Ss' Cyril and Methodius University Skopje

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Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje Law
Faculty Iustinianus Primus Department of
Political Science
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Ss. Cyril and Methodius University Skopje Law
Faculty Iustinianus Primus Department of
Political Science

• Departmental Reform 2005/2006
• Challenges ahead lessons learnt
• Introduction and implementation of ECTS
• Curriculum Development

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ECTS Implementation

• Biggest challenge in Departments short history
• - Reform process centered around two principal
  pillars
• Institutional strenghtening
• Human resources

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• Institutional strenghtening

• Electronic registration system
• -Novelty on University level
• -Complete networked database of student and
  faculty files
• -Infrastructure investment placing optical
  readers in every classroom and teaching facility
• -Each class attendance of every student (in
  possession of an electronic card-index) is
  measured electronically
• -Each class attendance and punctuality of every
  professor is measured electronically
• -The system provides means of registering student
  class activity

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• Institutional strenghtening

• Electronic registration system
• - Adjustments in grading policy
• -Two multiple choice tests per course
• -Evaluated by optical readers which provide
  immediate access to information on test results
• -The system provides easy and immediate internet
  access to information on class attendance, class
  activity and test grades, since every student has
  its own personal file
• -The aggregate final grade of every student is a
  combination of the test results, class attendance
  and activity

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Institutional strenghtening

• Lessons learnt
• - Highest level of transparency
• - Immediate and easy access to information
• - More justified grading policy
• - Student oriented, limits professors influence
  in the grading process
• - Clear trade off between simplified and
  standardized evaluation policy on one hand and a
  more innovative, individual and multidirectional
  policy on the other
• - System might be vulnerable from hacker
  interferences
• - Not costly way of managing a large number of
  students

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Institutional strenghtening

• Infrastructure
• - ECTS student information office has been
  established
• - Improvement in obtaining audio-visual
  infrastructure in support of more inovative
  teaching methods
• - From this year, In cooperation with the British
  Council, the Department is able to utilize a much
  needed video conference infrastructure planned to
  support distance learning programmes and holding
  academic conferences and events
• - However, the overall infrastructure (mainly
  classrooms, teaching facilities) is not
  sufficient and on a mid-term basis it will not be
  able to support the steadily increasing number of
  students

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Human resources - Lessons Learnt

• Weak state of HR
• Lack of teaching staff
• Course teaching vacancies due to limiting
  government employment policy
• Incompatible teaching staff discordant academic
  background (only three professors and five AFP
  Returning Scholars have an adequate political
  science profile)
• Low understanding of ECTS philosophy
• Some senior professors are resistant to change,
  dont understand the student oriented system
• Examples of deliberate undermining of ECTS
  implementation

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Human resources reform

• Starting of a visiting professor programme
• - Prior AFP support resulted with the one year
  stay of visiting professor Hung-Soo Khang (AFP
  Resident Scholar)
• - Cooperation with the U.S. embassy coordinated
  Fulbright Programme for providing visiting
  professors
• Increased participation of visiting lecturers
• Increasing the number of Returning Scholars

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Curriculum Development

• Academic year 2005/2006 introduced a completely
  new curriculum (adopted on 01.04.2005)
• Introduction of a new 32 study programme
  replacing the prior 42 programme
• Reform of the separate course study agenda
  transforming the previously 2 semester courses
  into 1 semester courses
• - Current study program is adjusted and upgraded
  according to the ECTS criteria. Regarding this,
  the new study programme is ten semesters i.e.
  five years (32) with total of 300 ECTS credits.
  There are 25 obligatory courses (180 ECTS
  credits) with 1308 hours of workload which is 60
  of the overall study programme. By passing all 25
  obligatory courses and obtaining 180 ECTS
  credits, students are awarded Bachelor degree-BA
  of Political science

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Curriculum Development

• In the VII, VIII, and IX semester there are five
  MA modules each containing seven courses, (with
  total of 56 credits and 420 hours of workload or
  19 of the overall study programme). By selecting
  one of the above noted modules students are
  specialising for
• Public policy
• Diplomacy and International relations
• Political management
• European institutions and policies
• Peace studies/Conflict Managament

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Curriculum Development

• 50 of courses need new ECTS compatible syllabi
• MA curriculum at initial phase
• Significant input of AFP Returning Scholars and
  AFP International Scholars

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Curriculum Development

• Short term plans
• - Expanding the Departmental library with more
  core texts
• - Successful completion of the ongoing
  preparation of a TEMPUS project on curriculum
  development
• - Establishing a translation center
• - Introduction of a standardized internship
  programme for the MA students