1. Business logic & User needs of EU mobility ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI
Ioannis Salmatzidis
Information Technology Center
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
RS3G – Mobility project Workshop
Uppsala November 2009

2. Agenda Background Definition of stakeholders Mobility Business logic
Technical perimeter of the project
Objectives & user needs

3. Background of Aristotle
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) is the largest Greek university (86,000 undergrads and 9,000 grads)
Teaching, research and admin staff exceed 5,000
42 departments organized in 8 faculties

4. EU Mobility background of Aristotle
Aristotle shares 50% of total student EU mobility in Greece (training & learning)
EU mobility (student, faculty, staff) keeps rising (LLP/Erasmus…)
Bureaucracy hinders mobility
Even more mobility means higher productivity through automated business processes, 24X7, One-Stop-Shop portals, etc
If processes were simpler or automated, student mobility could increase up to 100% and faculty mobility up to 400% per year.

5. EU Mobility figures of Aristotle
Student Mobility
incoming
outgoing
Faculty Mobility
From 2004, around 100 incoming and ~100 outgoing faculty members per year

6. MoU between Aristotle & CEDEFOP
CEDEFOP is the EU Center for the Development of Vocational Training located in Thessaloniki, Greece
CEDEFOP is responsible for Europass Mobility (for mobility experience records), Europass CV and Europass Language Passport
Aristotle & CEDEFOP recently signed an MoU for pilot implementation of the Europass Mobility document

7. EU Mobility stakeholders
The Student
The Sending Institution
The Sending National Agency
The Host Institution
The Host National Agency
CEDEFOP (EU Center for the Development of Vocational Training) as the trusted producer of mobility experience records

8. Mobility Business logic (1) Prior to initial admission of sending university
Student is informed about cooperation programs between her university and other EU institutions for possible placements (usually bilateral agreements)
Student is also informed by previous publicly available mobility experiences of other students
Submission of APPLICATION OF INTEREST, CV (e.g. Europass CV), TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS, language certificates (e.g. Europass Language Passport) to sending institution. Application for Erasmus Intensive Language Courses (EILC) if needed.

9. Mobility Business logic (2) Initial admission from sending university
Admission is based upon academic records, knowledge of language of host university, year of studies, accumulated ECTS credits so far, etc.
Generic conditions: (a) the duration of the placement under Erasmus program is 3-12 months. (b) the student has not been in an Erasmus / Leonardo Da Vinci placement before (c) the student has completed at least 1 year of studies at the beginning of the placement (d) the student has agreed with her home Department on the accreditation of mobility courses
Student is alerted when initial admission lists are publicly available on the web.

10. Mobility Business logic (3) After initial admission of sending university & prior to admission of host university
Submission of STUDENT APPLICATION FORM to host
Registration of courses by the student that formulates the initial LEARNING/TRAINING AGREEMENT setting out the study program to be followed, ECTS credits, responsibilities, tasks, outcome, etc. It has to be signed by the 3 parties (sending/host & student)
Optional submission of TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS to host
Optional submission to host of formal letter that the student is participating in the LLP/Erasmus program (produced by the sending institution).

11. Mobility Business logic (4) After admission from host university
If required, student and sending institution sign an additional PLACEMENT CONTRACT/LEARNING AGREEMENT according to national legislation (e.g. accreditation issues)
Depending on host institution, submission of HOUSING APPLICATION FORM
Optionally, host appoints a mentor to the student
Host along with host National Agency arranges student’s Erasmus Intensive Language Courses (EILC)

12. Mobility Business logic (5) During the exchange program (3 to 12 months)
Student registration and enrolment in the host’s Student Information Systems at arrival
If needed, student submits amendments of LEARNING AGREEMENT to be signed by the 3 parties
If needed, student submits EARLY TERMINATION NOTICE to the host institution initially and afterwards to the sending institution.

13. Mobility Business logic (6) With the completion of the exchange program
Host produces the CONFIDENTIAL SUPERVISOR'S REPORT
Host produces the DURATION OF STUDIES AT HOST INSTITUTION form
Host produces the TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS for courses completed (mobility ECTS credits & grading)
For post graduate studies (master or doctorate) additional letter from host advisor/mentor

14. Mobility Business logic (7) On student’s return
Submission by the student of FINAL REPORT (on completion of the exchange program) back to sending institution
Sending institution records in its own SIS the credits gained and the learning/training period in the student’s DIPLOMA SUPPLEMENT
Sending institution populates experience website for future interested students
Student’s EUROPASS MOBILITY experience may be produced (the record is completed by home AND host institutions involved in the mobility project).

15. Immediate remarks on existing business logic
More or less the same business logic across European universities
ECTS credits and grading help but not suffice (course definition – course accreditation?)
Lots of data can be exchanged G2G, increasing security/integrity, not bothering the student
Repetitive information retyped by end users or staff in sending and host information systems
Data duplication

16. Define the technical perimeter
Secure submission of forms on the internet
Structured XML web-services (G2G) between institutions or Third parties (e.g. TRANSCRIPT OF RECORDS exchange for mobility courses attended, or CEDEFOP for “Europass Mobility”)
eSigning of documents (confidentiality, integrity, accountability, non-repudiation, etc.)
Lifecycle Management of Mobility data
alerting in the event of completion of a task or intervention needed

17. Some general objectives
Ensure connectivity with existing SIS (Student Information Systems)
Homogenize processes and simplify as needed (do we need all this repetitive business logic?)
Ensure interoperability between parties
Follow standardized and proven technologies
Use Open Source – Open Standard?
Prefer web services since they are simple and platform neutral (SOAP, XML)
Separate IdM from Mobility business logic (e.g. Shibboleth)

18. What users (students) ask for
User needs predominantly relevant to simplicity
One-stop-shop web interface, simple and self-explanatory
Training shouldn’t be necessary
Content should be understood by as many as possible without discrimination (Web Content Accessibility)

19. Thank you for your attention
Ioannis Salmatzidis