the eform user guide

Erasmus Charter for Higher Education

User Guide

How to complete and submit

an application for accreditation

Version 1 2 March 2015

Application for accreditation User Guide

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Technical requirements .................................................................................. 3

Overview of the application process ............................................................... 4

Make a new application ...................................................................................................................... 4 Resume or print an existing application ............................................................................................. 4

Create a new application for accreditation ..................................................... 5

STEP 1: REGISTER ORGANISATION ........................................................................................................... 5

Application eForm homepage ............................................................................................................. 5

STEP 2: SELECT THE PROGRAMME, ACCREDITATION TYPE AND APPLICATION LANGUAGE.................... 6

STEP 3: SELECT THE APPLICANT ORGANISATION ..................................................................................... 9

Adding an organisation ....................................................................................................................... 9 Removing an organisation .................................................................................................................. 9

STEP 4: CREATE NEW APPLICATION FOR ACCREDITATION .................................................................... 10

STEP 5: COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM ..................................................... 11

General guidance .............................................................................................................................. 11 Intro – General Information .............................................................................................................. 14 Part A – Institutional profile .............................................................................................................. 16 Part B – Statistics ............................................................................................................................... 19 Part C – General organisation of programme activities .................................................................... 19 Part D – Erasmus Policy Statement ................................................................................................... 19 Part E – Endorsement of the application .......................................................................................... 20 Part F – Attach endorsement and submit ......................................................................................... 21

Resume or print an existing application for accreditation ............................. 23

Technical assistance ...................................................................................... 24


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Technical requirements

Web browser

Applicants are recommended to use one of the following web browsers:

Windows Internet Explorer, version 9 or higher You can download IE 9 free of charge or upgrade your existing copy of the software via the Microsoft website: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages

Mozilla Firefox, version 17.019 or higher You can download Firefox free of charge or upgrade your existing copy of the software via the Mozilla website: http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/products/download.html

For either of these downloads, you will need to specify your operating system before the download can commence. If you do not have administrator rights on your computer this activity may require the intervention of your IT service.

Other makes of browser may be used but their compatibility with all of the functionality of the online application form cannot be guaranteed.

Adobe Reader

The printing (and saving) of the application form requires Adobe Reader or one of the Adobe Acrobat products – Adobe Acrobat (Standard) or Adobe Acrobat Professional – to be installed on your computer. The minimum required version is:

version X (10.1.3)

Follow the link below to be directed to Adobe's website to download the software free of charge or to upgrade your existing copy of the software. You will need to specify your operating system before the download can commence. If you do not have administrator rights on your computer this activity may require the intervention of your IT service.

http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/

Settings

Please ensure that the following settings have been configured on your computer:

JavaScript is enabled in your browser.

Your browser's pop-up blocker is deactivated or the website of the online application form has been defined as an exception to the pop-up blocker.

For users of Windows Internet Explorer, ensure that your settings ALLOW encrypted pages to be saved to disk.

Account with the European Commission - ECAS

Access to the systems involved in creating an application for accreditation is validated by ECAS, the European Commission's Authentication Service. Applicants must therefore have an ECAS account. If you do not yet have an ECAS account, please visit the ECAS registration website where you can create your account including an ECAS login username and password. The website is reached through the following link:

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/cas/eim/external/register.cgi

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/internet-explorer/downloads/ie-9/worldwide-languages

http://www.mozilla.org/en-US/products/download.html

http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/

https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/cas/eim/external/register.cgi


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Overview of the application process

Applications for ECHE accreditation must be made online by completing and submitting an application form in EACEA’s online application system. The applicant organisation’s details must first have been registered in the EAC/EACEA Participant Portal.

Make a new application

Set up an ECAS account, if you do not already have one. See the previous section – Technical Requirements – for further details.

Register your organisation in the EAC/EACEA Participant Portal and obtain a PIC number. (If your organisation already has a PIC number it is not necessary to create a new one. You may use your existing PIC number.)

Navigate to the Application eForm homepage.

Click on the button to Create a new application for accreditation, entering your ECAS account details if/when requested.

