TEMPUS Project Representatives’ MeetingBrussels

26-27 November 2012

Managing a TEMPUS project: Grant-holding in Azerbaijan

Dr. Jala GaribovaAzerbaijan University of Languages

OUTLINE Azerbaijan University of Languages in TEMPUS Managing RITSA:

o Team structuringo Management challenges and tipso Effective communicationo Planning and reportingo Effective performance

- financial management- document management- assessment, review and analysis

o Dissemination - visibility- resource building and knowledge transferring

Some challenges

Azerbaijan University of Languages

First time coordination of a TEMPUS project in Azerbaijan

EU grant: 1, 076, 258.43 Euros Duration October 2010-October 2013

Curricular Reforms________________________________________________

Project granted in 2010

RITSA

5 AZ Universities

AZ Ministry of Education

4 EU Universities

Partner in 3 other TEMPUSprojects

coordinator

Project ObjectivesRITSA JP 511329

(Reforming Interpreting and Translation Studies in Azerbaijan)

Specific goal: Modernizing interpreting and translation (I&T)undergraduate and graduate study programs

by

building capacity and resources (teacher-trainings; development of teaching resources; restructuring curricula; establishing joint study programs);

establishing infrastructure for new study programs (language resource centres, conference interpreting centre)

disseminating good practice (conferences, online resources, student exchange, life-long education programs)

TEAM STRUCTURING• Teams should be established at the

beginning of the project• It is essential to have thematic teams

(academic, research etc.) and technical-administrative teams

• Description of the tasks should be provided from the start

• Representatives from all of the partner institutions are involved in each of the temes

• Some staff may be involved in more than one team

• Overall supervision is essential

Administrative teams

Academic teams

Steering group

Teams should be well informed of the project activities, schedule, budget, partner responsibilities etc.

Often teams are concentrated on limited tasks which brings to lack of links among tasks,

with partners’ mainstream activities, legislation etc.

RITSARITSA

Steering Group

INVOLVEMENT:

strategic planning and overall supervision strategic communication

financial management and budget planning self-audit and evaluation

designing dissemination activities student matters curriculum supervision, partner responsibilities communication with EU, communication with partners planning activities needs assessment communication with authorities

Academic Teams

Strategic and Academic

Coordination

Curriculum team 1(academic staff

involved in language curriculum

and resource development)

Curriculum team 2(academic staff

involved in t&i curriculum

and resource development)

QA team (involved in needs assessment,

surveys, self-assessment, program assessment,

accreditation

LLL team (involved in Developing LLL

curriculum in T&I and organizing LLL

courses)

Strategic Communication Team(Communicating with

authorities, strategic planning,

planning dissemination)

Technical (administrative) Teams

Coordinating overall

management and administrative

issues

Financial administration team

(payments, payment calculations,

communication with banks, budget prognosis, taxes)

General administration team (filing, support documents,Day-to-day communication,

logistics, reporting)

Technical team (IT support, visibility, Publication products,

Website design)

Effective Management Tips

Early planning Regular review of compliance with activities

schedule Effective and timely communication Using effective online tools Clear communication; honest feedback Building teams; training teams for concrete

tasks Effective team-work: delegation and equal

involvement; clear tasks; teams’ interaction Fostering bottom-up approach Regular financial review, review of budget

spending and budget forecasting Regular internal reporting Timely provision of supporting documents Involvement of authorities: planned work for

support and further sustainability Problem-solving approach

INTERACTION OF TEAMS

Better analyzed

goals

More sustainabl

e results

Attitude and responsibility fostered

Integration of tasks

Effective Communication for Smooth Management

Regular communication and feedback from internal actors

Sharing experience from coordinators in neighboring countries

NTO and EU contact pointUsing social networks for faster

communicationPosting events of online calendarCirculating mails

EasierFasterBroader

Effective Communication Tools

Online Calendar

Online Scheduling

Time-saving, easy,

reliable,effective

Participants can indicate

preferred dates and hours

Online tools are not magic;

certain cases requireface-to-face or

telephone contact

Timely Communication• Timely communication with partners and

Agency about possible changes in the schedule/venue of activities with the explanation of the reasons

• Timely communication with partners about concerns and problems

• Explaining to the team and involved partners their duties from the beginning

Planning Activities• Getting needs assessment and

expectations from all of the partners (AZ)

• Planning together (AZ and EU partners plan activities according to the concrete needs of each partner)

• Scheduling• Logistics planning• Financial planning (budget

tables compiled and sent to the partners before the activity)

What?Why?How?Who?When?Where?How much?What if……?

