The faculty of Economic and Legal Sciences has two unique projects for foreign lecturers – International Week and Meetings with Business.
In 2003 the first edition of the International Week took place – the project was carried out in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences in Nordhausen, Germany. The International Week is held yearly in May. During the Week international lecturers have classes with students of the Faculty (each participant performs a 15-hour course). The original German project of International Project Week was altered and a conference was added which is held the first day and which enables our guests not only to fulfill the didactic objective but also reach scientific goals through exchanging ideas and experiences. After the week a book in English is published.
The initiative of Meetings with Business came from business people. In 2009 one of the previous students of the Faculty of Management asked the Dean whether the Faculty could organize a seminar or a conference for managers of small and medium enterprises who did not have easy access to the latest knowledge. He represented a group of colleagues who wanted to discover more about corporate social responsibility. Not only managers, but also university lecturers and final year students take part in Meetings. The first Meeting with Business “Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Aspects of Business” took place in March 2009. The organizers did not expect a very big audience, and were pleasantly surprised when about 70 business people appeared, including the president of the Eastern Chamber of Commerce. Since then the Chamber has got involved in the project in three ways: 1) co financing it, 2) delegating managers who present their best practices, and 3) proposing topics for the conference. Three years ago the Chamber signed an agreement with the Faculty stating the conditions of the collaboration concerning Meetings with Business (and also other events, but everything started with Meetings). So far there have been five editions of the event, which is held annually: “Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Aspects of Business”, “Benchmarking and the Process of Learning in an Organization”, “Public Relations as an Art of Creating Good Relations with the Stakeholders of an Organization”, “Human Resources – their Use and Development” and “Innovation in Business”.
Meetings with Business started as a very local initiative, but now it is an international event, where professors, first of all from our partner universities have presentations and workshops. Moreover, not only small and medium companies participate, but also large. Also, every year several Erasmus lecturers are invited who, except classes with students participate in Meetings, visit various companies and have a programme of fringe events. After each Meeting a book in English is also published.
Both international events are organized as projects of Internationalization at Home. They allow the students who do not go abroad to have classes with foreign professors. They also bring additional value for foreign guests who can meet colleagues from various universities, exchange scientific experiences, and find out more about Poland, as fringe events involve trips to interesting places and savouring local food.