ERASMUS+ ISRAEL Impact Study 2021

New connections, new methods and a great network. this are only some of the impact in the israeli higher education field that was made thanks to the CBHE action in the last 5 years. We are excited presenting you the full study, conducted by NEO israel team and encourege you to explore more about this great oppurtiunity!

Executive Summary

In the past six months, the NEO team conducted an extensive study which was set to understand better the impact, in all levels, that CBHE projects from the last six years have had upon the entire academic system in Israel. The study included a survey, discussions with project coordinators and senior management, and a review of the data collected on the projects.
The main conclusion of this study is that Israeli HEIs of all levels evaluated the Erasmus+ programme and CBHE action positively, while several challenges were pointed out. We observed a slight yet visible difference in how Universities and Colleges perceive its effects and added value. It can be explained by the different focus of which every kind of institution, college, or university are set on, traditionally. Universities are extensive, harder to change, and mainly research-focused entities. On the other hand, Colleges, as teaching institutions, do not receive great financial support from the Council for Higher Education (CHE) through its Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC), which supports research activities, and must find external funds to assist them in overcoming challenges and advance their academic quality, visibility, international capacities, and reputation.
As such, the impact of CBHE projects in Universities is seen mainly on the personal level, in staff members (academical and administrative) who participated. The projects helped them change and improve their teaching quality, extend their international network and academic collaborations, and implement innovative technologies in their classes. The Universities themselves do not see CBHE as necessary to actively advance academically within the institution or support their progress by extensively implementing and disseminating project outcomes. Senior management of universities is not familiar with the added value of the action and does not realize that new research collaborations, new international projects, extended internal communication between the different departments and institutional units, and new skills their Staff and students gain from participating in these projects. In most Universities, projects are managed within the departments, and only in recent years, the institutional support during their implementation has been increased.

In the study, we have come to acknowledge that senior management support is crucial for the long-term sustainability and widespread impact of the project, which is evident in the significant success of CBHE in Colleges.
Impact in Colleges goes beyond the personal level and affects the entire institution, allowed Colleges to be internationally active and advance their national and global reputation, and even become an international focal point of knowledge.
Collaboration and an open line of communication between the Israeli HEI’s sphere and the entire worldwide academic network seem like the primary key tosustainability, implementation, and success of any CBHE project.

read the full study

want to know more? send us an email erasmusplus@che.org.il