Staff Week 2022: a week of international collaboration and exchange

Ensuring a smooth and enriching international experience

From the 20-24 June 2022, the international mobility team from Rennes School of Business welcomed a group of representatives from different international partner universities and non-partner universities and spent a week growing the links between their institutions, working collaboratively on good professional practice in the domain of international mobility and taking the time to discover the School, the city of Rennes and the wider Brittany region. This was the first edition of Staff Week to be organised at Rennes SB!

International exchange is an important part of all the programmes at Rennes School of Business. All of the students at the School will travel abroad at some point during their curriculum to spend a number of weeks or months studying in another university, in a different country.

It is therefore essential that business schools and universities work to make sure that this international experience is as smooth and as enriching as possible. With over 350 partner universities around the world, the students from Rennes School of Business will inevitably find themselves immersed in a host of new cultures, experiences and languages, making the support provided by the international mobility team essential to the student experience.

The International Mobility Team at Rennes SB is responsible for the organisation of this Staff Week.

Key figures:

• 29 partner universities attended the Staff Week
• 18 countries were represented
• 23 nationalities among the participants

Cristina Rodriguez-Duenas, International Mobility Officer for Latin America at Rennes School of Business, who helped organise the events of the week, tells us a bit more about what she took away from this experience:

“Staff Week was a great experience for both us and our partner universities as it gave us an opportunity to share good practices and learn from one another. The objective of this Staff Week is for Directors of International Mobility (faculty and staff) and International Mobility Officers to learn how to make the School more attractive on an international scale through mutual sharing and exchange. Subsequently, we will all be able to improve our relationships, processes and practices in order to ensure a smooth and rewarding exchange experience for our students.

This year, the group was dynamic, active and eager to participate. I think we all experienced a real spirit of unity with the other partner universities. After the last couple of years which were impacted by the pandemic, we were all happy to meet at a physical event.

The “Cultural Shock” conference was especially interesting. Working in the School’s international office, I know how important it is to understand that the majority of people who go on an exchange abroad usually experience some level of cultural shock and it’s important to know how to support them during this experience!

I look forward to participating in the planning of the next Staff Week in 2023!“