The beginning of the 2018-19 academic year is fast approaching and the International Center is starting a new hectic period of paperwork and procedures to ensure that all international student and staff mobility visits happen

As it does every year, on 16 July the I-Center held a meeting with URV mobility coordinators to explain the grants available for the various mobility programmes and the updates and calendar of calls for the coming year. It was the first meeting attended by the new Vice-Rector for Internationalisation, John Style, who took the opportunity to present himself in the new post and to get to know face-to-face the mobility coordinators of the various faculties. The annual meeting with coordinators is a way to keep in touch with the needs not only of students but also academic staff in order to ensure the smooth running of the mobility programmes.

Another important aspect of ensuring the quality and success of the URV’s mobility programmes is the organisation of the annual welcome meetings at the very beginning of the academic year and the Mentor’s programme, which has run for the last 5 years. Mentors are URV students who assist incoming international students during the very first days of their stay at the URV and in the region. The aim is to help them integrate quickly and often international students and their mentors become great friends and keep in touch once the academic year has finished.

On 18 July, Marina Vives, who is managing the Mentor’s programme at the I-Center, organised a meeting with the 2018-19 mentor students. It was a session in which students learned about the duties related to their role, the services provided by the URV for international students and how to register to receive an AUR credit for their contribution. They were also given t-shirts that identify them as mentors.

More mentors are needed for this coming academic year. If you are interested in becoming a mentor, please get in touch with the International Center via hosting@urv.cat