There is a new experimental type of event: the Short Summer Course (SSC). The Summer University Coordination Team (SUCT) hopes to motivate more antennae to organise a Summer University with this new opportunity. The Golden Times asked SUCT member Lorenzo Ligas for details. Antennae can apply until the 17th February 2018 if they want to organise such an event. Lorenzo: “So far the feedback on the social media is good”.
GT: Lorenzo, what is a Short Summer Course?
Lorenzo Ligas: Here’s the characteristics: six to eight nights, 14 Euros per night and ten hours per week of tuition on the topic. It cannot be longer than eight nights, because otherwise it would be a simple Summer Course with exception.
GT: Are these events also possible for two antennae?
Lorenzo: In general an SSC should be organized by one antenna. Two is possible as exception, if the distance is close enough.
GT: What was your motivation to create the SSC as new event type?
Lorenzo: The number of Summer Universities is decreasing year by year. The project is still attractive in our opinion, but due to resources – both in terms of human resources and budget constraints – not every local can organise one of the current official three types: Summer Course, Summer Course+ or Traveling Summer University.
GT: How did you get the idea to create the SSC?
Lorenzo: During our live meeting in Brussels we spoke about introducing a pilot SU. Which kind of pilot and how it would be structured in that very moment was not clear to us. Once the application period started, we began to realise that this year, like in the previous ones, the project was facing a decrease of Summer Universities. After some personal talks with friends from AEGEE locals and after a discussion within the team, the idea became clear: reintroduce shorter SUs, with some changes from the original concept.
GT: Is it a problem that the SSC is not defined in the statutes as Summer University type?
Lorenzo: We are speaking with the Juridical Commission, in order to find the way to implement it without violating the CIA. Once we get back from them, we will proceed accordingly.
GT: What are the expected outcomes of the pilot phase?
Lorenzo: Smaller antennae might finally be able to organise a Summer University. This pilot is aimed to help local organisers to be part of the project.
GT: Are there also possible disadvantages?
Lorenzo: Since this is a pilot, it’s difficult to define the disadvantages. We will evaluate if there would be something that needs to be changed after this SU season. If we will evaluate that the pilot does not have the desired effect, we might not proceed to let it become an official category.
GT: When will we see which SUs will take place this year?
Lorenzo: The list of all the TSU, SC and SC+ will be published on the 12th of February, the new pilot ones one week later, on the 19th.
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