MEMBERSHIP

CONTENTS:


Who are the members of EUCEN?

EUCEN membership is institutional: all universities within geographical Europe, that deliver the highest academic degree in their country are eligible for Full Membership.

In March 2007 EUCEN had a total of 212 members:

  • 165 Full Members from 33 different countries within Europe.

  • 12 Associate Members from universities outside geographical Europe.

  • 8 Affiliate Member Universities from institutions within Europe.

  • 20 Affiliate Members (national or international organisations concerned with ULLL).

  • 7 Individual Members (representing non-official National Networks)

EUCEN is present in 42 different countries around the world.

Follow this link to see how EUCEN members are distributed around the World.

Statistics

We still have the largest number of members since EUCEN was first created! We look forward to welcome new institutions to join the Network.

Please click on the icons below to see the graphs representing the flow in membership since July 2000 and the comparison in membership between May 2001, May 2002, May 2003, June 2004, May 2005, May 2006 and March 2007.

 

  
Flow
  
Comparison

 

Who can join EUCEN?

According to current Statutes:

  • Universities in geographical Europe able to award the highest diploma in their country can apply for Full Membership.

  • Universities from countries outside geographical Europe can apply for Associate Membership.

  • Universities or prestigious institutions of Higher Education in geographical Europe awarding Master Degrees can apply for Associate Membership.

  • National or international organisations concerned with university lifelong learning can apply for Affiliate Membership.

What are the benefits of EUCEN membership?

 

The main benefits of EUCEN membership are access to people and to information and representation in the policy making process.

Membership is institutional not individual so that the benefits outlined below are available to all members of staff in your university not just the named representative.


Access is provided through the web pages:

     

  • EUCENews – a twice monthly service of information on a wide range of ideas, events and activities related to university continuing education in Europe.

  • Market place – an opportunity to search for partners and participants in your projects and courses and to respond to partner searches from other members.

  • Discussion forums – on key topics of interest and debate.

  • Publications – information of what is being published in the field – new books and journal articles.

And through printed materials:

Other journals have expressed an interest in similar arrangements, so this list is likely to increase each year.




And the opportunity to join projects:

  • One of the key tasks of the Projects Director is to develop projects for and with members. There are now several projects currently underway and there is always work in progress on future proposals.

For further information, please contact Pat Davies.



And through support for your projects:

  • In addition, EUCEN can support projects proposed by members in a number of ways:

    • acting as the Evaluator (e.g. R3L project)

    • providing a channel for dissemination and valorisation of project information and results (e.g. UNFOLD)

    • assisting with partner searches

    • providing an expert reading of a draft proposal

    • providing access to training on EU programmes and actions (e.g. ELLPROFT)

For further information, please contact Pat Davies.


And through conferences

 

In collaboration with a member university, EUCEN organises two events each year.

  • The spring event is a conference on a particular theme (e.g. Barcelona, Brno, Bergen).

  • The autumn event is a project symposium which provides a forum for meetings of current projects, a showcase for completed projects and workshops on a 'hot topic'. There are normally around 4 parallel workshops each lasting about 1½ days to allow more in-depth work on a particular topic (e.g. Aveiro, Kaunas).

The events are open to non-members – we want to keep the network open and dynamic not closed and stagnant. But EUCEN members who are up to date with their subscriptions, pay a discounted conference fee and this is available for an unlimited number of staff in the member university. So if you wish several members of staff to attend, they can all benefit from the discount. In addition, it is hoped that for the autumn event some of the expenses (travel and accommodation) may be financed through project budgets.



And through working groups and task forces:

EUCEN has Task Forces on a number of topics:

  • Cross border collaboration in ULLL - further information from Helka Urponen (University of Lapland, Finland).

  • IT courses for senior citizens - further information from Petr Vavrin (Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic).

  • Developing a portal for access to members' catalogue of on-line course - further information from Esko Paakkola (University of Joensuu, Finland).

It is open to all members to suggest topics that can bring together groups of individuals from other member institutions to develop their ideas. Often these groups develop project proposals and other initiatives (for example the Task Force on Quality developed the EQUIPE proposal which was a successful Grundtvig 4 project network that produced a continuation project: EQUIPE Plus).


And through the expertise of the network:

Those who take an active part and appear regularly at EUCEN events have behind them teams of colleagues representing a large body of experienced, innovative and enthusiastic professionals in university continuing education. Everyone is either an expert in a particular field themselves or they know someone who is. The EUCEN office in Barcelona can help locate a particular form of expertise within the network.

Please follow this link to know more about the EUCEN's Network of Members' Interests/Expertise.

 

Representation is provided through:

  • Members of the Steering Committee who regularly represent EUCEN at a wide range of policy discussion, meetings and activities

  • Individuals in member universities who represent EUCEN on specific committees:

    • Ebba Ossiannilsson (Lund University) represents EUCEN on the Open and Distance Learning Liaison Committee (ODLLC)

    • Mike Osborne (University of Stirling) represented EUCEN at the Council of Europe series of seminars on lifelong learning and social inclusion

  • Link with EUA – EUCEN is in close contact with the European Universities Association.

  • Links with other networks – such as the European network of Quality Agencies (ENQA).

  • Affiliate membership - EUCEN has reciprocal membership arrangements with a number of national networks for ULLL and with European and international networks, for example, the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA), the European Distance Education Network (EDEN), the European Civil Society Platform on Lifelong Learning (EUCIS-LLL platform), etc.

 



The office:

The Executive Office and the Finance Unit in Barcelona, are available at anytime to provide further information on any aspect of membership and the services provided by EUCEN. Do not hesitate to contact us.



How can my University or Organisation join EUCEN?

You only need to fill in our application form, make sure the Rector or President of your university or organisation signs it and send it to the EUCEN Executive Office (the address is on the application).


To download the application form clicking here.
You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open it.

If you prefer to download a Word version of the application form, please follow this link.

 

How much will cost us?

The annual fee for Full Members is 420 Euros in 2007.

The annual fee for Associate Members is 390 Euros in 2007.

The arrangement for Affiliate Members depends on the organisation and is negotiated on a case by case basis – usually it involves mutual membership without payment on either side.

Further information

For further information about fees, how to join us or any other subject, please contact Carme Royo.
About Eucen - Conferences - Actions - Projects - Policy Statements - Member's Room
 
04/05/07