How to choose the best students for Master's programmes?
How to choose the best students for Master's programmes and to do so by going towards an admission model based on competencies? This was the main issue addressed on Tuesday, March 28 in the open session on models for selection and admission of students in master's programs organized by ACUP in the context of the project Mastermind Europe. The session was aimed at everyone interested in admission processes and models to ensure the best selection of students for each program. It was led by Inez Meurs, from Ziggurat, and Kees Kouwenaar, the project coordinator, from Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, both experts in admission.
The dean of the Faculty of Economics and Business, Elisenda Paluzie and Joan Ramon Borrell, Master's coordinator from UB, opened the meeting. Both shared the need for a project like this as the number of international students coming to Catalonia from different countries and cultures of origin is increasing. Paluzie and Borrell also stressed the need for the fit between the profile of student that Masters search and what students are looking for, and highlighted the need of clear methods for assessing competencies and skills rather than academic recognition, which has been the paradigm until now. Kees Kouwenaar and Inez Meurs explained the objectives of the project and presented the project documents (guiding tools), as well as the experience of previous pilot sessions in cities like Vilnius, Ljubljana and Milano. Pia Moret, Head of the Office of the Inter-University Council of Catalonia (CIC) closed the event to show CIC's interest in admission processes and announced the forthcoming creation of a working group on the topic.
Mastermind is a project funded by Erasmus+. It is coordinated by the University of Amsterdam (Vrije Universieit Amsterdam), with the participation of the Catalan Association of Public Universities (ACUP), the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA), Study Portals, Ziggurat, the Conference of Rectors of Germany and higher education institutions of Austria, Finland, Italy, Lithuania and Slovenia. The project's aim is to improve the mobility of national and European master students, moving from an admission model based on the recognition of qualifications to one based on competencies.
