In March 2019, Erasmus Without Paper (EWP) was announced, dictating that digitization would become obligatory in the next Erasmus program starting on January 1, 2021.
With this mandatory date coming ever closer, you may still be wondering how to digitize your Erasmus processes and just how difficult the transition will be.
It may leave you apprehensive about what to do next and where you can find the help that you’ll need to deliver the change.
Below, we review how you can adapt to these changes and adjust your own processes and tools in preparation for the digital management of the Erasmus+ mobility program.
Erasmus Without Paper (EWP) in a nutshell
If you are an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE) holder that organizes student exchanges, the EWP Network enables interoperability and electronic exchange of data securely and efficiently.
This means that once you’ve implemented EWP, you can more efficiently manage incoming and outgoing students, sign and review their Online Learning Agreements, and communicate with students and partner institutions.
The benefits of EWP are plentiful too. Going digital is all about improving internal process efficiency, quality, and consistency, eliminating manual steps and improving accuracy.
In addition, in a world where young people have always had instant connections and easy access to information and communication channels, they’ll benefit from less bureaucracy and paper-based document handling.
And, with fewer barriers for students to take a mobility, more students can navigate the process and secure an exchange abroad.
Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, Head of the Higher Education Unit in the European Commission DG Education and Culture, explains: “Erasmus Without Paper is fundamental in making it simpler and less bureaucratic. By allowing for the exchange of various data from interinstitutional agreements to transcripts of records, it’s key in creating a single point of entry for institutions and connecting different IT systems.”
What can you do next?
EWP gives you the flexibility to connect to the EWP Network no matter how you currently manage the administration of mobilities.
This means that you can build on the processes that you already have in place while transferring academic data and information from one institution to another.
If you use MoveON
QS Unisolution is an official technology partner of the EWP project. The MoveON solution is designed to support the changes introduced by the European Commission in Erasmus+ to help your institution connect with the Erasmus Network. We offer the following services to help you transition to EWP:
Mobility strategic review
We’ll do an overarching review of your existing mobility processes and procedures and how you use technology to support this.
Technical review
This is a technical gap analysis that looks at your existing and future data needs and provides a report that would enable you to plan the resources, budget, and time required to manage student information and connect MoveON to the EWP Network.
Technical EWP implementation
We will set up the connections with the EWP Network, test the process, and ensure you’re ready for EWP.
If you use another third-party mobility management solution
If you use another third-party solution, speak with the vendor to learn more about their involvement in EWP, their integrations, and how they can help you to connect.
If you use an in house-built solution
Prepare to connect your own solution to EWP with the available APIs – the documentation will be open source and available online.
Ask your IT team for support to implement a connection with the EWP Network.
There’s an abundance of guidance on the Competence Center designed specifically for IT Teams, including useful resources, tutorial videos, presentations, and other tools and materials to support the transition to digital Erasmus+ management.
If you don’t have a mobility system
You can contact us to discuss how to go paperless. We can help you manage all your data, current workflows, and processes to make the administration of Erasmus easier, quicker, and more efficient.
Alternatively, you can register for the Erasmus Dashboard which provides you with basic functionality to manage the mobility processes of Erasmus+.
Further resources
If you want to learn more about EWP and stay updated about the latest developments, visit the project website.
To prepare for EWP and streamline your institution’s implementation, we’ve created a free white paper: Erasmus Without Paper: How to Make it Happen.
If you would like to know more about the MoveON partnership with EWP or if you have any other queries about how we can help you get ready for EWP, please contact us.
