Liliana Lato, Head of the International Relations Office at the University of Lodz, coordinator of the IROs Admission expert group for 7 years, also participated in strategic conversations with the stakeholders:
After the Ministry of Foreign Affairs published the "White Book", we had to react and present the perspective of Polish universities on visa issues for international students. As part of IROs, we meet to exchange good practices in the IROs Admission group, which currently brings together more than 100 people from 30 public universities. Who, if not us, will be the voice of reason, practical advice and balanced solutions? I believe that this meeting is just the beginning of talks that are very necessary. We hope that our practical knowledge will encourage entities that create Poland's migration policy and new regulations in higher education to take our voice into account. We will certainly lobby to ensure that the proposed solutions are taken into account.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs recommends introducing a total of several dozen legislative changes and 12 proposals for practical changes that would allow for regaining control over the visa system. These proposals were the topic that the Round Table addressed, where IROs proposed solutions that could improve the recruitment and education of foreign nationals in Poland, and at the same time tighten the visa process so as to prevent people from entering Poland for purposes other than education. Having listened to the demands, Undersecretary Andrzej Szejna pledged his support in the matter.
President of the IROs Forum, Ewa Kiszka from the Medical University of Gdańsk, says::
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the so-called "White Book", informed that the process of tightening the Polish visa system had begun. The effectiveness of these activities in the long term is not possible without the cooperation of other ministries, and we – as the academic administration – believe that it is also not possible without the participation of practitioners and experts involved in recruiting foreign nationals to study at Polish universities. We hope that the discussions will contribute to the development of solutions ensuring national security and the highest standards in the internationalisation of higher education.
The meeting was organised at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics and was greatly supported by Dr hab. Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska, Associate Professor at SGH, President of the Academic Administration Forum (formerly the Dean's Office Forum), which organised the e-File Round Table devoted to the digitisation of study course documentation in a similar formula a year ago:
The Round Table formula worked great then. It turned out that the various stakeholders in the process accepted our invitation to meet and work out solutions together. In the case of such a difficult and complex topic as the recruitment of international students, it was fundamental to gather all its stakeholders to obtain a joint and coherent image of this process. It is very motivating that the voice of practitioners is not only heard, but also understood, and their role in the administration of higher education is noticed.
FAA report: Round Table on international student recruitment: first reflections / Articles / Academic Administration Forum Association (in Polish)
Edit: Communications and PR Centre, University of Lodz
Photo: Archive of SGH