On December 14 2022, a Final Report of the EUA project “Leadership and Organisation for Teaching and Learning at European universities” (LOTUS) was published. This document summarizes key findings from the LOTUS’ different activities. Report describes common challenges in learning and teaching identified by higher education institutions, among them: student-centered learning, academic staff development, inter-institutional collaboration and digitalization. Report provides examples of practices and leadership approaches to address them and relevant recommendations for HEIs.

Report is available on the following link. 

The annex 1 of the report includes the list of institutions participating in the Leadership Development Program. Among them is Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University. The following representatives the TSU Quality Assurance Service were involved in the working activities of the second group of second cohort (October 2021-June 2022): Irma Grdzelidze, Head of TSU QA Service,  and Nino Chikhladze, Head of QA Service at TSU Faculty of Medicine.

On November 28, 2022, 13.00-14.00 CET, a webinar was organized by EUA. On the webinar was presented key findings from the final report of EUA project “Leadership and Organisation for Teaching and Learning at European universities” (LOTUS).

Webinar is available on Youtube channel  EUA's YouTube channel.

On September 28-29 2022, a Final Conference of the LOTUS project was held at the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, in Brussels, Belgium. In the Final Conference from TSU participated head of quality assurance of the Faculty of Medicine, Professor Nino Chikhladze. Two days event includes plenary discussions and parallel sessions, with a specific focus on leadership in learning and teaching. The parallel sessions were organized on the following topics:

1. Adapting the educational offer: to what, to whom, and what does it mean?
2. Teachers’ world: staff development, academic careers, teaching ecosystem
3. Inter-institutional collaboration
4. Digitalisation in learning and teaching.

The main messages of the conference were linked with teaching and learning on institutional and sector levels. It was concluded that for the improvement of teaching and learning it is important to have Institutional autonomy, the structural obstacle is a lack of recognition of teaching and cooperation within the sector. It was mentioned there is a need to enhance the knowledge about effective modern methods of teaching and learning and to re-think teaching approaches after the Covid-19 pandemic.

During the conference, there was an opportunity to meet the member of working group 2 (Claire McAvinia, Technological University Dublin (Ireland), Marta Mendel - University of Life Sciences in Poland (Poland), and Guido Santos, University of La Laguna (Spain). In the meeting, the next steps for the development of a joint article were discussed.

On January 31, 2022, a working group meeting was held within the framework of the Lotus Leadership project of the European Universities Association (EUA).

The main topic of the discussion was Policy and Practice of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD). The representatives of different Universities shared their experiences, discussed the main challenges and possible solutions. Although all institutions have established a set of approaches, responsible units, list of programs, the motivation of teachers is still a big issue in all countries. There are different mechanisms regulating these issues, among them are external QA mechanisms (accreditation, audit), mandatory participation in CPD programs in some fields, for example in medicine, incentives, and awards as well. Based on sharing the experience the members of the group will elaborate the action plan.

The working meeting was facilitated by Dr. Claire McAvinia, Education Developer, who has been working at the Center for Learning, Teaching and Technology at Technological University Dublin (Ireland) since 2013. The working group includes representatives of various European Universities: Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Georgia), Irma Grdzelidze - Head of Quality Assurance Service at  TSU, Nino Chikhladze - Head of Quality Assurance Service, Faculty of Medicine TSU, University of Nicosia (Cyprus), Panayiotis Angelides - Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, Tampere University (Finland), Sanna Kivimäki - Director of Education and Training Programs Project, University of Life Sciences in Poland (Poland), Mariusz Maciejczak - Director of the Institute of Economics and Finance, University of La Laguna (Spain), Rodrigo Trujillo - Assistant to Vice-Rector, Guido Santos-Teacher.

The ‘roadmap’ plan for the group’s work and remaining meetings was introduced by Dr. Claire McAvinia. The Roadmap has been developed using the Implementation Plan document. Based on the shared experience the member of the group will elaborate the action plan.

On November 24, 2021, a working group meeting was held within the framework of the Lotus Leadership project of the European Universities Association. The facilitator of the working group established within the project meeting was Dr. Claire McAvinia, Education Developer, who has been working at the Center for Learning, Teaching, and Technology at Technological University Dublin (Ireland) since 2013. The working group includes representatives of various European Universities. From the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Georgia): Irma Grdzelidze - Head of Quality Assurance Service at  TSU, Nino Chikhladze - Head of Quality Assurance Service, Faculty of Medicine;  University of Nicosia (Cyprus) - Panayiotis Angelides - Vice-Rector for Academic Affair; Tampere University (Finland): Sanna Kivimäki - Director of Education and Training Programs Project; University of Life Sciences in Poland (Poland): Marta Mendel - Vice-Rector for International Cooperation, Mariusz Maciejczak - Director of the Institute of Economics and Finance; From the University of La Laguna (Spain): Rodrigo Trujillo - Assistant to Vice-Rector. 

In the meeting, the importance of leadership in teaching, the challenges of institutionalization of student-centered teaching, and key issues in improving learning/teaching strategies through project opportunities were discussed. Representatives of various institutions shared their experiences.

The priority directions of the working group established within the project are:

• Continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers
• Promoting and implementing student-centered learning (SCL)
• The link between research and teaching.

Working group meetings will be regular. The materials will be shared via TSU Quality Assurance Service website.