2019 New Colombo Plan Mobility Program Consortium Application: Member University Consultation
The guidelines for the 2019 round of the New Colombo Plan (NCP) Mobility Program were released on Monday 12 February. The New Colombo Plan is a signature initiative of the Australian Government which aims to lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to study and undertake internships in the region. Applications for the 2019 funding round open on 19 March and close on 18 May 2018.
Since the 2014 NCP Mobility Program pilot round, ACICIS has successfully secured a total of more than $8 million of NCP mobility grant funding on behalf of the consortium’s Australian member universities and their students. This funding will eventually support nearly 2000 undergraduate students from ACICIS member universities to undertake study in Indonesia through ACICIS between 2015 and 2019.
This New Colombo Plan funding has also allowed ACICIS to expand significantly the range of in-country study options available to Australian students in Indonesia, with the addition since 2015 of six new study options offered in disciplines including business, agriculture, creative arts, public health, law and Indonesian language. A further two study options in sustainable tourism and agriculture will be launched in 2019.
This year ACICIS will consult with the consortium’s membership as outlined below, to formulate the consortium’s 2019 NCP Mobility Program application.
Timeline for ACICIS 2019 NCP Mobility Program Consortium Application Consultation:
| # | Timeline | Activity |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 March | ACICIS 2019 NCP Mobility Program expression of interest (EOI) forms sent to member university study abroad offices. |
| 2 | 20 March – 27 April | Member university study abroad offices (in consultation with faculty staff) to consider, complete and submit EOI forms to the ACICIS Secretariat – indicating for which ACICIS programs they seek NCP funding. For each ACICIS program, member universities will be asked to indicate how many NCP mobility grants they would like the consortium to apply for on their university’s behalf. |
| 27 April | Deadline for submission of member university EOI forms to ACICIS Secretariat | |
| 3 | 30 April – 17 May | ACICIS Secretariat to collate member university expressions of interest and synthesise into consortium’s 2019 NCP Mobility Program Application. |
| 18 May | Submission of ACICIS 2019 NCP Mobility Program consortium application to the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training. |
In addition to our existing programs, ACICIS would be particularly interested to hear of any existing Indonesia-based mobility projects that your university has developed with the assistance of previous Commonwealth mobility funding. If your university has an Indonesia-based project that you would like to see continue, but that may pose an on-going administrative burden to your institution, ACICIS would welcome a conversation regarding the possibility of the consortium taking on the management of these already trialled programs. Specifically, ACICIS would be interested in Indonesia-based programs with scope for expansion to accommodate students from across the consortium membership. Drawing as it does on the consortium’s collective resources, shared in-country infrastructure, and combined pool of eligible member university students, ACICIS could represent a sustainable, long-term, solution to the maintenance of your university’s current Indonesia-based mobility project(s). If your university has any Indonesia-based program initiatives of this sort, ACICIS would be keen to hear from you.