Contingency planning

(reserve staff, insured

costs, visa issues etc.)Plan for (possible)

recovery actions

Smooth Coordination

Before each coordination

meeting, a full description of the purpose, achieved

levels, and recommendations and expectations on the follow-up

steps is posted by coordinator. The

agenda is designed after relevant

feedback

Online posting

enables quicker

feedback and

effective interaction

Detailed Agenda

The deadlineIs establishedby coordinator

If a partner is

unable to perform

the delegated

task, the task

If re-delegated

and the budget

is re-allocated

after notifying

the Agency)

Planning to followproject timetable;the venue can be

agreed on, consideringrelevance to activity,

cost-efficiency,and involvement

of all partners

Reporting on an Activity• Reports obtained

from the partners involved in a concrete activity

• Reports shared and feedback obtained

• Evaluation made and positives and negatives discussed

• Relating to further steps

• Recommendations

Effective Performance: Team preparation

Initial trainings and exposure for the teams• General administrative and project-running matters • Eligible expenses• Tendering procedures• Support documents• Online communication tools• Surveys and questionnaires (QA and LLL)• Web design tips• Reviews and progress report• Employer feedback • Cross-cultural awareness________________________________________Trainings for the Language Resource Center employeesTraining students involved in conducting surveys

QA handbook, project management

manual, brief of statutory

tax norms have Been prepared

for the project teams

Effective Performance: Needs Assessment

Prior needsassessment (before activities)

(All parties; QAcenters, employers,authorities,businesses, parentsare activelyinvolved)

Needsassessment report linked to activities

Broad narrative description ofthe needs is

provided after survey,

online discussions,

And feedback

QA Center andstudent

representatives are involved

in surveys

Effective Performance: Review and Analysis

• Statistics• Analysis• Prognosis• Regular reviews and self-audits

(It is helpful to obtain statistics regularly on variouscategories (costs on each activity, costs on each institutionon each activity, involved staff in each activity, involvedinstitutions in activity, active/passive venues and utilizedresources. Helpful for smoother follow-up, better analysisand better prognosis for future activity and sustainability)

Regular self-assessment

is essential(every 6 months)

Financial Management• Before each activity starts, the payment

schedule according to the budget allocated to the relevant activity is made and sent to partners

• The sum/bank transfer is requested from the bank from the relevant account. The request is made on the basis of the document signed by Rector or coordinator.

• A bank statement on each operation is also requested after the operation is completed

Activity budget sample

The budget for each activity (or its segment) is designed and sent to all of thepartners beforehand. The yellow cells indicate estimated amounts, which areadjusted later after the activity is over. Once the activity is performed andpayments are effected (and figures adjusted), the budget is sent to theFinancial Team for analysis, taxation and further prognosis.

In the process of implementation, it is possible to merge/otherwise alter activities (time, venue) for cost-efficiency as long as

the outcomes are not affected (with the approval of partners and Agency)

Managing travel payments (tips)Timely obtaining of supporting documentsPayment in 2 installments (where possible):

paying a minor part of the sum after obtaining all necessary documents may be helpful

Insurance on air ticketsProject payment cards (sometimes bank

transfers for hotels etc. are required in some EU countries (establishing a special credit card for TEMPUS purposes may be helpful)

Managing staff cost payments (tips)

Obtaining invoices from the services providers with the indication of hours/days

Having the staff costs signed by the service provider on a timely manner

Deducting the necessary tax and social payments Transferring the relevant sum to the service provider and

obtaining bank statements for the transaction On a regular basis, transferring statutory payments to

the State budget (timely – to avoid sanctions)

