I. Background and introduction
The CIVIS initiative is launching a call for an external project evaluator. CIVIS is a European University Alliance whose aim is to have a significant impact on our societies’ development, locally and globally. The project was selected in the Summer of 2019 in the framework of the Erasmus+ Programme Call European Universities 2019 – EAC/A03/2018.
CIVIS stands for a transnational collaboration of civic universities. Based on the solid and innovative education and scientific activity in each institution, CIVIS will unite efforts and experiences to develop an alliance with strong links to the local, social and geographical environments and an orientation toward global challenges. Based on a culture of collaboration and innovative pedagogies, the Alliance will encourage critical thinking, adaptability and resilience and it will make educational, scientific, and civic resources as open and accessible as possible based on the principles of Open Science and Open Educational Resources to share and build knowledge among students, teachers, researchers, and civil society.
The project’s specific objectives are:
- share a long-term strategy on education, research, and innovation
- create a European inter-university campus
- go beyond existing higher education cooperation models
- improve social inclusiveness and geographical balance
- prepare new generations to future changes
- promote links to territories as tools for openness to the entire society
The project partners are:
- Aix Marseille Université, France (Co-ordinator)
- National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece
- University of Bucharest, Romania
- Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
- Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain
- Sapienza Università di Roma, Italy
- Stockholm University, Sweden
- Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany
In the framework of the Project Work Package 8 Quality Assessment and Evaluation an external evaluator will be selected, based on this open call, to monitor and evaluate the project.
II. Objective of the external evaluation:
To measure the grade of success of the project against the formulated specific objectives and indicators, so to:
- operate in an efficient and timely manner
- collaborate with the Internal Quality Team (IQT) and WP8 experts
- participate in selected activities provided by the Project, i.e. partnership meetings, conferences
- identify problems/hurdles and propose related recommendations
- offer a consultative role to support in the strategic-decision making during and after project life-time, if requested by the governance
III. Tasks:
The task of the external evaluation is to monitor, assess and evaluate the implementation of the project in order to:
- ensure the quality and effectiveness of actions undertaken by CIVIS partners as part of this project
- assess the efficacy of this project with respect to its stated objectives
- assess the quality of activities undertaken within CIVIS WPs (service learning, pathways, short-term mobility, staff training, innovative pedagogies)
- team up with the IQT and experts/task force
- produce external quality reports analysing data collected autonomously to compare/integrate these results with Internal QA’ results. Reports should consider all aspects analysed in the Internal Quality Handbook (see annexe). Data should be autonomously collected for each of the objectives mentioned in the Handbook.
- develop the results of the external evaluation, proposing methods and recommendations, and clearly communicate this both internally and externally.
The working language will be English.
IV. Suggested outline action plan for external evaluation
Phase I
- Desk review of relevant project materials, reports, meetings and work plan.
- Collect further data autonomously (i.e interviews etc…)
- Produce an interim report (18th month from the start date of the project) to highlight deviations from the main objectives and providing recommendations and remedies to orientate future actions.
Phase II
- Desk review of relevant project materials, reports, meetings and work plan
- Collect further data autonomously (i.e interviews etc…)
- Preparation of a final report, by September 2022, providing evidence of overall compliance with the set objectives and summarize results and the best practices developed during implementation.
V. Timeline
The timeline for the performance of the external evaluation covers the period from 1 st October 2019 until September 2022, including submission of the final report.
VI. Remuneration/Fee
The external evaluator will benefit of a maximum amount of 30 000 € tax included to cover the duration of CIVIS Erasmus + project external evaluation and to fulfil the required objectives and outputs. A budget should be amended to the call answer with a daily rate. Travel and accommodation expenses should be included in this overall amount.
VII. Application Process
Please send your signed and scanned application before 30 June 2020 to CivisQE@uniroma1.it, using the application form below, including in annexe your CV.
The subject of the e-mail should mention the following reference: CIVIS External Evaluation.
Applicants will receive an acknowledgement of the receipt of their application by the project coordinator. The selection of the external evaluator will be made by the members of the Project Steering Committee and by the IQT. The selected external evaluator will be contacted by the project coordinator by 30 July 2020 at the latest.
Applications will be scored and ranked according to the following criteria:
- competence in project assessment and quality valuation
- previous competence in EU-funded project evaluation (50%)
- experience in EU-funded project management (10%)
- experience in academic mobility and international cooperation (20%)
- motivation (20%).
Applications from nationals of any European country will be accepted.