Erasmus+ AESOP

“Advocacy Establishment for Students through Ombudsman Position”

(561640-EPP-1-2015-1-AZ-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP)

Objective: Development of Student Advocacy Offices in Ukrainian, Georgian and Azerbaijani universities in order to remove obstacles to the academic process and effectively protect students’ rights.

Outputs:

1. Written materials (training guide, website) on student advocacy systems created
2. Student Advocacy Office (SAO) established in each university in agreement with internal university procedures
3. Ombudsperson from each university trained
4. Key staff and faculty from each university trained on student advocacy procedures and SAO functions

Activities:

1. Hold kick-off meeting with all partners
2. Conduct needs assessment (survey) in Azerbaijani partner universities
3. Identify best practices in the area of student advocacy and ombudsperson offices based on the experiences of the EU partners
4. Prepare and e-publish training materials in student advocacy for Azerbaijani universities
5. Prepare guidelines on students’ rights and responsibilities
6. Prepare guidelines on administrative and academic staff rights and responsibilities
7. Establish Student Advocacy Office in each Azerbaijani partner university
8. Run pilot training program in student advocacy for faculty and administration of one Azerbaijani partner university
9. Disseminate results on project website for the benefit of all universities in Azerbaijan and the region
10. Run training programs in student advocacy for students and staff in all Azerbaijani partner universities
11. Manage quality control and monitoring of project
12. Ensure sustainability of project (Student Advocacy Offices continue to function through universities and offer services)
13. Organize final meeting

Duration of the project: 15.10.2015 – 14.10.2018

Grant holder: Akaki Tsereteli State University (Georgia)

Partnership:

• Office of the Austrian Student Ombudsman (Austria)
• University of Warsaw (Poland)
• University of L’Aquila (Italy)
• University of Minho (Portugal)
• University of Jyväskylä (Finland)
• Middlesex University (Great Britain)
• Khazar University (Azerbaijan)
• Nakhchivan State University (Azerbaijan)
• Ganja State University (Azerbaijan)
• Nakhchivan University (Azerbaijan)
• Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan Republic (Azerbaijan)
• Akaki Tsereteli State University (Georgia)
• Caucasus University (Georgia)
• Georgian American University (Georgia)
• Higher Educational Establishment of Ukoopspilka
• “Poltava University of Economics and Trade” (Ukraine)
• Kyiv National Economic University (Ukraine)