Erasmus Policy Statement (2021-2027)

ERASMUS POLICY STATEMENT OF UNIVERSITY of SAMSUN

University of Samsun (SAMU) was founded in 2018 as a state university in the Black Sea Region of Turkey. Currently, SAMU has 5 faculties, 1 college and 1 vocational school, and aims to be a continuously developing and producing university in Turkey and worldwide by increasing the scientific effectiveness and productivity of the students and research staff in both national and international areas. Therefore, internationalization is one of the main strategies of our University as underlined in the “SAMU Strategic Plan”. In our international strategy (EU and non-EU), we attach importance to participate and have an active part in all kinds of international and national programmes for education, training, youth and sport; develop international academic, mobility and activity cooperation with EU and non-EU countries; support, promote and recognise student and staff mobility (including those from disadvantaged groups) at all levels (academic and administrative); attend in international fairs and exhibitions for international recognition and establish cooperation; increase academic degree programmes in English; start joint-degree programmes; develop an international  and multi-cultural campus environment; further develop our multi relations with the City Council, Chamber of Commerce and Trade, the Governorship, local governmental (GO) and non-governmental organisations (NGO) and enterprises and their international partners; develop joint international projects.

SAMU places great emphasis on international mobility/education by being aware of the significance of it in the modern world. Today, with the growth of technology knowledge is being able to transferred at a great pace all over the world. Therefore, international collaboration and learning provide global development. In this process, exchange studies enable a unique opportunity for both academic staff and the students by leading them through mutual learning and experiences.

SAMU’s internationalization strategy carries the tenets such as;

• Advocating the supremacy of law, abiding by human rights and equality
• Pursuing excellence and efficiency in education by keeping up with the world standards
• Encouraging all types of cooperation for the service and the well-being of society
• Valuing transparency, liability with an ethical approach
• Adopting team-spirit by conserving the importance and respecting the uniqueness of individuals
• Supporting creativeness and paying a great deal of value towards art and culture

SAMU prioritizes the strategy of continuous participation in the Erasmus Programme between 2021-2027 to achieve the aims of all the above successfully.

As SAMU Erasmus actions that we would like to take part in are mainly KA1, KA2, and KA3. Specifically, with KA1, higher education students and the staff will be the centre of the activities by assisting the institution with the objectives of leading innovative, creative, up to the world standards of education. This way the efficiency and the excellence in teaching and learning will be supported through assisting to enrich and adapt the curricula to the needs of our age.

Following a transparent, ethical, and equal approach, the selection period for the participants will be guided before/ during/ after the mobility by providing an atmosphere that will create the mutual benefit in the mobility process for all parties. Erasmus Office will provide all the crucial and necessary information and guidance to all participants through the whole procedure.

Regarding our institution’s internationalization and advancement, SAMU’s participation in the Erasmus+ Programme is crucial. As a higher education institution, we lead our students in a path to success by encouraging and supporting them to participate in mobility since we believe that this opportunity would provide them a wider vision in their area and help them improve themselves academically and socially. We acknowledge the fact that through the unique experience of mobility, the students will also gain self-confidence and get qualified in their field of studies.

Staff mobility will foster our academic staff’s development by making possible international projects which will obtain innovative knowledge and will sustain cross border cooperation. In line with mutual benefits qualified and efficient teaching and learning environments will be established.

SAMU believes that internationalization enhances the quality of education and research and in order to take part in the international academic community stands as a significant strategy. Therefore, regarding this aim, the participation in KA2 holds a great value by enabling our institution to form and spread a knowledge triangle of education, research, and innovation. At the same time, our institution gains a chance to improve its existing capabilities and strengthen global creativity, learning, and discovery.

Moreover, mobility is one of the significant pillars in the development of our students’ foreign language skills, and through being a part of internationalization experience our students will improve themselves and will get prepared for a professional world on an international level.

Timeline of Erasmus+ Actions 

2021-2022

Renewal of already existing agreements/ forming new agreements/ applying for KA131 projects in order to increase our involvement in Erasmus projects through obtaining a larger sum of grant that will provide more participants to benefit from this experience / to create a wider range of options for the participants, seeking for partners to establish KA171 projects / to be able to increase our visibility internationally and sustain the mutual benefit that is obtained through all the projects increase the number of international mobility / admitting more incoming students.

2023-2024-2025

Re-evaluating the objectives / establishing new agreements/ increasing the number of incoming students and staff / %5 increase in outgoing mobility numbers is planned. Through departmental visits, KA171 projects will be encouraged. The objective will be obtaining the diversity of countries we exchange students/staff with, so that a variety of cultures and experiences will be shared on a global scale which will be a great value for all parties in the projects.

2026-2027

Adding new projects to the current ones/ Establishing new agreements/ %5 increase in mobility numbers is anticipated/ increasing the number of incoming students and staff.