During Autumn Agora Kyïv a new Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) was elected. Four people, coming from four corners of Europe, started working with a team meeting in Bruxelles. We asked our fab four some questions to understand how the longest running project of AEGEE will change (and improve) this year.

The AEGEEan: Please present your team.

Yevgeniya: We are a team of four enthusiasts excited about the Summer University project, ready to implement great ideas and enjoy the work. Briefly, these are our tasks and where we come from:

Project Manager (PM) & FR: Lucia Gavulová, AEGEE-Bratislava, AEGEE-Aachen

Content Manager & Treasurer: Carolina Alfano, AEGEE-Salerno

IT & Publications: Philipp Blum, AEGEE-Aachen

PR: Yevgeniya Gagarkina, AEGEE-Kyïv

The appointed Comité Directeurs members, who were appointed to the team this year, are Maryana Semenyak and Ander Guerrero Ruiz. We already find them very helpful and we are glad to work with them.

Project Manager & FR: Lucia Gavulová, AEGEE-Bratislava/Aachen

Lucia and Carolina were elected, and both ran for Project Manager. How did you divide your work?

Lucia: After reviewing all the task SUCT has to do throughout the year, and adding some new ones, we noticed that we needed a Content Manager in order to strengthen the content of SUs, which is a very important position in most projects. Based on this we then decided very fast and easily.

Carolina: We didn’t “fight” for that position, we just looked at the reality. There were a lot of things to do and develop, and in a simple way we decided to divide the hard work of PM in two parts. And the result was the role of Content Manager.

You had a meeting in Brussels earlier this month. How did it go?

Lucia: Very well! We had a really intense and efficient meeting, we planned and timelined the whole year, divided tasks, talked about and implemented new ideas, and of course we had a nice team building as well, since we travelled to Aachen after Brussels and got to know each other better.

Yevgeniya: Apart from that, I didn’t know anyone from the team in person, but from the first moment I knew that working with them would be really comfortable and interesting. This was proved very fast – I hope you will be seeing the results of our productivity throughout the whole year.

IT & Publications: Philipp Blum, AEGEE-Aachen

You launched a feedback form for advice from SU 2015. Why did you decide to start from there? And do you already have some preliminary results?

Lucia: Already after the elections in Kyïv, people started approaching us, either complaining about some issues from last year, or giving us ideas for improvement, so we decided to listen to the actual voice of the members and adjust SUs to the needs of network. We received plenty of interesting and important input and we included those into our to-do list for next year.

What are the highlights of your program for the upcoming year?

Lucia & Philipp: A new application procedure, a new website, new themes and much more! Thanks to the SUpporters Interest Group, we will be able to provide you with better materials, help, checklists and other things that you can use to make organising an SU easier. Also, we will make the open calls for Summer Universities open to all members, regardless of whether they applied in the first round or not. This way we can ensure that all the people who apply on time get their results on time.

PR: Yevgeniya Gagarkina, AEGEE-Kyïv

One of the new aspects will be the SUpporters (the Summer University Interest Group). How does it work? What are its tasks?

Yevgeniya: This is actually a group of people with very different experience, who are interested in SUpporting the SU project. We created several tasks in different areas: design, help with booklets, PR, FR, IT, visa support, translations, training, the presentation of projects… and our SUpporters can choose their own task. Once the tasks are finished, they won’t be given any new task unless the SUpporter himself wants it, and chooses something else, so we have no “slaves” [she laughs, ed.]  Internally, SUpporters are divided into groups according to their tasks and have someone from the SUCT as their group leader. They can also be in different groups at the same time. We already appreciate their work and hope that this idea will be a huge success.

In the past years, we saw the number of SUs and applicants decreasing. What solutions do you have in mind to prevent this from happening this year again?

Lucia: A lot of support from SUCT and AEGEE bodies for organisers, more appealing content, some cool competitions and mainly new guidelines for organisers with another topic focus, which will make organisation easier.

Content Manager & Treasurer: Carolina Alfano, AEGEE-Salerno

Summer University Project School (SUPS) open call is out. Why do you think SUPS will be important to attend and to host?

Yevgeniya: SUPS is the right place to become the best organiser of a SU, to get to know all the insights and realise the strategy of managing a project, to get motivated and inspired, to get practical skills and to exchange experience. We talked to participants and trainers of previous years, and got inspired by their stories, so we are sure that an awesome summer of 2016 is impossible without SUPS.

Don’t miss a perfect chance to have SUmmer starting much earlier, than in your calendar, by hosting SUPS! In my opinion, SUPS is one of the brightest European events, where you will watch a new SU generation  be born. What is more, you will have the chance to show your city and local culture to excited and motivated people, attracting more and more potential participants to your SU. We will tell lots of interesting things, and surely all the efforts will be worth it.
Carolina: Because all the things that a great organiser has to know about SU are concentrated in six intense days with SUCT members, the best trainers and experienced members. This year we will give it our best to give every local the possibility to organise an amazing Summer university.

