Wednesday 22-11-2017 - 14:00

During the second week of November, Kaunas University of Technology welcomed 14 trained student auditors from Porto and Edinburgh. The students provided feedback and recommendations on the social responsibility of the whole university.

With the help of 12 hosting students from Kaunas University of Technology, student auditors, divided into 4 international teams, evaluated the processes and activities held in the university. The review was based on 4 Benchmark criteria, namely:

• research, teaching, support for learning and public engagement
• governance
• environmental and social responsibility
• fair practices

Students interviewed the staff of the central administration, moderated several focus groups and analysed  documents and information available on the Internet. On the final day, they presented their findings to the board members of the ‘ESSA’ project, which led to lively discussions.

Through the training and audit, students gained an understanding of the concept of social responsibility. This motivated them to further use the knowledge in their own fields of study: medicine, informatics, science, management and etc. In addition, students from Porto and Edinburgh appreciated the opportunity to gain soft skills, such as teamwork, self-confidence, critical thinking, time management and intercultural understanding.

Universities need to treat students as partners and to develop critically thinking professionals for the labour market and the community. There was a general consensus that the more people are introduced to social responsibility, the better the society will function in different areas.

The upcoming audit will be held in University of Porto, in Spring 2018.