Follow the steps to select your programme and accreditation type.

Click on the button Create application for accreditation.

Make your language selections on the Intro page.

Complete Parts A to D of the application form.

Complete Part E, the Endorsement page:

o Complete the fields, provide your response to the privacy statement and save; o print the Endorsement page; o have it signed by the Legal Representative; o have it stamped with the organisation’s stamp or seal; o scan the signed and stamped Endorsement page.

In Part F: o attach your scanned Endorsement page to your application; o submit your completed application.

On submission, an acknowledgement of receipt is automatically sent by email to the email address of the Erasmus Coordinator, as identified in Part A.3 of your application.

Resume or print an existing application

It is not necessary to complete the above steps in one visit to the online application system. Once you have started your application, you may save it and log out of your application and log back in again as often as you like (respecting of course the deadline for submission). Whenever you log back in, the system automatically reopens the application you had previously started.

Important!

An existing application can only be reopened using the same ECAS account with which it was originally created! An application cannot be accessed or shared by more than one ECAS account.

These are the steps for returning to an existing application:

Navigate to the Application eForm homepage.

Click on the button to Resume or print an existing application for accreditation.

After entering your ECAS credentials, your existing application will open, allowing you to resume its completion and submission or, if it has already been submitted, you may print it using the Print button.


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Create a new application for accreditation

STEP 1: REGISTER ORGANISATION

Before an applicant can create an application for accreditation, they must first have registered their organisation’s details in the EAC/EACEA Participant Portal. Registration results in the organisation being allocated a unique Participant Identification Code (PIC). The PIC is a 9 digit number that helps the European Commission and Agencies identify an organisation.

If your organisation already has a PIC number e.g. because the organisation has been involved in a previous application process, it is not necessary to create a new one. You may use your existing PIC number. (You can search for existing PIC numbers in the Participant Portal via the 'My Organisation' option.)

Without a PIC number, it is not possible for an organisation to make an application for accreditation.

You will need an ECAS account in order to register your organisation in the Participant Portal. If you do not have an ECAS account, you can find a link to the ECAS registration website in the 'Technical requirements' section of this User Guide. The home page of the Participant Portal also includes a link to the ECAS registration website (click on the link 'Are you a new user?').

To enter the Participant Portal, click on the following link:

Enter the Participant Portal

The registration of your organisation in the Participant Portal will not take more than 10 minutes.

Once you have carried out Step 1 – or if your organisation already has a PIC number – navigate to EACEA's Application eForm Homepage.

Application eForm homepage

The following link takes you to the Application eForm homepage on the EACEA website:


If you have an ECAS account and have your organisation’s PIC number, you can proceed to the creation of your application by clicking on the button Create new application for accreditation:

http://ec.europa.eu/education/participants/portal/desktop/en/home.html

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/PPMT/


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STEP 2: SELECT THE PROGRAMME, ACCREDITATION TYPE AND APPLICATION LANGUAGE

The next step is to select the programme, accreditation type and the application language.

A series of three numbered instructions will appear on screen.

Instruction 1

Select the programme you are interested in and click Search:

A table of accreditation types for your selected programme is displayed:

If you make a mistake, simply select a different programme and click again on Search.

You may filter the table of results using the filter-as-you-type facility. It checks all columns of the table for the presence of your filter text e.g.:

Navigate multiple pages of results

Filter results

Set the number of results per page


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Instruction 2

Select the ECHE accreditation by clicking anywhere in its row:

Your selection will now appear at the top of the screen and will also be highlighted in the results table:

If you selected the wrong accreditation type, simply select a different accreditation type from the table and it will appear at the top of the page, replacing your previous selection.

If you wish to change to a different programme, use the Previous step button to return to the previous screen.

When you selected your accreditation type, a selection menu for the application language was added to the page.

Instruction 3

Use the dropdown menu to select the application language you require:

This application language defines the language selections of your application form when it is opened for the first time. However, when you come to work with and complete your application form, you may still change these language selections. You are not permanently fixing the language selections with the choice you make here. (For more details on language selection, refer to the General guidance section in Step 5 of this User Guide.)


