My Staff Mobility Days at USI - Andrea Delpho, University of Basel

Andrea Delpho, member of the University of Basel's International Office team, spent two days at USI's International Relations Service for a job shadowing and to practice her Italian skills. Andrea told us about her hexperience at USI:

My Staff Mobility Days at USI in March 2026

On March 16 and 17, 2026, Movetia’s annual conference was held at the LAC in Lugano, this time focusing on the theme “On the Road to ERASMUS.”
Approximately 300 stakeholders from the education sector at all levels of education, as well as experts from Switzerland and Europe, gathered to prepare for Switzerland’s accession to the Erasmus+ program, which the Federal Council hopes to achieve by 2027.
Following this conference, my colleagues from the International Relations and Study Abroad Service at USI, Dr. Arianna Imberti and her team, invited me to spend a few days with them to discuss, in a face-to-face setting, issues related to internationalization and mobility.
Although I had already visited USI a few times, I found it very interesting to first explore the campus around the main building and the East Campus. During my visit, I was able to have in-depth discussions with my colleagues on many aspects related to student and staff mobility, advising and procedures, “Internationalization at Home” (I@H), intercultural education, and more. 
In addition, I had the opportunity to attend a B1-level Italian class at USI’s Laboratory of Modern Languages (LLM), during which I also met some of the university’s international students.

Among all the fascinating conversations and reflections, I would like to highlight the following points in particular: the team at the International Relations and Study Abroad Service is made up of highly motivated individuals who, at the central level, are dedicated to addressing all issues related to internationalization and mobility and also directly manage the technical procedures. At my home university, Basel—a larger institution—a number of tasks and procedures related to organizing mobility programs are decentralized or are always carried out in collaboration with the faculties and departments. A centralized management system like USI’s, for example regarding the allocation and management of exchange spots for students, naturally represents a very valuable service for the faculties and institutes. Furthermore, I appreciated the centralized collection and evaluation of students’ final reports, which enable effective management of mobility programs in terms of quality, information, and outreach. The creation of a network between students participating in mobility programs and those interested in mobility also seems to work very well.

I was particularly impressed by the “InclUSIone” project, which is aimed at students from refugee backgrounds. Since work with this target group—unlike at my own university—is also managed by the International Office, this creates certain synergies, for example in the areas of inclusion, intercultural learning, and “at-home” internationalization.

I highly recommend participating in a “job shadowing” experience at another institution. I returned to Basel with plenty of food for thought, new ideas, and beautiful images of the Sentiero dell’Olivo in Gandria.

I sincerely thank Arianna, Ilaria, Laura, and Mariaelena for their hospitality and patience with my Italian, and Professor Pamela Trincado for allowing me to participate in one of her Italian courses at the USI Laboratory of Modern Languages (LLM).
 

Andrea Delpho, M.A.
Student Exchange Team
International Office – University of Basel

We invite all USI staff members interested in mobility opportunities to refer to this page of the website.