Document management• Folders are prepared for each activity according to the work-plan• Preparing each individual staff/mobility convention with all

supporting documents • The supporting documents for staff costs also include bank

statement • The folder contains a list with the following information (this makes it

easy for further transfer of information to an online database, and cross-referencing):– Indicating the number of activity. (e.g.: Activity 3.4) – Indicating time, duration and venue. (e.g.: 6-12 December, Strasbourg)– Indicating purpose: Train-the-trainer (e.g.: language component)– Indicating the number of people involved. (e.g.:15 people involved)– Indicating EU/non-EU origin of participants (e.g.:12 EU, 3 non-EU)– Indicating the overall sum spent on this activity (e.g.:32,000 EUROS) - (For travel documents) Indicating possible lacking documents, which

will be obtained later from the individual (or in the case of loss of that document from a relevant agency (airlines etc.)

Files Online The data on paper-based documents are

further transferred into electronic files:a) by activities undertakenb) by partner institutions (on each

segment/work-package separately)This is helpful from the point of view of

cross-referencing, budget follow-up and prognosis and planning.

Sample Travel Costs Table by Partners

Costs for

each

partner is

calculated

upon the

completion

of a trip

Helps in budget

analysis and

timelyfollow-

up

Online File Management

Available for everyone, easy sharing,

less delays in document processing and delivery,

open access,time-saving

Dissemination groups (dissemination groups include LLL teammembers, academic staff members, IT/webmaster, media)Dissemination schedule (conferences, meetings with authorities andstakeholders, workshops with local partner representatives, roundtables for the Ministry, regular media publications)Dissemination systems (creating visibility, resource development andtransfer, capacity building via delegation of resource development andadministration, awareness raising with authorities, students,stakeholders, teaching staff, and higher administration, reachingvarious (disadvantaged etc.) communities outside the project)Optimizing dissemination tools

regular meetings with project partners in AZ to share good experience and analyze shortcomings

delegation by team-mixing (especially for activities where the coordinator’s involvement is heavier – teams of different partners exchange team members for certain tasks)

work with other departments at Universities (transfer of good experience) liaising with other international projects

Largerscope, better quality

Systemic approach,

easy follow-up

Better focus on

content

Sustainabilityvisibility should

not overshadow

knowledge/skill

s transfer

Interdepartmental/Inter-institutional transfer of good practice

Project management Skills(skills obtained are used for

implementing other international projects)

Scandinavian Studies

Study program

(reforms of this program

werepartially

based on experience

from the project)

Overall quality control Mechanism

(procedures elaborated within the project were used

for other programs and non-partner Universities)

Language Departments

(language teaching

methodology and

curriculum structuring are used for

other programs)

RITSAReforms at Translation

Departments

Visibility (Webpage)http://www.tempus.adu.edu.az

Visibility (Media)

Project

activities

and outcomes

are

regularly

elucidated

in University

newspapers

The project is also elucidated in

public newspapers in Azerbaijani, Russian

and English

Dissemination (Intra-communication tools)

Dissemination (Resources)

New Syllabi ONLINE

Dissemination in Publications

Guidelines for innovative

language teaching

Dissemination Sustainability• A new Master degree (Delocalization of the Master

degree from ITIRI)• A double degree program with UE• Student exchange program with SCM• Research collaboration with SCM• Translation network with local partners• Language teachers’ association (local)• Collaboration with NTO on transfer of expertise to other

grant-holders in Azerbaijan• University-Employer collaboration (in needs assessment,

recruitment, professional teaching)• Involvement of students in surveys, needs assessment

and curriculum design

Dissemination to institution, other partners, other structures, communities, authorities, students, stakeholders:BROAD SCOPE

Document Sharing

Some Management Challenges

Source Problem Tips

Environment Conflict of laws and legislation (internal and with grant procedures) Cross-cultural issues

Timely awareness and good knowledge of such conflict

Partners Commitment, time, motivation (partner coordinators busy in other duties)

Budget (some institutions may putpressure on their project representatives if the project does not yield expected funds for them)

The expectations should constantly be communicated to partners

Budget may be revised ifresponsibilities are re-delegated (with thenotification of EU andall of the partners)

Home Institution

Commitment, time, conflict with other duties, (especially if higher administration is involved) Awareness and knowledge of the entire project

Having specially formed teams and involving less busier staff Ensuring good knowledge of the project

THANK YOU!