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European Higher Education Area

What's E.H.E.A.?

The whole of the official academic offering of the University of Seville (66 Degrees and 81 University Masters) is adapted to the European Higher Education Area (E.H.E.A.). The main features of E.H.E.A., as well as the benefits it brings to students, are described bellow:

The European Higher Education Area

It's a set of common agreements and processes that all the European countries take to harmonize their university teachings. It includes not only the EU member states but a total of 46 countries .

The principles governing the E.H.E.A. are four:

• common unit of educational measure
• common training structure
• warranty of quality
• information transparency

The basic objective is to facilitate mobility of students, teachers and graduates between all the country members of the E.H.E.A. So that, if they wish, students can continue their studies in another university of the system. Also, teacher interchange programs can be generated and international mobility of workers with high education is facilitated. Moreover, it's intended to make the E.H.E.A. an attractive context for students from third countries to come to study in Europe, with the advantages it brings to international cooperation and solidarity.

The European Credit: a common unit of study measurement

Up to now, university studies in Spain were calculated using L.R.U. credits. These credits only indicated the number of class hours composing a curriculum (10 lessons were 1 credit).

The European Credit involves an harmonization of the duration of studies. All academic courses will have the same duration, regardless of the degree he/she is studying for. If students want or have to change the university, European Credit allows to value more accurately the training reached in a given time. It also facilitates the recognition of studies already done.

An European Credit involves 25 hours of study dedication and takes into account not only attended classes (theoretical, practical, laboratory, face sessions of seminars or workshops) but also the non on-site personal work needed to solve the diverse entrusted tasks (examinations, works, seminars, etc).

Each academic year will last for an only period of 60 European credits .

The E.H.E.A. doesn't increase the devoted time of the student, it maintains or reduces it. The E.H.E.A. does make devoted time more explicit and transparent.

Changes in the University Structure

From now on, university teachings in the whole E.H.E.A. will be structured in three levels :

a)  The basic level is the Degree, in Spain degrees will last for 240 European Credits (4 academic years). The degree empowers to develop a profession that requires an university higher education level and, in certain cases, grants full professional competences which enable the exercise of a profession regulated in Spain.

b)  The second level is the Master, specialized studies in an specific field of knowledge or multidisciplinary studies (bringing together disciplines of various fields). They may have a professional, research or mixed orientation. The Master duration will be of 60, 90 or 120 European Credits (between 1 and 2 academic years), depending on the study nature to take. An university degree must have been completed to be able to register in a Master.

c)  The third level is the Doctorate. In general, PhD will be a research process intended to draw up the doctoral thesis. To be able to register in a doctorate program, the interested must have overcame at least 60 European Credits of Master level or be in possession of a degree qualification of at least 300 European Credits.

Only few studies remain outside this structure. They have a specific European regulation and require longer duration, as in the case of Medicine.

More Quality Assurance

Before they are implemented, all new university qualifications have gone through a process that ensures the quality of their teachings , installations, faculty and learning process.

In addition, the quality evaluation is repeated every six years, ensuring that the training received always meets the standards and regulations required by both law and social demands.

More Information Transparency

Information Transparency is much higher when making explicit the study duration, the structure, the measurement unit of dedication and by counting with formal systems of quality assurance. That all contributes not only to facilitate university changes and validation of partial or full studies, but also greatly facilitate the recognition as equivalent of university qualifications for working in another country of the E.H.E.A.

More Practical Studies

Asking students that have just finished their degree what would they have changed from what they had studied, they almost invariably answer that they would like their degree with more practices and closer to the type of occupation to develop in the future.

That's why, unchanging the knowledge level (or improving it if possible), almost the whole new Degree and Master Qualifications incorporate external practices , that are performed in real work contexts. Degree teachings may have up to 60 credits in practical and those from Master are mandatory, if the Master design so requires.

More Dynamic Studies

Besides knowledge and practices, the organization of degrees and masters ensures including a range of skills and aptitudes increasingly valued by both society and companies: critical towards knowledge and society, defence of social and gender equality, interest in the quality of one's own work, ability of working in teams, ...

Due to their nature, these skills and attitudes (technically called proficiencies) aren't lesson contents, but are learned through their starting up and implementation to specific contents. That involves more agile and dynamic educational activities (reports, information search, workshops, practical cases analysis, projects). They won't be limited to classroom lectures and taking notes, although these will continue to exist.

Teaching methodologies will be also more active (study of cases, teamwork, based problem learning) and will be closer to real job problems you'll face off in the future. Logically, this involves a greater use of new technologies (computers, network working, educational platforms). Moreover, tutorial's importance will be increased as guide and orientation for each student work.

More Integrated Studies and with more Repercussion

All University Degree and Master Qualifications consider a final project (with a minimum duration of 6 credits). Its function is to demonstrate that the student has the ability of search and organize information, apply it to the practice and obtain results from his/her own intervention. That's, demonstrate a domain level of his/her studies that prepare him/her to the professional practice.

Additionally, upon request of the student, an European supplement to the qualification is given together with the qualification. It's an official document informing about the educational trajectory of each student in a personalized and individualized way. I.e. a recap of the whole training career path that makes the document a very useful instrument for job search or for facilitating validation and recognition of studies, if one wants to study in another university.

Facilities for Mobility and for Continuing Studies

Thanks to the common structure of studies and to the European Supplement to the Qualification, it'll be much more easy than now to be able to continue your studies in another university, in Spain or in the rest of Europe . Likewise, validations and recognitions will be more simple , almost automatic, saving almost all complicated procedures that must be made now for it.

Furthermore, it'll be facilitate job search abroad , since the information of the European Supplement to Qualification largely coincides with that requested by Europass, the international CV format. Qua the study structure is similar in the whole E.H.E.A., it makes possible its comprehension by the employer and without question, it contributes to facilitate employability in other countries.

Abilities for Part-Time Studyl

E.H.E.A. also makes easier part-time university studies.

a) On the one hand, the compulsory of register in all credits of the first year will disappear. The person concerned will be the one to decide whether to register full-time (60 credits per year) or partial (30 credits per year).

b) On the other hand, new educational technologies boosted by the E.H.E.A. give greater weight to the student work and to the use of IT. They will allow anyone who wants to combine his/her studies with other activity, to perform his/her tasks or do his/her job through tutorial systems or by computing technologies. So the number of on-site hours at the university are minimized.

Better Studies in a Public University and at Public Prices

The University mission isn't only to educate new titled people so they can practice jobs for which they have been trained. Basically, it's to create and spread knowledge . That's why we public universities, like the university of Seville, guarantee that all knowledge fields can be further develop and to perform conceptual, theoretical and applied innovations and to train new students. All these apply to humanities, experimental sciences, social sciences, health sciences and engineering .

And that must be done at public prices in every educational university level: Degree, Master, PhD. I.e. , with affordable tuition fees, promotion of scholarship endowment and provision of other study funding resources for students coming from less fortunate social strata.

The commitment of the University of Seville is to enhance a public university that encourage knowledge , innovation as well as the preparation for performance in the best conditions of jobs relating to university qualifications. It'll also promote policies of equality and defend public prices and scholarship systems. .