available study materials and the examination
process. A new feature is that now all course components can be
evaluated, thus including components from the continuing academic
courses (GAS/GGS) and the teaching courses. Also new, of course,
is the fact that this is the first year that the survey covers the
new Bachelor's/Master's(BA/MA) structure. For courses taught in
English a parallel English language survey has been put on line.
The evaluation period runs until Monday 14 March 2005. Students
are required to register on the evaluation intranet site using their
free e-mail account. However, there is no charge. All students concerned
have been individually invited. For more information on this event,
contact the Quality Assurance and Accreditation Unit in the vice-rectorate
for Education, Frank.Gladines@vub.ac.be.
INCOMING ERASMUS: Online pre-registration form for potential incoming
Erasmus students 2005-2006 available now
From today on, potential incoming Erasmus students for next academic
year 2005-2006 can pre-register online.
A handy STEP by STEP Erasmus exchange registration procedure can
be downloaded before filling in the pre-registration form. The Vrije
Universiteit Brussel has more than 300 bilateral agreements with
over 170 partners universities across Europe. Only partners that
have signed a bilateral agreement with de Vrije Universiteit Brussel
in specific study areas can send students to us. The full Erasmus
exchange applications have to be sent to us by the HOME institution
no later than July 1st 2005 - for all exchanges taking place in
2005-2006 regardless of the chosen semester. The full application
should include a learning agreement and a transcript of records.
Ask the Erasmus Office or International Relations Office of your
home university for these documents. 
ERAMUS/SOCRATES : Integrated Reporting for International Students
(IRIS) now used all over Europe
IRIS - Integrated Reporting for International Students-
is a project funded by the European Commission Directorate General
of Education and Culture. The Norwegian Centre for International
University Cooperation (SIU) is the developer. The goal of IRIS
is to provide a service to both students and universities involved
in Erasmus exchanges. IRIS includes the collective experience of
ERASMUS foreign exchange students.
The reporting system features the following:
- A free reporting service for all Erasmus institutions
- Public searching/browsing functions
- A university catalogue with basic Erasmus institutions data
- Access for universities to update their information
- The official Erasmus student report questionnaire in several languages
- User feedback services for administrators and the public
- Automatic e-mail functions for administrators
- Help pages for administrators and the public
- Statistical services
Support centre offers remedial Dutch classes
On 1 February 2005 the first Dutch support centre for students in
Dutch-speaking universities and colleges in Brussels was launched.
The support centre offers students who have difficulties with Dutch
in their studies and who speak another language than Dutch at home
remedial lessons in Dutch on an individual, pair or group basis.
The training offered relates as closely as possible to the student's
course. The first year teacher training students at the Erasmushogeschool
Brussel (EhB) have just begun a first series of remedial Dutch classes.
As well as students, teaching staff and student advisors can also
approach the centre with questions to do with working with students
from other language backgrounds. If you want to know more about
what is on offer at the support centre for students, teaching staff
and student advisors, contact: Elke Schellekens, tel:02/501.66.64
- e-mail: elke.schellekens@huisnederlandsbrussel.be
IRIS Reports can be consulted via host country, study area and host
institution, or even multiple criteria
The idea is that EACH Erasmus student submits a report after his/her
exchange period. It is easy to submit a report to IRIS. How can
YOU, as a student, use IRIS? If your home university/institution
uses IRIS, it may have already sent you a notification to fill out
your report. If this is the case, you should simply use the link
they sent you to access and complete your report: there is no need
to create another. Otherwise, click the link at the bottom of this
page (link) to set up and complete a report, but remember that it
may be read by thousands of people, including many prospective exchange
students like yourself. Therefore, answer all questions accurately,
and try to be as informative as possible when you answer prose questions
(where you can write as much as you wish). Once you have submitted
your report, it will be immediately available to all visitors of
the IRIS website, but your personal information will remain hidden.
NOTE: The answers you give to open-ended (prose) questions will
not be publicly available until your report has been reviewed by
the Erasmus administrator at your home university. There are numerous
reasons for this, but in practice it means that you should notify
your Erasmus coordinator that you have submitted a report. Having
read all that precedes, you should now be ready to start reporting!
Click here
to begin. You will be asked to give some basic information about
your exchange and then to select the language of the report questionnaire.
Elections for the student council
Your university, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, has fostered a
tradition of democratic co-management since its earliest beginnings.
In addition, critical education in community responsibility is part
of the university's mission. Student participation is inextricably
linked with a satisfactory selection of candidates. So we are calling
upon you to participate. In March, all students at the Vrije Universiteit
Brussel are invited to elect their representatives to the governing
Council, the Education Council and the Student Council - "Student
facilities" department for next academic year. This year's
elections, in which you can vote electronically for the first time,
will be held on Monday 21st, Tuesday 22nd, Wednesday 23rd, Thursday
24th and Friday 25th March 2005. You will receive more specific
information about how to vote in the week before the elections.
It is important that the voice of the international students should
be heard. Therefore we urge you to cast your vote. For more information
contact: The Council Secretariat, Natasja Van Den Brande, Building
M, room M 501 / M 515A, Tel.: 02/629.21.57 or 02/629.21.47 or Bruno
Verwee, Bruno.Verwee@vub.ac.be
, Building M, room M012, Tel.: 02/629.21.57 or 02/629.15.01
Toefl Training Course
The Language Centre of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (ITO) will
be organising a 12-hour TOEFL training course in June 2005 to help
students prepare for the TOEFL test. Training will be in the relevant
skills areas of listening, reading, structure and writing, and will
be conducted in the Language Centre computer room.
Course dates and times:
Monday 6 June, 09.00 a.m.-12.00 a.m.
Tuesday 7 June, 09.00 a.m.-12.00 a.m.
Thursday 9 June, 09.00 a.m.-12.00 a.m.
Friday 10 June, 09.00 a.m.-12.00 a.m.
Fees:
TOEFL training + VUB TOEFL test (for future students of the Vrije
Universiteit Brussel): 185 €
TOEFL training only (for non-VUB students): 200 €
Minimum number of participants: 5
Further information from ITO office: Mrs J. Hanegreefs, Room E.2.12,
office hours 09.00 a.m.-11.30 a.m. & 2.00 pm.- 4.00 p.m., Tel.
02/629 2607, e-mail: jhanegre@vub.ac.be
For the dates and information about the English Test 2005, please
click here.
