The VCSE network comprises the following:

Secretariat: one institution who holds the responsibility for 1 year before passing the responsibility on to another institution)

Steering committee: institutions who offer a course via VCSE and send a representative of the institution to the annual VCSE meeting

• Network members: institutions who participate in the VCSE network either as partially active members (allowing their students to attend VCSE courses) or observers (those interested in being involved with VCSE and can view the VCSE courses)

Responsibilities at each level

i) Secretariat

Responsibility for this role rotates every year among Steering Committee members. The Secretariat institution ensures

•  Communication with network partners
• Website updating
• Commitment to course quality

ii) Steering Committee

The Steering Committee should be a group of institutions represented by individuals, who are committed to the VCSE network, thus the Steering Committee is comprised of fully active members of VCSE who attend the yearly VCSE network meeting which will take place alongside the Copernicus Alliance annual meeting.

The Steering Committee is responsible for:

• VCSE course quality - discussing course evaluation reports and agreeing a course of action for poorly performing courses (minor or major adaptation of course, adaptation of course publicity information, or exclusion of the course.)

• Negotiating the rotation of the position VCSE Secretariat – overseeing the rotation of the responsibility for the VCSE Secretariat among Steering Committee members

iii) Network members

Responsibilities depend on degree of participation (observer, partial member, fully-active member) as outlined below.

Degrees of involvement in VCSE network

When joining the VCSE network, new members choose one of three „levels“ of membership: observer, partly active member or full member. Movement between these categories is possible at any time. Network members are encouraged to „upgrade“ their level over a period of years of their membership but also have the flexibility step back and „downgrade“ their membership status.

Below follows more detailed guidance on the activities and responsibilities of network partners at each level of membership.

i) Observers

Viewing VCSE courses

With Observer status, members are given a password to gain access to view (but not amend or interact in) the VCSE courses „live“ as they progress.

ii) Partly active member

Partly active members have the rights and responsibilities of members with observer and status. In addition they are committed to offering VCSE courses to students at their home university.

Offering VCSE courses at the home university

Partly active members commit to:

• ensuring that their students can participate in VCSE courses and receive the appropriate number of credits for their participation.

• disseminating information about VCSE courses within their home institution

• allocating an „institutional coordinator“ who is available to advise potentially interested students seeking more information about the e-learning process

• being co-signatories of students‘ certificates of attendance issued by course leaders

iii) Full member

Full members have the rights and responsibilities of members with observer and partly active status. In addition they are committed to offering a new course to enlarge the VCSE selection. Full members also have the right to be represented in the Steering Committee, on the condition that they self-finance their representation in the Annual Meeting of the Steering Committee, which as far as possible will be planned to coincide with other events relevant to ESD in higher education.