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for guidance on exchanges, based on the student’s programme and qualification
requirements. To clarify the academic value of the exchange, the content of the
guidance should relate to the programme’s intended learning outcomes.

Routines should also be developed for coordinated student guidance. Use check-
lists for different guidance functions (study and careers guidance counsellors,
international coordinators and lectures, etc.) with shared objectives that include
information and discussion of the opportunities for student exchanges.

Experiences from the pilot projects
Coordinating guidance with shared objectives and guidelines has proven to be a
success factor. Experiences from the pilot projects demonstrate that cooperation
between different staff categories helps change become implementable. They also
show that a coordinated approach contributes to improved outreach to students.

The University of Skövde developed process flows for students and different staff
categories, clarifying the responsibilities and roles of the various staff categories
in the process flow for student exchanges (see appendices 12 – 14). This has led
to shorter and more efficient information paths and reduced the risk of erroneous
information.

The University of Skövde and Örebro University emphasise that cooperation with
programme co-ordinators was vital for a successful result. In the pilot project at
Linköping University, the programme co-ordinator was one of the project man-
agers, which contributed to the project’s success. They highlight how general
mobility and internationalisation must be an integrated part of the programme’s
teaching and how it is important that mobility does not become a separate chan-
nel alongside ordinary activities.

The Swedish Defence University also conducted activities to achieve more effi-
cient coordination of international guidance. The university tested new meeting
forms and strategies for international guidance in which programme co-ordina-
tors and other teaching staff, as well as students, have a more defined role in
information/guidance work than previously.

The people responsible for the pilot project at Linköping University also stated
the importance of involving students in the guidance process to gain their per-
spectives on, and experiences of, mobility. Some of the pilot HEIs used surveys to
capture the students’ experiences of the guidance work that had been conducted
(see appendices 5, 6 and 15).

Example 3: Proactive guidance at Finnish HEIs
Finland is an interesting example, providing inspiration for how HEIs can
work proactively with guidance for student exchanges. As mentioned pre-
viously, Finnish students are more likely to participate in exchanges than
Swedish students; they are also more likely to state that they have received
support and guidance prior to the exchange.

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