Semester abroad

1. Learning Agreements should be established for all stays abroad for study purposes. In the ERASMUS area the Learning Agreement is obligatory. For stays abroad outside the ERASMUS area ("overseas") and for Free Movers (self-organised, study-related stays abroad) the Learning Agreement is recommended. It serves as a safeguard for both sides (students and university). The documentation of all acknowledgements as well as the basis for the acceptance or rejection of achievements should be made available to the parties involved (in particular to the recognising bodies in the faculties) and, if necessary (also for the ERASMUS region), to the recognising bodies. Only the documents necessary for the fulfilment of the ERASMUS requirements are centrally documented in the International Office.
2. The document is a draft for the Learning Agreements for all three groups mentioned above (ERASMUS, Overseas, Free Mover) and is only available for download centrally on the IO's website at www.upb.de/io/austauschstudierende-outgoing/. The faculties link to these drafts on their information pages. For ERASMUS stays, the Learning Agreements are made available during the application process via the applicant portal "Mobility Online". However, students can also access more detailed information on the recognition process within Europe via the above-mentioned website www.upb.de/io/austauschstudierende-outgoing/.
3. The Learning Agreement always consists of at least two parts, a promise of recognition (Part A, before the stay) and the actual recognition (Part C). In case of changes, Part B (Changes Agreement) must also be completed during the stay abroad. If the Learning Agreement is missing completely or in parts, recognition can be denied. In the ERASMUS area, the Learning Agreement must be filled out completely and properly, among other things, as a prerequisite for the payment of the scholarship.
4. On all parts of the Learning Agreement the same persons must always sign. This means that the person who promises recognition must be identical to the person who actually recognises the performance from abroad. The Learning Agreement C usually consists of the transcript from the partner university (signed from there or sometimes purely electronically) and the PAUL excerpt (not signed, usually by the examination board).
5. On the Learning Agreement, (new!) each individual event to be recognised can be confirmed with a paraphrase from the person responsible for the subject (paraphrase column next to the individual event). The entire Learning Agreement must then be signed in its entirety (after all initials have been provided) by the examination board or a person authorised by the examination board (according to the table in Appendix A). The faculties are responsible for a proper, written assignment of the authorized signatories.
6. Only the persons listed in the table (Appendix A) are authorised to sign (initials and overall recognition). The faculties publish the persons / officials responsible at their faculty (according to Annex A) on one central website of their faculty. If the recognition information is spread over several websites / institutes / subjects, it will be bundled on a website of the respective faculty, to which the IO will then link centrally. Changes in responsibilities are communicated via the faculties' websites.
7. In principle, the faculty in which the students are enrolled is always responsible for the overall recognition of the Learning Agreement (signature under the agreement). In case of doubt, i.e. if more than one faculty is responsible, this may be deviated from by agreement between the faculties. This may be the case, for example, if only or predominantly the "minor subject" was studied abroad. In all cases in which the responsibility for overall recognition cannot be clearly clarified (due to different structures in the faculties involved, in multi-subject study programmes or because, for example, those responsible have changed or left the university), the person responsible for "free movers" at the faculty to which the majority of the subjects to be recognised are assigned is always the person in the last instance responsible for "free movers" at the faculty. It is the responsibility of the faculties to decide on the responsibility in individual cases.
8. The recognition of individual courses (initials) is always the responsibility of the faculty where the individual course is to be recognised (according to Appendix A) and may therefore differ from the faculty that provides the overall signature.
9. The commitment in the Learning Agreement is binding for both parties. As a rule, a promised recognition of achievements must also be recognised in the promised form after the stay abroad. If an achievement is not or not fully recognised, the faculty must prove why (full) recognition is not possible. Students have a duty to cooperate, i.e. they must submit the documents required for recognition and, if necessary, cooperate in proving that the work has been properly completed. If a performance is not deemed to be equivalent to the performance to be rendered at the University of Paderborn, this has to be taken into account when granting recognition.
10. The International Office creates a central website with the most important information on the recognition of academic achievements from abroad and links from this site to the faculty-specific information. It will link to one website per faculty. This guideline will be published at the same place on the website of the International Office.

EIM = The Faculty of Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Mathematics