The Office of International Relations (SINTER) promotes the mini-course “Internacionalização da educação superior aplicada à UFSC: teoria e prática” [Internationalization of higher education applied to UFSC: theory and practice] in the 19th UFSC Teaching, Research, Outreach and Innovation Week (2022 SEPEX). The conference will be held online on 9 November 2022, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The course is targeted at undergraduate and graduate students, faculty and technical and administrative staff members. Its aim is to introduce the main concepts of internationalization of higher education, seeking the reflection on this phenomenon and its application in the context of the management of a Brazilian public university, in addition to presenting SINTER and its main programs.

Check below the course content:

1. Internationalization of higher education as a phenomenon and process – Concepts and dimensions of internationalization – Opportunities and dilemmas/contradictions of internationalization – University rankings;
2. Internationalization of higher education in Brazil – Analysis of recent developments in the internationalization of Brazilian higher education, based on the main government programs directed to fund this process from 2011 onwards: Ciência sem Fronteiras [Science without Borders][CsF), Idiomas sem Fronterias [Languages without Borders] (IsF) and the Programa Institucional de Internacionalização [Institutional Internationalization Program] (Capes – Print) – The Brazilian Association for International Education (FAUBAI);
3. UFSC internationalization – The Office of International Relations (SINTER)

Registrations will open soon.

A virtual exchange experience will bring together undergraduate students from the Energy Engineering program of the Araranguá Campus at UFSC and students from the Tourism and Hospitality program of the Conception and Santiago Campuses at the Instituto Profesional de la Fundacion Duoc UC. Professors Kátia Magruga (UFSC) and Patricia Medina (Duoc UC) have planned mini-courses linked to the Entrepreneurship in Energy Engineering and Energy Efficiency and Management courses at UFSC and the Portuguese Language course at Duoc UC.

The courses will take place for three weeks, between the end of October and the first half of November, and will include synchronous and asynchronous activities. Their main objective is to provide a space for intercultural exchanges and the practice of teamwork in an interdisciplinary and international way.

For each of the mini-courses, two secondary education teachers from the Araranguá region were invited. Based on the experiences and the evaluation, it is expected that new virtual exchanges can be carried out through the partnership between UFSC and foreign educational institutions. Furthermore, the expectation is that this type of exchange inspires similar projects in schools in Santa Catarina through the participation of secondary education teachers.

The international virtual exchange activities and the Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) program at UFSC are coordinated by professor Kátia Madruga and the Office of International Relations (SINTER).

The administrative building of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya.

The Universitat Oberta de Catalunya [Open University of Catalonia] (UOC) is a private university dedicated to distance learning, based in Barcelona, Spain.  It is the world’s first university with a virtual campus.

The Secretary for International Relations at UFSC, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho, visited UOC and gave us this report:

“As I was registered to participate in the 32nd European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference and Exhibition, I thought it was important to get to know a university in Catalonia as part of the “Campus Experience” activity. The university with the name Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) caught my attention, but what really surprised me was the meaning of “Open”. The name, for them, means that the student does not need to be present at the university. Thus, I got to know the first completely online university, founded in 1995. It was an interesting and unexpected experience.

This university has been growing year by year and in the period 2019-2020 had over 70 thousand students from 142 countries enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs, 478 permanent faculty members and 5300 collaborating faculty members, in addition to 667 administrative staff members. The practical classes, when needed, take place in other institutions located where the student is residing.

The pandemic forced us to undertake remote learning, and it certainly opened up the debate on online learning, which is very different from offering remote classes. At UFSC, we call distance learning (EaD) what others call online programs. It uses other teaching and learning methodologies that depend a lot on the students and their motivation. There are positive and negative aspects. It seems to me that the positive aspects include the fact that education is made possible for those who work, have a family, or cannot afford to live in the city where the university is based. From this perspective, it is inclusive, providing study opportunities for those who otherwise would not have them. In fact, the age group of UOC students is mostly above 30 years old. On the other hand, there is the very negative aspect of the student not experiencing the university and its daily life, not socializing, not knowing their colleagues and professors, and having to learn always through the cold contact of a computer screen. Online learning is there, and it is up to us (UFSC) to assess its relevance, utility and opportunity”.

This year, the 32^nd Annual EAIE Conference and Exhibition gathered more than 6,300 university representatives from all over the world.

