The NUSCT Coursera for Campus Initiative

On June 10, 2020 the Network of Universities of Small Countries and Coursera, the world’s major online  educational provider, signed an agreement allowing the Network to join the latter’s Coursera for Campus COVID-19 Initiative, meant to assist universities in their response to the pandemic-caused  instruction disruption.

The NUSCT Coursera for Campus platform will make available 3800 Coursera courses across 400 specialisations, with free Certificates for students completing the courses, and free access to  provider’s reporting tools for the programs – one per member university – administrators (both are normally available only to fee-paying partners).

Through the agreement, Coursera has granted to NUSCT  20.000 licenses for the members’ university communities.

NUSCT students and staff  will be able to enroll until July 31 2020, and must complete their courses by  September 30, 2020 to obtain the corresponding free certificate.

NUSCT negotiated this agreement with Coursera in the belief that many of its courses might be useful resources for its members’ regular programs, particularly during these challenging times.

Although the “COVID-19 Academic Year” is almost over, these courses might be helpful to students needing  remedial studies over the summer, with the added incentive of an official certificate to show for their work. Learners who have successfully completed their academic year, on the other hand, might also appreciate the opportunity to expand their academic knowledge through this particular model of online learning.

University of Liechtenstein accepted to sign Magna Charta Universitatum

Vaduz – The Observatory Governing Council of the “Magna Charta Universitatum” has reviewed the application of the University of Liechtenstein and approved it as a signatory of the Magna Charta MCU2020 in March 2021. At the next ceremony of the Bologna-based association, Rector Prof. Dr. Ulrike Baumöl will sign the agreement of principles.

The Magna Charta Universitatum was signed by some 400 rectors on the occasion of the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna on September 18, 1988. It lays down fundamental principles of university life and is intended to protect the idea of the humanistic university. The fundamental principles are the independence of institutions, academic freedom, the inseparability of research and teaching, and their moral and intellectual independence from political and economic influences. The aim of the charter is to formulate basic requirements for future university development and policy. Signatories to the charter now include 889 universities from 88 countries.

“Signing the charter places us as a young university even more firmly in the humanistic traditions of higher education and fosters bonds between European universities – including those between Europe’s small states,” says Rector Prof. Dr. Ulrike Baumöl, explaining the significance of the convention: “In addition, the ‘Magna Charta’ serves as a universal inspiration for our further development.”

Posted on 28/08/2020

New signatories of the Magna Charta Universitatum

NUSCT is pleased to announce that two more of its members, namely the University of Gibraltar and the University of Greenland, have joined fellow members of NUSCT in becoming signatories of the Magna Charta Universitatum, thus further reinforcing the network’s commitment to the principles of the Magna Charta Declaration.

The Magna Charta Universitatum is a document that  was originally signed by 388 rectors and heads of universities from all over Europe and beyond on 18 September 1988, coinciding with the 900th anniversary of the University of Bologna.

The MCU Declaration (http://www.magna-charta.org/ ), which has been updated this year, contains principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy as a guideline for good governance and self-understanding of universities, present and future.

4th December 2020