Ade Adewoye built himself a versatile study entity including parts of the offerings of other YUFE universities. The European Universities Initiative enables the building of international networks already during one's period of studies.
Adewoye, who is from Nigeria, is studying in the Master's degree programme in Learning, Teaching and Counselling in Intercultural Context at the University of Eastern Finland. When considering his study place, he became interested in the University of Eastern Finland, mainly because the University offers extensive expertise in teacher training and subjects of continuous learning.
With the help of his Faculty's YUFE Coordinator, he added studies to his study schedule which were made possible by the YUFE cooperation. The Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) network is a European university alliance that allows students to choose study offerings of other member universities for their studies. Adewoye seized this opportunity, as well.
– I became interested in YUFE because it allowed me to take courses of other European universities and meet people from different countries, he says. – Applying was easy and was done online.
The aim of YUFE's networking-like operations is to find new innovations through cooperation and to build competitiveness and a more cohesive Europe. Through YUFE, students can also network internationally with other students.
– I hope to develop my expertise and pedagogical skills using the numerous innovative learning platforms used by YUFE member universities. I believe that as the YUFE network grows, the opportunities it offers to students will increase, says Adewoye. – New programmes are being developed, and in order to expand my own knowledge base, I will certainly apply for them.
– The experience has been enriching. Completing special courses related to vocational education and developing professional competence has been very rewarding, Adewoye says.
Adewoye recommends YUFE studies to others, as well.
– This gives you the opportunity to develop your own competence effectively when you can take courses from other universities at the same time as you are studying at your own university.
YUFE offers both entirely distance learning courses and physical student activity. The student can choose which courses they want to study and how much. The next application period for YUFE will open as early as next autumn.
In addition to developing education, YUFE aims to strengthen cooperation between member universities and various actors in university cities. Adewoye sees this as one of the most important areas for development in the operations.
– It would be important to strengthen the partnerships of member organisations. I believe that this will enable more professional training experiences even better than at present.
All in all, Adewoye is satisfied and feels that YUFE's offering has met his expectations.
– The experience has been enriching. Completing special courses related to vocational education and developing professional competence has been very rewarding. The content of the courses has been dynamic and innovative.
In addition to University of Eastern Finland, the alliance includes Maastricht University (The Netherlands), which acts as the coordinator, University of Antwerp (Belgium), University of Bremen (Germany), University Carlos III of Madrid (Spain), University of Essex (UK), University of Cyprus as well as
Tor Vergata University of Rome (Italy), University of Rijeka (Croatia), and Nicolaus Copernicus University (Poland).
Read more about YUFE: https://www.uef.fi/fi/yufe
www.yufe.eu
