International Club

Main idea

Outline

The International Club is part of an extracurricular excellence track within the study programs Business and Management, and Communication, Media and Design at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences (AUAS). Four first-year students (2^nd semester) and second/third-year students are charged with building a cohesive community that embraces all students, with a particular focus on incoming first-years, including international students. The primary goal is to foster a strong sense of belonging in this community.

This project complements the initiatives of ESN (Erasmus Student Network), which organizes activities exclusively for foreign students. The differences are that the International Club is organized within the university, with local students as managers and participants, and the community is also open for exchange students and Dutch students who study at Artevelde University of Applied Sciences for three years.

Various activities are organized throughout the academic year to bring students together and to make sure that first year (exchange) students feel at home (e.g. social-cultural activities such as a quiz, a museum visit or a day trip or a party). There is also a buddy project, mainly organized in the first semester, which is partly taken over by the international club for the rest of the academic year.

Goals

• To give the international students a warm welcome. Making them feel at home and help them to make friends through the community.
• Ensure that exchange students leave with a positive feeling after their stay here, not only in terms of their studies but also as individuals who have enjoyed themselves.
• The students as managers can develop extracurricular organisational and social skills.

Target group

Obstacles targetted:

• Cultural differences
• Social obstacles

Students involvement

Students are involved in the design of the initiative but are mostly active in the delivery. They can apply to become a manager or buddy in the International Club. These managers organize different activities throughout the academic year and organize the buddy system.

One group of four students commits to these tasks for one year. After evaluating their presentation of their activities after the first semester, the International Office decides whether this group continues working on the project in the second semester or not. If not, a new group takes over the project in the second part of the academic year.

Inspiration and evidence

• ICOMs (international and intercultural competences)
  Buddies sharpen their international and intercultural competencies. This includes language proficiency, social skills, engagement, recognizing cultural differences and learning to deal with them.

• Community building

Success criteria

• International students find themselves in a warm environment. Through the community they feel at home, they make friends, and they can participate in various activities.
• The local students develop personal and professional skills that they do not learn in their curriculum.
• Artevelde University of Applied Sciences takes an holistic approach. AUAS does not just want to train their students for a specific profession, but also aims to teach them how to function as individuals in a diverse workplace.
• The International Office can partially delegate their tasks to students.

Points of attention

• The project requires more budget than what is available.
• It is very difficult to find committed students and to mobilize them for this initiative.

Would you recommend this to other institutions?

strongly agree

Communication

A job vacancy is shared for which students can apply. Selection is based on motivation followed by an interview. This is sent out at the beginning of the academic year, with a second call in the spring semester. This job vacancy and basic information about the excellence program are shared on the general communication platform of AUAS along with an application form. Additionally, there is an introduction session where these programs are presented by the coach.

Timing

The project is organized throughout the academic year.

Resources

There is a coach for the excellence track who is a fixed point of contact. The organizing students meet with this coach every month to discuss experiences, needs and a planning. Extra meetings can be requested by students and the coach.

Transferability

We think it is quite easily transferable to other contexts or groups.

The excellence track is extracurricular and is quite easily transferable.