The Association of International Education Administrators recognises the outcomes of the staff training at the University and its contribution to internationalisation and opening the institution up to the world.

Since 2011, the Universitat Rovira i Virgili has trained the managerial, administrative and service staff (PTGAS) to use tools for understanding and contributing to the institution’s internationalisation and opening it up to the world. The approach adopted has been given continuity in a series of successive projects to the extent that the University has now become a model for training trainers for the internationalisation of higher education institutions.

The Association of International Education Administrators has awarded the URV the Innovative Excellence in Internationalization Award, which is informed by the current complexities and opportunities in internationalisation. The goals of this award are aligned with inspiring and creative leadership in advancing comprehensive internationalisation and with the principles of justice, equality, diversity and inclusion, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

130 members of staff and 194 trainers from around the world have been trained

The impact of the training provided by the URV increased exponentially with the SUCTI project (Systemic University Change Towards Internationalisation), funded by the Erasmus+ programme between 2016 and 2019 and, when it ended, the trainer’s training led by the University itself through the URV Foundation continued. So far, 130 members of the URV’s managerial, administrative and service staff and 194 trainers from around the world have been trained thanks to the eleven training courses in various European countries.

The URV’s decision to train the non-academic staff was taken after it became clear that the managerial, administrative and service staff have fewer opportunities to take part in internationalisation activities than researchers or do not know how to make a contribution. The PTGAS felt invisible, disconnected from the mission of internationalisation, ill-informed and with few basic abilities. But even so, they were being asked to support international students and visitors.

After an initial training session, it became clear that intervening in professional development could be an efficient way of shaping the mindset of staff and turning them into real agents of internationalisation acting from their corresponding services and units.

Once the European project SUCTI had finished, the URV decided to continue to offer the “SUCTI Train the Trainers” courses to all interested institutions. Since then, eleven editions of the SUCTI Train the Trainers have been held and there are now 194 SUCTI trainers spread around the world, mainly in Europe, but also in Latin America and Asia.

Internally, the URV continues to offer its own course for the staff, and has now trained more than 130 non-academic professionals in internationalisation. This course has a distinguished place on the institution’s professional development curriculum. And the University has also offered mixed SUCTI courses for academic and non-academic staff, with positive outcomes.

Marina Casals, head of the URV’s International Center received the AIEA’s Innovative Excellence in Internationalization Award on Monday, 19 February, in a ceremony held in Washington DC (United States) as part of the association’s conference. This is the second time in history that a non-Anglo-Saxon university has won this award, the first being a South African university.

The URV also contributed to the AIEA meeting with the presentations “Inclusive Comprehensive Internationalization: From Theory to Practice” and “The Changing Landscape of Global Talent Mobility”, which were given by the head of the URV’s International Center herself.

The SUCTI project was given the European Association for International Education Award (EAIE) in 2019.