LOOKING BACK #RetrosPUCtive 2020

Dear PUCPR International friends:

As the end of 2020 approaches us, we have decided to write this last post as a retrospective of the most important activities for PUCPR International during this atypical year. Even though this has been an incredibly challenging year, fortunately, we do have reasons to celebrate important achievements as the team managed to overcome the difficulties faced throughout these past twelve months.

Suffice to say that, if for many people the COVID-19 outbreak has meant the postponement of plans, in particular for exchange students, it meant that their dream of studying abroad had to be put on hold indefinitely.

Since March 19, all the PUCPR undergraduate and graduate programs migrated to the virtual world as the university’s gates had to be shut down, and classrooms ended up on the computer’s desktop at the comfort of students’ home, as the whole world tried to adjust to its new reality.

As it could not be otherwise, PUCPR International was also forced to adapt; suddenly PUCPR needed to act quickly to switch the offer from face-to-face to remote classes, a dramatic change that has been working incredibly well. The university’s efforts were needed to serve both local and international students, who returned to their countries and were able to attend classes while finishing their exchange program from home.

While we have been waiting for the pandemic to end, home office has shown us how much we miss our daily routine on campus, but also, it has allowed us to come together as a team, and to see how amid a crisis can inspire boldness and creativity.

That being said, here are some of the highlights for 2020.

THE GLOBAL CLASSES PROGRAM, now a full reality, the program allows local and international students to complete a semester of classes in a foreign language while interacting with Brazilian students, experiencing different cultural perspectives, and expanding their knowledge and general understanding. Thankfully to the efforts of all PUCPR schools and campi across the state that enthusiastically joined the Global Classes program, we went from the first offers at the Londrina campus to reality present in all seven schools, in the form of a wide portfolio of subjects offered in different languages. and foreign language proficiency levels.

PUCPR INTERNATIONAL WEEK 

Our well-known and traditional International Lounge has been redesigned in 2020. The event, renamed International Week, has taken place during the first week of November in an online format that aimed to promote PUCPR International activities to local and prospective students and consisted of six main lives sessions and several workshops. The activities were broadcasted on Youtube with the following themes: academic exchange; professional career counseling; graduate and research exchange programs, followed by a session of sharing of experiences between former exchange students along with a Q&A session. Overall, the event was seen by more than 1,300 people, which channeled the live sessions on PUCPR’s official Youtube channel m and other online platforms available at PUCPR.

INTENSIVE PORTUGUESE PROGRAM

At the beginning of the year, when the COVID-19 outbreak was still not considered a pandemic, PUCPR has welcomed 15 students from the United States, South Korea, and France that attended the Portuguese summer intensive classes and participated in many cultural immersion activities, such as capoeira classes (Brazilian Martial Arts), dance classes (carnaval and its rhythms), Brazilian cuisine classes and trips to Morretes, Antonina, the Iguaçu Waterfalls (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and to an ecotourism park surrounded by beautiful nature and waterfalls. For the July program, now under the pandemic, PUCPR International has decided to offer the program online and free of charge to our partner’s students, faculty, and staff. As a result, more than 40 international students have enrolled and have attended the classes through PUCPR online platforms, even in some countries the daylight saving meant waking up before dawn.

REGULAR PORTUGUESE PROGRAM

As the whole university has migrated to online, it has not been different from our regular portuguese program. Traditionally offered during the semester, the program had also been taken to remote format, so our international students had the chance to attend classes soon they were back home.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Bruna Roecker Palma, an undergrad student from our Civil Engineering program, has been selected due to her excellent academic skills and has been granted a scholarship from our partner Konstanz University, worth 900 euros for a 5-month stay in Germany. Besides this excellent opportunity, our American partner North Carolina State University has offered scholarships for three students who have already been selected to join their Developing Cultural Competence Program; the nominated students are Stacy Jansen – Languages and Literature: Portuguese/English; Leonardo Paranhos – Civil Engineering; and Beatriz Piwruzzi de Araújo – Industrial Engineering. Congratulations to all international fellow students, PUCPR is proud of your achievements!

OUTGOING STUDENT HANDBOOK

In November, we launched a very instructive and enlightening handbook for outgoing students, which is now available on our website. The handbook is a guide for local students that are interested in studying for one or two semesters at one of our 280 partner institutions worldwide.

COOPERATION AGREEMENTS

Despite the restrictions imposed by the pandemic, in 2020 we have finished celebrating a total of 33 new international agreements, being 9 agreements for the exchange mobility; 11 for double degree; and 13 that have been renewed this year, as we still have another 23 new agreements that are still being analyzed and 21 to be renewed. Our partners from the PUCPR legal team have joined electronic signatures in record time, further optimizing the signing processes in one amongst many displays of dynamism of the strategic agreements and partnerships team at PUCPR International, which has not being intimidated by the pandemic and managed to bring us even closer to internationally renowned universities.

THE INTERNATIONALIZATION PLAN OF THE PUCPR SCHOOLS

Internationalization plans customized by schools is no longer an idea on paper, but a reality. Back in May, all seven schools and campi across the State of Paraná have presented their customized plans aiming internationalization, using SMART metrics, which have been subsequently compiled and submitted to the Rectory. It is the spreading (capillarization) of internationalization taking over the university. As a result, in 2020, we have been witnessing the unveiling of innovative undergraduate courses, such as the International Architecture and the International Bachelor for English program, the pursuit of the schools aiming at international accreditation seals such as ABET and AACSB, the increase in the portfolio of disciplines for the Global Classes and the growth of the search for double degrees, both at the undergraduate and graduate leves.

These have been some of the achievements of PUCPR International in 2020. But there’s more good news: it doesn´t end here: for 2021, we will still have a good harvest of new projects that are will be here to stay; so here are some of the projects for 2021:

REENTRY PROGRAM

The program will focus on creating a structure of guidelines and support during the process of reentering PUCPR after a period abroad. Several areas have already been involved in this process, such as academic, cultural, psychological support (SEAP) and career management units.

SUMMER INSTITUTE 

As we move forward with one of our most strategic partners, Kent State University, PUCPR will launch disciplines for curriculum classes that can be taken during the summer break. The subjects will be taught entirely in English, both for Brazilian and international students, and will be offered at two times of the year: during the Brazilian summer on our beautiful campus in Curitiba, and the European summer on our campus in Florence, Italy, the birthplace of the renaissance.

VIRTUAL MOBILITY

Despite the challenges of a rough year, we cannot ignore the opportunities that 2020 has brought, mainly the concept of virtual mobility, which has come into full force and will allow the long-anticipated dream for many to participate in an international exchange program, even for those who cannot travel. PUCPR, a pioneer in internationalization, will not be left out and it has already been designing a structure to offer undergraduate classes in a completely online environment, as an alternative to traditional regular mobility.

VII SPIN

And last but not least, we could not forget to mention the VII Edition of our Symposium for Internationalization (SPIn) that has taken place in August, with the chosen theme “Partnerships – Precious Connections”. This year’s SPIn was completely online and, despite the social and geographic distance, the PUCPR International team were able to interact with some of PUCPR’s main international partners on different topics for a wide debate on promoting and developing even more bold projects in the field of internationalization of higher education. To sum up, the 2020 SPIn has become a celebration on how vital human connections are to our work, and how bonds of friendships are precious are unite us in a single purpose: the internationalization of higher education.

Our team at PUCPR International takes this opportunity to wish you and your family a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year!!