1. Could you briefly introduce yourself and describe your role at the University of Salerno?
My name is Anna De Pascale, and I serve as Head of the Strategic and Management Support Coordination Office at the University of Salerno. My office is part of Area I, whose primary role is to support the University’s governance and strategic decision-making processes.
The Coordination Office oversees several key functions that are essential to the University’s operations:
- Quality Assurance and Evaluation: providing support to the University’s Quality Assurance Office and Evaluation Unit through the dedicated Quality Assurance and Strategic and Management Support offices.
- Management Control and Statistics: producing and analysing the University’s key statistical indicators to monitor institutional performance and support management control activities, through the Statistics Office.
2. What were the main motivations that led you to take part in a mobility period at a university within the NEOLAiA Alliance?
My main motivation was the desire to move beyond a more traditional and limited view of internationalisation. In the past, opportunities to engage with foreign universities were often perceived by administrative staff as something distant and not easily applicable to their day-to-day work.
My experience within the NEOLAiA Alliance helped me realise that administrative staff are an integral part of internationalisation processes and that stepping beyond one’s usual operational boundaries to engage with different organisational models is essential.
Having the opportunity to meet colleagues performing the same role, gain first-hand insight into a different university environment, and reflect on our respective practices was an invaluable experience for both my professional and personal development. I firmly believe that international collaboration is a powerful driver of innovation, fostering new ideas and enabling us to continuously improve the services we provide to our university community.
3. What activities did you carry out during your mobility, at which Alliance university, and which aspects of the experience did you find most interesting or useful for your work?
The mobility took place at the University of Jaén in April 2025. From the moment we arrived, my colleagues and I were warmly welcomed by a local contact person who guided us around the campus, located in the heart of the city, introducing us to its facilities, organisational structure, and the office hosting our visit.
What I found most inspiring was the strong connection between the University and the local community. I observed an institution that is deeply aware of its social and cultural role and actively promotes continuous engagement with the surrounding territory. It was particularly interesting to learn more about the University’s model of collaboration with external stakeholders through bodies such as the Advisory Board, which fosters structured and ongoing dialogue with the socio-economic environment.
This strong local engagement also offers valuable insights for the University of Salerno. It clearly demonstrates how a university can serve not only as a place of teaching and research, but also as a genuine driver of cultural, social, and entrepreneurial development.
4. How has this experience contributed to your professional and personal growth? Do you believe it has also had an impact on your daily work at the University of Salerno?
This experience reinforced my belief that the direct involvement of Technical and Administrative Staff in internationalisation initiatives is of strategic importance. Staff mobility is not simply an individual experience; it becomes a catalyst for creating new opportunities within one’s own working environment. It was precisely this enthusiasm that inspired me, upon my return, to encourage my colleague Giuseppe Ferrara to embark on a similar mobility experience.
From a professional perspective, the ongoing exchange with colleagues from other countries has made international collaboration a natural part of my daily work. A concrete example is the confidence with which I now manage these relationships. In fact, next spring we will be delighted to welcome a Turkish colleague to our Quality Assurance Office for a staff training mobility at the University of Salerno.
5. Would you recommend this experience to your colleagues? If so, why?
Absolutely. I would strongly recommend this experience to my colleagues, and I would personally be willing to undertake it again. I believe that staff mobility opportunities represent significant value not only for individual professional growth, but also for the development and evolution of the entire university organisation.
We need to see ourselves as active participants in internationalisation processes. Engaging with other academic environments allows us to gain new perspectives, identify good practices, and understand how our daily work can contribute to building a more integrated and collaborative European Higher Education Area.
However, I believe it is essential to move beyond the single mobility experience and focus on what happens afterwards as well. It would be important to create opportunities for continuous exchange among colleagues from different universities, so that the relationships established during these experiences can be strengthened over time and lead to collaborations, knowledge sharing, and new initiatives.
Ongoing dialogue would also help foster the development of language skills and make international interaction more natural. Only through long-lasting relationships we can ensure that mobility does not remain an isolated experience, but becomes an integral part of professional development and the organisational culture of the university.
