TEMPUS Project: Network for Post Graduate Masters in Cultural Heritage and Tourism Management in Balkan Countries
(CHTMBAL)
517471 -TEMPUS-1-2011-1-IT-TEMPUS-JPCR (2011 – 2717 / 001 – 001)
Dear EACEA
with this letter, as Grant Holder of the Tempus Project CHTMBAL (Tempus Project
517471), I am asking you to extend the project length of another year, in order to finish it by
October 2015.
As you know, our project aims at developing an international network on Cultural Heritage
and Sustainable tourism and at the development of a Master Program in two PC universities,
University of Shkoder (USH) and University of Prizren (UPPZ). The first outcome foreseen
was the development and implementation of the master Courses in these universities.
Regarding Shkoder University, everything went just fine and the master is going on as
foreseen by the activity timetable; after teacher and administrative training we were able to
get the master accredited and to start courses which are actually entering in the 3rd semester
and will end by the original project length. Project sustainability is proved by the fact that a
second round of the master courses started this year, with another 25 students enrolled to the
first year and fully supported by USH. However for what concerns UPPZ Master courses
we experienced some delays, which push us to ask for 1 year of project extension. The
Master courses in fact started by November 2013 and it is actually at the end of its first
semester, while it should have been at the same place of the Master in USH.
This delay is due to the following reasons:
1. management changes in UPPZ: since the beginning of the project, the administrative
staff of the university has gone through some changes. Specifically the Rector
changed two times, one time at the beginning of the project and the second time 2
months ago. These changes affected the project because the decision chain inside the
university and the role assigned to the project contact persons have always kept on
changing. Also the involved teaching staff went through some changes due to the
changes in the administrative staff.
2. master accreditation delay: our project consortium prepared nevertheless all the
syllabi and the structure for the master to be submitted to the Kosovo Accreditation
Agency on time. However, since UPPZ is a very young universities, there were some
mistakes, probably due to a lack of experience. The team from UPPZ, who was in
charge to present the master draft to the Agency, gave a modified version of the draft,
which led to a critic evaluation of the document and a delay of the accreditation.
3. Due to the delay of the administration, also we encountered a problem on the first
money transfer; the problem was on the banking account that was given to a national
level. After many trials we managed to transfer the first installment.
Of all these problems, the NTO and the EACEA officers have been duly and timely
informed. Even if facing these issues, the project consortium achieved some good results
during the project development. The first result is the actual Master accreditation in
Kosovo: due to a joint effort of all partners, it was possible to present again a new draft
of the Master course at the KAA and by July 2013 the master was officially accredited.
This is a very important results as it is the first Master Course accredited by UPPZ and
will be an important knowledge that the university will use for future accreditations.
Furthermore it is the first Master Course in Kosovo in the field of Cultural Heritage and
will be an important legacy for future courses. By November 2013 all the enrollment
steps were done and the courses started and are actually ongoing.
In agreement with all the consortium (attached) the Project Management Board decided to
ask for an extension of one year of the project activities and eligible costs. During this year,
we will be able to complete all the teaching activities in UPPZ thus providing full support
to the students and the academic staff and to achieve together the first degrees of the master
courses. Specifically, during the year (October 2014-october 2015) the 3rd and 4th semester
will take place, as well as joint training activities for both students and teachers. Also it will
be possible to see the first follow-ups of the master in USH university and to evaluate its
outcome.
As overall consequence, the one year extension will allow the consortium to achieve ALL
of the goals foreseen in the project planning and to ensure a full sustainability for future
activities, as the master courses will be supported from the beginning till the end.
The project’s budget will actually allow to sustain it through one more year, both on staff
and travel costs, thanks to a very careful review of expenses.
We hope that you will find our request reasonable and that will accept this extension
request.
While looking forward any communication, we remain available to clarify any doubt.
Best Regards,
On behalf of the CHTMBAL consortium,
The Grant Holder
Prof.ssa Sara Santoro
Università "G.d'Annunzio" Chieti-Pescara
Dipartimento di Scienze Psicologiche, Umanistiche e della Terra
Campus Universitario- via de' Vestini, 31
sara.santoro@unich.it
66013 CHIETI
tel. 0871.3556450
cell. 329.9858264