The Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences at UPF has been awarded the CeQuInt certificate, issued by fourteen European accreditation agencies in recognition of the incorporation of an international and intercultural dimension to higher education.

Awarded by the European Consortium for Accreditation (ECA), this certificate is a distinguishing quality trait that is granted to those study programmes, centres and institutions that have successfully incorporated a high degree of internationalization into the purpose, function and application of education.

The certificate was awarded on the occasion of the The Quint Conference, which was held on 26 and 27 February in Paris. Josep Ferrer, vice-rector for International Relations, and Angel Gil, the Faculty exchange coordinator, collected the distinction on behalf of the University.

Having teachers from more than 20 countries; teaching 67% of classes in English; taking the Bologna process seriously; receiving 350 foreign students a year, and sending 300 of its own on exchange programmes; managing to arrange a total of 817 internships during the last academic year, and achieving a good reputation in the bachelor's degree programme in International Business Economics, are the key reasons why the Faculty has received this European distinction.

Vicente Ortún, dean of the Faculty of Economic and Business Sciences, emphasizes the importance of this certificate. "It is in recognition of the work of the Faculty, which, since its inception, has been the spearhead of the policies of modernization and internationalization of the University system of Catalonia", he assured.

For Josep Ferrer, vice-rector for International Relations at the University, the CeQuInt "will contribute to increasing the reputation of the Faculty and, therefore, its appeal as a partner in student mobility programmes, double degree programmes or other strategic projects with top-tier universities".

A long evaluation process

For more than half a year, the Faculty of Economic and Business sciences and the International Relations Service of UPF worked together to prepare a self-evaluation report to collect and systematize all kinds of evidence related to the internationalization of the Faculty and its programmes. Having prepared the document, the evaluation committee visited the University to prepare another feedback report containing its observations and recommendations.

In all, the process involved a total of 250 hours' work by the Faculty and UPF general services. Some of the key people managing the process were Àngel Gil and Carmen Pérez, lecturers of the Department of Economics and Business and the Department of Translation and Language Sciences, respectively, Pau Fernández and Macarena López, members of the Centre for Teaching Quality and Innovation (CQUID), Mónica Pellisé, Lucía Conte and Meritxell Cama, members of the Mobility and Welcome Offices (OMA) and Jordi Serret, a member of the Studies, Planning and Evaluation Unit (UEPA).

Pilot project to boost internationalization

CeQuInt 2012-2015 is a pilot project launched by the ECA and co-funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Union that has developed a methodology for evaluating the quality of internationalization in higher education. The main goal of the 14 members of the project is to evaluate, improve and reward the inclusion of this high degree of internationalization.