Check the new website here.
Pictures courtesy of Aysan Yakut “With the planet – 2015”

Written by Erika Bettin, AEGEE-Verona

In Autumn Agora Cagliari, the new Summer University Coordination Team was elected. Georgia Grolliou (AEGEE-Thessaloniki) is the new Project Manager, Ioana Duca, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, is the Comité Directeur appointed member, Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva) is the publication responsible, Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskisehir) is the PR responsible and Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Heraklio) is the IT responsible. From the 3rd to the 5th of December, they met in Budapest in order to draft the new SUCT outline. Here you can find some of the new ideas they had. 

As this year will be the year of the unusual, SUCT did an unuSUal meeting, which (unlike the others that were hosted in the CD house in Brussels) took place in Budapest – in the center of Europe, city of ravishing bridges and lights. It’s members were running from one event to another and two of them (Georgia and Ksenia) arrived from the PRES in Poznan. The remaining three members (Antonis, Suzan and Ioana)  were getting ready for the Network Meeting in the city. An apartment became the SUCT home and they did not leave it for two whole days in order to prepare for the most unforgettable SUmmer experience for all AEGEEans.

Georgia Grolliou (AEGEE-Tessaloniki), Project Manager

Georgia Grolliou, the project manager, was the last one to arrive and, since it was her birthday just a couple of days before, they threw her a proper SUrprise birthday party. After a nice traditional Spanish dinner and late night talks they drank their milk and went to bed early. The next day started with a famous AEGEE wake-up call by Financial Director and many times SU Coordinator, Ioana Duca yelling “AEGEE Peeople Come oon Noww Leets Goo Pleeassee Come ooon noww!! You are late agaiiinnn!!!!” And the day started with a beautiful breakfast.

Brace yourselves, a new Theme is coming: GREEN SU

Thousands of AEGEEans, from all around Europe, going somewhere in Europe and gathering for 15 days… spending and wasting is unfortunately inevitable. The thing is, how can we minimize this and turn the tables to our favor? By being more sustainable, using green materials and of course raising awareness through workshops and applied activities. You can either choose GREEN SU as your main theme or combine it with another theme, such as Sports + Green or Culture + Green. And yes, it will be a PLUS for you. The Greener your SU becomes, the higher your ranking will be in the evaluation. Everybody will be Green, High and Happy.

Antonis Triantafyllakis (AEGEE-Heraklio), IT responsible

Ready to be a Super Mario

Not only being GREEN, but also other things can give you extra points. SUCT is being very generous and we want to give you a lot of extra points and smiles. More thematic workshops, enriched content, more compulsory sessions (other than the two obligatory ones), and of course our milestone Action Agenda and implementing it to your SUs rewards you with more points. Throughout the year SUCT will be in cooperation with ACT and together we will do our best to ensure the effective implementation of our Action agenda in the SUs. In order to do so, ACT will prepare guidelines for the organizers, including tips, suggestions, workshops and activities to teach people about the Focus Areas and make them ACTive on them…

Last but not least, one of the crucial issues that AEGEEans, the voice of Europe, have to focus on is Disabled Members. We should improve and adjust our activities according to the needs of our members. The SUs which are available for disabled members will be awarded with extra points as well. So get prepare to run around and collect mushrooms (your extra points) while doing amazing things for your participants.

Suzan Dilara Tokac (AEGEE-Eskisehir), PR responsible

Don’t Compete – Be Creative!

Since the idea of giving many many points was well received within the team, another idea was quicly raised: why not give a real award to the ones who deserve it? This year’s extra awards will be for the following categories:

– The GREENest SU

– The Best Interactive Activity

– The Best SU T-shirt Design

So get ready to release the creative thoughts in your mind and pour them into your SUmmer!

Ksenia Lupanova (AEGEE-Moskva), publication responsible

Our Best Companies, Outgoing Responsibles

Their responsibility is of crucial importance, as they are the ones keeping the project alive with their interactive communication with members, attractive presentations about the project and personal charm to motivate members to participate in a SU. The information they will give to the members is highly important, so as not to deviate from the aim of the project. Creating realistic and appropriate expectations in the members’ minds, explaining the real purpose of the project and what is expected from them during an SU are among the essential duties of Outgoing Responsibles.

Having follow up sessions is something the SUCT highly expect from Outgoing Responsibles this year. After the SU period ends and everybody returns to their antennae safe and sound, with lots of unforgettable memories, the Outgoing Responsible should catch those happy thoughts and turn them into productive ideas. OR should meet with the participants so they can share the experience, discuss pros and cons and also to ask how they would like to continue their AEGEE life. As most of the SU participants can tell you, after the project, they came closer to the association and were part of great projects.

Ioana Duca, Financial Director of AEGEE-Europe, Comité Directeur appointed member

 Have you ever participated in a SU? Have you ever wondered about the magic of SU? Do you want to know about SU stories of notable AEGEE people?

A new database is coming! Including more than 100 old/new members of AEGEE who have participated in the SU project which changed their lives and owe all the great work they’ve done for this association to that great SUmmer. Be ready to discover the secrets of SUccessful members and share their experience.

As you read on, these are the core topics of the upcoming year. Is it all? Of course not. New merchandising, guidelines for organizers, helpful workshop ideas, lots of support and fun is waiting for you along the way to the SUmmer 2015. Don’t forget that we are AEGEE, and we never walk alone!

Written by Summer University Coordination Team