Staff Teaching Assignment (STA)

Suitable for academic staff

Duration of stay:

• Recommended length = 5 working days (8 teaching hours).
• Shorter stays, with a minimum duration of 2 working days, are possible, but the minimum number of teaching hours is still eight.
• For stays longer than five days, the minimum number of teaching hours increases by 1.6 hours per working day.
• Teaching hours can also include, for example, consultations, conducting a seminar or participation in a student’s thesis defence.

While teaching and training mobility can be combined within a single stay, this fact must be recorded in the Mobility Agreement prior to the employee’s departure. In such a case, the minimum number of lessons taught is reduced to four.

Employee mobility under the Erasmus+ programme can only be implemented if the outgoing employee is an FF UK employee under a regular employment contract, agreement to perform work (DPČ) or agreement to complete a job (DPP). It is necessary for a bilateral agreement covering employee mobility to be concluded between the CU Faculty of Arts and the sending university.

Teaching mobility within Erasmus+ is subject to the same accounting rules for a foreign trip as for a standard foreign business trip. Accounting for a trip is organised by the Finance Office.

The faculty coordinator for employee mobility is Bc. Markéta Karlasová (marketa.karlasova@ff.cuni.cz), room 128.

Participant selection

Employees who are interested in mobility under the Erasmus+ programme must apply for the selection procedure within the deadlines specified by the International Office. The selection procedure takes place quarterly in relation to the dates of the trip (a specific date is announced in advance to all employees by e-mail):

• For trips from 1.1. to 31.3. – registration deadline in November of the previous year
• For trips from 1.4. to 30.6. – registration deadline in February
• For trips from 1.7. to 30.9. – registration deadline in May
• For trips from 1.10. to 31.12. – registration deadline in August

Conditions for registration:

Registration for the selection procedure takes place in the CU internal competitions app (PAS module). Employees are always informed by e-mail about the announcement of the selection procedure and the opening of the app for the submission of applications for trips in the relevant quarter.

All applications must include as an attachment a completed Mobility Agreement with a preliminary schedule for the trip (signatures are not required at this stage).

The manual for the application procedure is available after logging in to the app.

The selection of participants is evaluated and approved by the Vice-Dean for International Affairs of the CU Faculty of Arts. The selected participants are then nominated to the Rector’s Office, where the nominations are confirmed or rejected.

Evaluation criteria: purpose of mobility, professional and language competence of the applicant, length of stay, frequency of trips (priority is given to first trips), usability in practice.

Note: For BIP (blended intensive programmes) trips abroad, it is also necessary to go through the relevant selection procedure.

Before departure

Selected employees establish communication with the receiving institution and arrange a specific curriculum with their contact (ideally already at the time of application for the selection procedure).

Subsequently, it is necessary to complete three documents: the Mobility Agreement, Participation Agreement and Travel Order.

1. Mobility Agreement
   1. This is signed by the outgoing teacher, the person responsible at the receiving institution (a scan is sufficient) and the Vice-Dean for Foreign Affairs for CU. The signature of the Vice-Dean is obtained by the faculty coordinator.
   1. brief instructions for completing the form can be found here.
2. Participation Agreement – prepared by Markéta Beťková (marketa.betkova@ruk.cuni.cz) at the European Office of the Rectorate
   1. Erasmus+ financial support has two components – residential and travel.
      1. Residential
         1. This component includes the costs of accommodation, meals (per diems according to the relevant decree of the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic – fixed), local transport (public transport tickets), or other necessary additional expenses (fees for courses, admission to public institutions, or, for example, a paid-for PCR test, etc.). All expenses must be accompanied by documents when billing the trip.The maximum daily limits of financial support are divided according to the target destinations in the differentiation table for awarded grants. The maximum amount of the residence grant is determined by multiplying the number of days of eligible activities under the Mobility Agreement.Working days are defined as days on which the teacher performs an authorised activity (teaching or training) in accordance with the Mobility Agreement. This is not the same as a classic working day, and activities can also be performed on non-working days. NB: Plan your activity (i.e. teaching or training) on consecutive days. On non-eligible days (excluding travel days), you will not be eligible for the reimbursement of expenses (accommodation, per diems, etc.) and you may have to interrupt your business trip. In case of doubt, always consult these situations in advance with the responsible person from the Finance Office of the Faculty of Arts (https://www.ff.cuni.cz/fakulta/oddeleni-dekanatu/ekonomicke-oddeleni/) or directly with Ms. Beťková.Entitlement to financial support during a travel day is granted only in justified cases (e.g. if a teacher is required to be present at the faculty on the morning on the second day). Usually, support during a travel day is not granted if the teacher is not teaching at the receiving institution on that day.
      1. Travel
         1. contribution to cover the ticket, second class ticket or compensation for the approved use of a car, or subsequent transport from/to the airport or station on travel days.The maximum amount of the contribution is derived according to the distance in kilometres as calculated by the official calculator, with the starting point being the address of the workplace (Prague) and the resulting rate applies to both trips (there/back). This is governed by the tax per trip table.When ordering tickets, it is possible to use the ordering app of the International Office. In the event that the ticket is ordered by the International Office, the fare is also paid directly. The teacher retains receipts/tickets, etc. and no longer collects a deposit for the fare. Do not purchase/order travel services until after the Travel Order has been signed.The contract is signed by the outgoing party in consultation with Ms. Markéta Beťková (marketa.betkova@ruk.cuni.cz )
         1.  
3. Travel order
   1. It must be signed before departure by the head of the basic unit/dean’s office/direct superior and the head of the International Office (Michaela Lemeškinová).
   1. It can be signed before the Participant Agreement (to allow the purchase of travel services/application for a travel deposit in good time).

