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INSTITUTION
Université de Mons WEBSITE
http://portail.umons.ac.be ADDRESS
Place Warocqué, 17 7000 Mons Belgium
‘First major project for a new university’ University of Mons, Belgium
For the University of Mons (UMONS), the ECTS Label came at just the right moment. ‘The Label was considered in the very favourable context of the merging in 2009 of two formerly independent universities,’ explains Vice-Rector for International Relations Prof. Pierre Dehombreux. ‘They were the Université Mons-Hainaut and the Faculté Polytechnique de Mons. A Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning joined this new institution in 2010.’ The Label contributed directly to the success of this merger, as ‘it stimulated new types of collaboration between our faculties and administrative departments. Our Centre of Administrative Information Technology developed the software tools we needed to fill up the database in accordance with the ECTS guidelines.’ Those guidelines were ‘in phase with our quality assessment objectives and our need to define learning outcomes and skill profiles’. He feels that the ECTS process has ‘made our course offer clearer and more accessible worldwide’. It is ‘a necessary tool to define learning agreements in student exchange programmes but also to prepare future double diplomas which are fully mutually recognised’. Applying for the Label ‘turned out to be one of the first major projects of the newly created university… and it was a successful one!’
The University of Mons has about 6 000 students. It is currently building up its international programmes, mainly through the Erasmus and Erasmus Mundus Action 2 network. Inward and outward student mobility is increasing, particularly in the faculty of translation and interpretation. One outcome of the ECTS work is the development of courses taught in English. A onesemester International Management Programme and two Masters of Science in Electrical Engineering (focus on Biosystems Engineering and in Multimedia and Telecommunications) are offered. UMONS was awarded the ECTS label in 2011.