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) was represented at the 32nd Annual European Association for International Education (EAIE) Conference and Exhibition by the Secretary for International Relations, Prof. Luiz Carlos Pinheiro Machado Filho. The EAIE Conference, which took place between 13 and 16 September in Barcelona, Spain, is the largest and most important European event on higher education. In the event, European universities and several universities from other continents come together. The presence in the event has brought to UFSC international visibility in a privileged space to create a network, strengthen partnerships and establish cooperation agreements. UFSC participated together with 19 Brazilian universities in the stand of the Brazilian Association for International Education (FAUBAI).

Throughout the conference, UFSC established contact with several institutions, such as: the Associação das Universidades de Língua Portuguesa [Association of Portuguese Language Universities] (AULP), to receive students from Portuguese-speaking universities, especially from Africa; the new Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA) and INP, in France, to renew student mobility agreements and double-degree agreements; the University of Oulu, in Finland, for student mobility in the areas of Information, Technology and Electrical Engineering; the Universidad EIA in Medellin, Colombia, for discussion of a double-degree agreement in the area of Automotive Engineering; the  National University of Arts in Bucharest, Romania, which announced their annual festival; and the Universidad de Guadalajara, in Mexico, for a possible extension of cooperation agreements.

Brazilian institutions that were present in the event, at the FAUBAI stand.

During the conference, the Brazilian consul in Barcelona, Mr. Clemente Baena Soares, visited the FAUBAI stand to honor the Brazilian delegation. The delegation members reinforced to him the importance of MEC investing in the international visibility of the Brazilian universities. This year, there was no government support for the stand. UFSC had good visibility at the conference and remains a university highly sought-after by many international partners, as a result of the quality of the academic work of our university community.

The Office of International Relations (SINTER) announces the rectification of the Call for Applications no. 14/2022/SINTER concerning the period in which technical and administrative staff members can undertake mobility.

Check the rectification here and the original Call for Applications here.

The Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina (UFSC) received, between 26 and 30 September, the visit from Laura Ascenzi, staff member of the Universidad Nacional de Córdoba (UNC), through the Escala Gestores y Administradores program of the Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevideo [Association of Universities of Montevideo Group] (AUGM). Ms. Ascenzi is in charge of the institutional communication area at the Facultad de Ciencias Económicas and has been working at UNC for fourteen years. In addition to working as a staff member, she is also a professor and researcher in the areas of Social Communication, Management of Innovative Technologies and Linkage.

The staff member was welcomed on 26 September by the UFSC Communication Agency (Agecom). During her stay, she visited the TV UFSC, the Office of Distance Learning (SEAD), the Prorectorate for Outreach and Extension (Proex), the Prorectorate for Undergraduate Studies and Basic Education (Prograd) and the Prorectorate for Affirmative Action and Equity (Proafe). The Escala Gestores y Administradores program aims at promoting mobility between technical and administrative staff from AUGM member universities in order to strengthen university management and administration, contributing to their development and increasing the understanding of the different organizational structures.

Laura Ascenzi visits Agecom at the Trindade Campus.

From left to right: Vice-Rector Joana Célia dos Passos, UCL staff member Laura Ascenzi and Rector Irineu Manoel de Souza.

The Office of International Relations (SINTER) announces the list of students approved in the documentation review stage of the selection process for the Escala Estudiantes de Grado program of the Asociación de Universidades Grupo Montevideo [Association of Montevideo Group Universities] (AUGM) for the first semester of 2023, according to the Call for Applications no. 13/2022/SINTER.

Pre-selected students:

Amanda Becker

Amanda Camuzato de Quadros

Andrey Luiz da Rocha

Ane Caroline Schuh Debald

Camille Guilardi

Gabriel Mariano Gonçalves Santos

Guilherme Hoepers Ferraz

Gustavo Frederico Escorsim

Julia Franco Trombini

Marina Aime Budnikar

Patrick Suhre da Rosa

Ranieri Paulo Bona

Thaisa de Paula Pereira Cordovil

The interviews will take place between 13 and 18 October. The applicants will receive an e-mail with the date and time of their interview.

Applicants wishing to appeal against the preliminary results of the selection process may do so until 11:59 p.m. on 10 October 2022. The appeal must be sent in PDF format to augm.sinter@contato.ufsc.br.

The subject of the e-mail must be APPEAL + APPLICANT’S FIRST AND LAST NAME (e.g. APPEAL ANA SILVA). Appeals that are not submitted in this format, or are submitted after the deadline, will not be considered.