4.C. Staff Travel and Related Subsistence. Explain the planned date(s) and purpose(s) of all staff travel for each academic year during the period of the grant (2011-2014).
1. The Director of the Center will travel to the annual meeting of the US EU Centers of excellence.
2. The Principal Investigator will make a yearly trip to one EU Center of Excellence in the US in three different regions (Northwest, Midwest, and Northeast) to explore on site how: (1) to improve existing practices at UT; (2) to facilitate coordinating activities and sharing “best practices” among EU Centers of Excellence; and (3) to see how UT can learn from its partners in the Northwest, Midwest, and Northeast to best position itself as the regional EU Center of Excellence that serves not just Texas but also the entire Southwest.
3. Three representatives from the Center will participate in two worldwide meetings of EU Centers during the grant cycle.
4. The Associate Director will make one trip to Europe in the first year of the grant award to establish new partnerships with universities in Europe (see proposed Links with EU partner institutionsabove) and explore ways of institutionalizing and implementing curricular development programs (see section 4.A.5 above) developed by the effective use of video-conferencing and other technologies with our new partner universities in the Europe.
Fulfillment of Objectives:
All of these visits will ensure that we meet all goals of Objective 4: “Consolidate and enhance the effectiveness of the network of EU Centers of excellence.” In keeping with Objective 3, our aim will be to use video and web technology to link classes with partner institutions in Europe in Course Development projects over the next three years.