The Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories, NUSCT, publicly condemns the invasion of the Ukrainian territory and the breach of its sovereignty by the Russian armed forces, and supports the global demands for an immediate halt to the military aggression, for the respect of international law, and for the diplomatic and peaceful resolution of all conflicts.
Likewise, NUSCT encourages citizens and organisations of the world to incessantly dedicate their energy to the global preservation of peace, tolerance, mutual respect and understanding,
The UNIRSM hosts the NUSCT 3rd Rectors’ Annual Meeting
On 20 October, 2021, rectors and vice-rectors from the universities of the Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories came together in the Republic of San Marino to celebrate the NUSCT 3rd Annual Meeting, the network’s first face-to-face meeting since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting, which followed participation in the 2021-2022 UNIRSM Academic Year Inaugural Ceremony and a visit to the “Dante” exhibition at the Embassy of Italy in San Marino, was hosted by member Università degli Studi della Repubblica di San Marino , in hybrid format to facilitate participation by members who could not travel to the meeting site.
Meeting participants congratulated President Miquel Nicolau as they reviewed with satisfaction the consolidation and evolution of the network during the pandemic, which grew by 4 members to now represent almost all European small countries and territories.
Members also very positively assessed the activities that were launched during the COVID-19 months – the NUSCT Quality Assurance Working Group with 23 QA experts, the NUSCT Discussion Group on Education and Technology During COVID-19, the NUSCT Coursera for Campus platform, the successful drive to have all member universities underwrite the Magna Charta Universitatum Declaration, as well as to be included in U-Multirank, among others – and the support received from the Network and from one another to overcome the challenges that each had to face during the pandemic to various aspects of university operations.
Finally, rectors unanimously agreed to set up an external NUSCT Quality Assurance Unit, to organize an International Conference on the History of Small Countries – to be held at the University of the Faroe Islands – to launch joint summer bootcamps on various topics – the first one being on Applications of Distributive Ledger Technologies, to be organized the University of Nicosia, in Cyprus – and to explore the possibility of designing NUSCT joint and double degrees. Inter-NUSCT mobility and exchanges are expected to increase as COVID-19 travel restrictions are eased.
The Università della Repubblica di San Marino, and specifically rector Corrado Petrocelli and his team were thanked for the impeccable organization of the meeting; rectors were also thanked for their very productive contributions.
In closing, NUSCT President Miquel Nicolau announced that the host of the 4th NUSCT Rectors’ Annual Meeting will be held at the University of Greenland in 2022.
NUSCT is a network led by the University of Andorra to enable universities in small countries that share similar characteristics and contexts establish collaborations, share strategies and best practices, and have a unified voice in international fora.
University of Liechtenstein becomes a signatory of the Magna Charta Universitatum
NUSCT is pleased to announce that member University of Liechtenstein has become a signatory of the Magna Charta Universitatum, thus underlying the network’s commitment to the principles of the Magna Charta, already underwritten by members University of Andorra, the University of the Faroe Islands, the University of Gibraltar, the University of Greenland, the University of Malta, the University of the Mediterranean of Montenegro, the University of Montenegro, the University of Nicosia, and the University of San Marino.
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 Magna Charta Universitatum Declaration contains principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy as a guideline for good governance and self-understanding of universities, present and future.
NUSCT launches a Working Group on Quality Assurance
The Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories has launched a Working Group on Quality Assurance, in which all of the members of the Network are participating.
The objective of the WG is to inventory and share the quality assurance tools that members employ, to internally benchmark these, and to identify processes and instruments that should ideally be adopted to ensure that all universities are optimally equipped to attain their mission and to meet stakeholders’ highest expectations, both in normal and in exceptional situations and environments.
The deliverable of this Working Group will be a document with recommendations to all NUSCT members on how best to maintain the highest level of Quality Assurance across the Network.
For more information contact: secretariat@nusct.net
The Mediterranean University joins the NUSCT
As NUSCT (Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories) approaches the 3rd anniversary of its constitution, the Network unanimously approved on February 15, 2021, the application of the Mediterranean University (Univerzitet Mediteran) as its 11th member.
The Mediterranean University thus becomes the second higher education institution from Montenegro, as well as the 2nd private university to join the Network.
For more information on the new member please visit http://unimediteran.net/index.php/en/
Universities interested in joining NUSCT should apply online or address a letter of interest by their rector/Vice Chancellor to: NUSCT President Miquel Nicolau at president@nusct.net
NUSCT welcomes new members the University of Akureyri and the University of Nicosia
On February 1st , 2021 the University of Akureyri and the University of Nicosia were welcomed into NUSCT with the unanimous support of the member universities’ rectors.
The membership of the University of Akureyri and of the University of Nicosia attest to the effort of NUSCT to achieve a fully inclusive European national and territorial representation, by now adding Iceland and Cyprus to Andorra, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Liechtenstein, Malta, Montenegro, and the Republic of San Marino, and , with the University of Nicosia, the first private university to join the Network.
For more information on the two new members please visit https://www.unak.is/english and www.unic.ac.cy
Universities interested in joining NUSCT should apply online at https://surveys.uda.ad/index.php/243358?lang=en
NUSCT registered almost 300 enrolments on the “Coursera for Campus” platform
The “NUSCT Coursera for Campus”, has enrolled 297 learners from its universities since the Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories (NUSCT) adhered to the initiative in June, 2020. The bulk of registrations took place in September, coinciding with the provider’s decision to extend the registration deadline to the end of that month.
The majority of the learners, who were first introduced to the Coursera educational platform through this initiative, took training in computer science, finance, psychology, law and data management. In total, 314 teaching hours were recorded and participants attended up to 407 classes, giving an average course rating of 4,8/5.
The “Coursera for Campus” initiative was launched to assist universities in mitigating the instruction disruption caused by the health crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic by offering almost 4,000 online courses in 400 different areas, with free Certificates for learners who successfully completed the courses in two months, and no later than the end of December, 2020.
NUSCT Meets Online Over COVID-19 Impact
On December 11, 2020, the Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories (NUSCT) celebrated its second COVID-19 online conference , in view of the impossibility of holding a twice-postponed face-to-face Rectors’ meeting because of the continuing pandemic, with related travel and gathering restrictions.
NUSCT members were accompanied by the Rector and the International Coordinator of the University of Akureyri (Iceland), and by the Vice Rector of University of Nicosia (Cyprus), who had been invited by President Miquel Nicolau in response to their interest in joining the Network.
Rectors and institutional coordinators in attendance updated information on the impact of the pandemic on their institutions, generally described as milder than had been forecast. In most member universities the extended instruction in the online modality has been rated positively by their students and staff, and, contrary to expectations, enrollment not only has not suffered, but has generally experienced an increase compared to the previous year. Institutional funding has not been affected, nor were research projects, other than by limitations imposed by international mobility difficulties. International student and staff exchanges, on the other hand, are still under temporary suspension at most Network institutions.
NUSCT members agreed to carry out a number of joint activities designed to strengthen the Network and its members in the face of these ongoing challenging times.
Rectors set the fall of 2021 as the tentative period to hold the postponed 3rd NUSCT Rectors’ Meeting at the UNIRSM, in the Republic of San Marino.
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
The Republic of San Marino joins the EHEA
The Ministers of Education of the European Higher Education Area met online on 19th November, 2020, to review the progress of the Bologna Process. In the course of the meeting the Republic of San Marino was formally admitted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
This expanded EHEA, which affects Network of Universities of Small Countries and Territories member Università degli Studi della Repubblica di San Marino, further aligns and cements NUSCT the to the principles of the EHEA.
November 20 , 2020