The AUF 2017-2021 strategy:
WORKING TOGETHER TO CREATE A NEW SPACE FOR FRANCOPHONE ACADEMIA
The AUF 2017-2021 strategy aims to support higher education and research institutions to overcome modern-day challenges. AUF supports its members to find appropriate solutions.
AUF aims to create a new space for Francophone universities rooted in a shared recognition of their challenges and collaborative approaches and actions. A shared French language is only one of the many resources we use to bring members and the partners together.
3 Challenges and 9 Strategic Focus Areas
Challenge 1: Quality of Training, Research and Governance
1 – Quality of Training
- Strengthen students’ and teachers’ proficiency in French by supporting French language training programs at university entrance level.
- Improve and maintain the quality of teacher training through program expansion.
- Establish new digital-based teaching structures by supporting training policies for academics, new teaching methods using digital tools, digital learning spaces, online courses and educational online resources.
- Encourage the development of work-linked (combined/alternate/part-time) training schemes for initial apprenticeship training.
- Encourage civic education and soft skills development in university training courses by including curriculum modules on behaviour and interpersonal skills.
- Support the development of best-practice frameworks for training quality, particularly French language training.
- Contribute to establishing accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms through the development of internal and external quality assurance systems in the field of training.
2 – Structural development of research within national and international frameworks
- Contribute to establishing national research-innovation systems, by building on national consultations on the potential development of research-innovation, and by ensuring the involvement of member institutions in these processes.
- Encourage active partnerships between member institutions and research-innovation initiatives by:
– creating and developing conditions that support research-sharing networks;
– supporting the creation of shared technical platforms;
– supporting distance learning by researchers to enhance their doctoral studies;
– sharing member institutions’ strategies to promote and support female researchers.
- Contribute to improving accreditation and quality assurance mechanisms through the development of internal and external quality assurance systems in the field of research.
3 – Improved governance to meet the new challenges
- Contribute to the development of appropriate, quality-focused governance within member institutions by supporting the creation of structures that enhance internal quality and appropriate information systems, and by sharing experiences.
- Contribute to the design of strategic institutional projects, supporting self-assessment and management staff training and sharing of best practices.
- Contribute to the establishment of a best-in-practice French-speaking university accreditation systems by:
– building on existing mechanisms of accreditation and quality assurance;
– supporting the creation and networking of organisations;
– supporting global audits of higher education systems.
Challenge 2: Graduate Employability and professional preparedness
4 – Dialogue between academic and economic actors
- Contribute to the establishment of national or regional consultative bodies between higher education and research actors, government regulators, and key socio-economic stakeholders. AUF hopes to support the creation of networks involving member institutions, public authorities and private sector companies. AUF will also raise awareness amongst member institutions and other stakeholders on applying this type of strategy to develop other areas, such as research-innovation and skills development.
- Encourage member institutions to set up regular consultative forums within their surrounding ecosystems, support member institutions to set up permanent structures for dialogue with relevant socio-economic stakeholders.
5 – Improve integration of local and national socio-economic needs into member institutions’ education and training
- Contribute to better integration of national and local socio-economic needs throughout the full range of higher education qualifications.
- AUF seeks to use consultation tools already in place to improve competency needs analysis that will regularly inform a balanced development of different training levels. In particular, AUF will support the development of Master and PhD programs supported by research systems.
- Contribute to the development of intermediary vocational training through tools that support the co-construction of a diversified training offer, and the collaborative implementation of training, such as the involvement of entrepreneurs in the training of students, or internships. AUF encourages the development of work-linked and coop professional training programs.
- Enhance the participation of businesses and entrepreneurs in the design and implementation of professional training. Strengthen the management, quality, participation and supervision in vocational training, particularly in the economic and industrial sectors, and ensuring a link between these initial trainings and lifelong learning.
6 – Develop the culture and practice of entrepreneurship
- Encourage students and graduates to start their own businesses. AUF seeks to support partnerships with the private sector and entrepreneurs, develop spaces for networking and the tools needed to drive to entrepreneurship and pre-incubation. Support third-party CNFs (Digital Francophone Campuses), foster an environment nationally conducive to student-created businesses (for example, student-entrepreneur status), and ensure that initiatives to support entrepreneurship include specific strategies to promote women students and graduates.
- Stimulate the culture of entrepreneurship as an essential element in training and research programs. AUF seeks to promote recognition of student engagement in entrepreneurship through structural initiatives,for example by including entrepreneurship in the university’s coop work placement policies, developing tools and skills assessments related to entrepreneurship in training courses and extracurricular activities, and with a vision of supporting students to reach their potential.
Challenge 3: Universities as Key Actors in Global and Local Development
7 – Member institutions as economic, social and environmental development actors
- Develop specific activities that promote the contributions of member institutions to economic, social and environmental development. AUF seeks to support institutions in developing inclusive and innovative life-long training policies, strengthen mechanisms for recognising skills acquired outside university courses, and assist member institutions in applied research and technology transfer, and strengthen the role of CNFs in coordinating and offering these services.
- Participate in the development of public policies that respond to major societal challenges by encouraging member institutions to mobilise experts and teacher-researchers for diagnosis and solutions.
8 – Member institutions contribution to linguistic and cultural development, including scientific and technical culture
- Develop the use of the French language as a language of teaching in higher education. AUF seeks to develop students and learners’ proficiency in French, support the development of French language proficiency certification, strengthen cooperation with other Francophone institutions, and strengthen the capacity of teacher training institutes to improve French language teaching skills.
- Actively participate in the promotion of a variety of cultures and languages by supporting member institutions to become cultural hubs open to all, and by developing a diversified language training offer for all audiences.
- Participate in the development of French-language scientific culture through research with younger generations. AUF plans to develop a comprehensive French speaking resarch citation index to improve the impact factor of French language publications to support the visibility of French language journals and scientific publications, to develop scientific and technological literacy, and to support spaces for sharing and learning scientific and technological culture, particularly in the CNFs.
9 – Contribution of member institutions to intercultural development and global engagement
- Affirm the role of universities as agents for peace in teaching mediation for crisis and conflict resolution, by contributing to the creation of academic training and research centres for mediation, by contributing to intercultural and inter-faith dialogue, by encouraging the involvement of member institutions in civic activities, and by developing initiatives that promote inclusivity, such as supporting the training of refugees in French.
- Contribute at an international level to the exchange of best practice using intercultural perspectives and sharing experiences in the creation of intercultural projects.
- Contribute to the internal strengthening of the international relations function at member institutions, by developing policies for globalisation training, by developing joint-diploma programs, and by supporting legislative changes to facilitate inter-institution mobility.
- Contribute to the globalisation of member institutions through international networking, around joint projects with shared linguistic, thematic or geographical objectives and by developing initiatives with member institutions that also belong to other university networks and associations.