The allocated Erasmus+ grant funds may be provided in the form of an advance, which must be billed to the economic department upon return, as is the case with other foreign trips. Funds that have been allocated in excess of the drawdown are returned (i.e. the stated amount is the maximum, not the actual amount of funds provided). If you are travelling as part of a group, purchase the costs you want to reimburse separately.

The Application for Advance Payment form is available for download on the Finance Office Intranet and is signed at the request of the employee by the head of the International Office, Michaela Lemeškinová.

On your return

• Travel order – signed by the head of the International Office and the head of the basic unit/dean’s office/direct superior upon return. It is then submitted to the Finance Office as part of the accounting.
• Original of the Confirmation of the time and content of the stay – the employee must submit this to Ms. Beťková at the Rector’s Office within 10 days of their return. Alternatively, it is possible to use a confirmation form from the receiving institution, which must contain in particular: full name of the participant, specific dates of eligible activities from-to (again EXCLUDING travel days), confirmation of activities carried out under the mobility programme, number of teaching hours carried out (for STA), or confirmation of teaching/training and weekends.
• Employees must also fill in an online report, the so-called EU Survey, for which they receive a link to their contact e-mail.
• Accounting for foreign trips takes place at the Finance Office within 10 days of the participant’s return.
  • The actual costs are invoiced by the employee upon return according to the instructions of the Finance Office.
  • All documents and billing instructions can be found on the Finance Office intranet.

All updated data, including relevant documents, can be found in full on the CU Rectorate website.

FAQs

• What about work and non-work weekends?
  • The term “weekend” does not occur in the Erasmus+ rules. The only distinction made is between working days, i.e., days on which the employee performs activities (teaches) according to the Qualification Conditions for teaching stays, and other days. It is possible to claim financial support for subsistence costs according to the differentiation by country on working days only. The table shows the maximum amount of funding from Erasmus+ sources.
• The daily schedule of classes may be specified in the Mobility Agreement, provided that the confirmation issued by the partner school then contains a provision that all activities agreed in the Mobility Agreement have been complied with. Alternatively, the Mobility Agreement can be drawn up in general terms and a breakdown of the actual time worked (days taught) is given only in the Confirmation of the time and content of the stay.
• Teaching is defined as systematic pedagogical activities, i.e. in particular lectures abroad, seminars, cooperation on joint/double degree study programmes, consultations, etc. Mere preparation (taking notes, studying literature, preparation of a presentation, etc.) is not included in the definition of teaching. Assessment is performed by the sending university.
• Participation in a conference is considered an ineligible activity under the Erasmus+ programme in all cases.

Incoming academics

• A bilateral agreement must be concluded between the CU Faculty of Arts and the sending university.
• Incoming guests follow the instructions of their home university regarding the necessary administrative steps and documents.
• Please inform the faculty coordinator (Markéta Karlasová, marketa.karlasova@ff.cuni.cz) about the arrival of your colleagues.
• All documents required from an academic by their university must be signed by the faculty coordinator (Markéta Karlasová).
• If necessary (in the event of time constraints), the documents can also be signed by the departmental Erasmus+ coordinator.
• The specific form of the documents varies, as do the conditions for trips.
• If an invitation letter is needed, please get in touch with the faculty coordinator as well.

Contact person (Erasmus+ faculty coordinator): Bc. Markéta Karlasová (room 128)

Related regulations: Dean’s Measure no. 8/2022, Rector’s Measure no. 6/2022