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Once you have chosen your language, a Next step button automatically appears:

The Next step button will not appear until you have selected your accreditation type AND selected the language!

Click on the Next step button to move to the next page and proceed with step three, selection of the applicant organisation.


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STEP 3: SELECT THE APPLICANT ORGANISATION

In Step 1, you obtained the PIC number for your organisation. You must now use the PIC number to add your organisation’s details to your application.

Adding an organisation

Enter the PIC number for your organisation and click on the Add to list button:

When you add an organisation, it is listed in an on-screen table:

Click on the Next step button to proceed to the next page where you can confirm your various selections.

Removing an organisation

Should you need to remove the organisation from the list, check the corresponding checkbox at the end of the organisation row…

…and then click on the Remove checked organisation(s) button.

Enter your PIC number and click Add to list


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STEP 4: CREATE NEW APPLICATION FOR ACCREDITATION

This page summarises the selections that you made in the previous steps:

If all the details are complete and correct, click on the Create application for accreditation button. If any details are incorrect or missing click on the Previous step button to make the necessary changes.

When you click on the Create application for accreditation button, you will be connected to the online application form for ECHE accreditation and your new application will be displayed:


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STEP 5: COMPLETE AND SUBMIT THE ONLINE APPLICATION FORM

General guidance

Other documents to consult when completing your application

This User Guide provides technical advice on how to complete and submit an application for ECHE accreditation. It must be read in conjunction with the text of the Call for Proposals and the ECHE Annotated Guidelines which provide instruction and guidance on the content of the application.

Order of completion

First complete the Intro page including language selections. Then you may complete Parts A, B, C and D in any order. Next complete Part E and finally Part F.

Navigation

You can navigate from Part to Part of the application using the links at the top of the page:

You can also use the Previous and Next buttons found at the foot of each page:

Whenever you navigate from one Part to another, a save is automatically performed.

Within a Part, use the sub-menu links, where applicable, to move from section to section. For example in Part A there are three sections, A.1, A.2 and A.3:

Language selection

On the Intro page you have the following language options:

Interface language (English, French or German) – the language in which the on-screen questions, directions and buttons appear.

Application language – the language in which the form will appear when printed by you.

Correspondence language – the language for communications between the Agency and your organisation.

Official language to be used for general completion of the application form.

Translation language (English, French or German) for your Erasmus Policy Statement, if your official language for general completion of the application form is not English, French or German.

When your application is opened for the first time, the language selections will reflect the language you selected in Step 2 above. However, these settings may be changed at any time.


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Saving

Use the Save button to save your application on a regular basis.

Validating your application

Each Part of the application has either a Check button or a Check All button.

Clicking on the Check button validates the Part you are actively working on and, in the event of an error or missing data, the error is highlighted on-screen:

If no error is present and the Part is wholly valid, no error message will be displayed.

The Check All button on the other hand – found on the Intro page and in Part F.2 – validates the whole of your application i.e. all Parts.

Any errors present are listed by Part in a popup window.

When your application is fully valid and contains no errors, the popup window only displays the Part headings.

In addition, the Submit button in Part F.2 will have been activated.


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Printing

Use the print button of the system to launch the print rather than the print function of your web browser.

You may print your application at any stage of its completion;

The whole application is printed, individual parts cannot be printed;

When you print your application having submitted it, the date and time of submission will be included on each page of the printout (with the exception of the endorsement page).

When you use the print option, your application form opens as a pdf document in a new window. The language of the form is controlled by the ‘Application Language’ that you selected on the Intro page. You are recommended to save this pdf version of your application to your computer or network drive prior to printing.

Part E – the Endorsement of the application – has very specific instructions related to its printing. These are found in the section of this guide dealing with Part E.

Application number

When you start a new application, its unique application number is found on the banner on the top righthand side of the screen:

Character limits

Character limits include spaces as well as characters. The system blocks the entry of text beyond the character limit. If you paste text into the form from another application, it will be truncated if it exceeds the specified limit.

Logout

Use the logout button located on the top right of the screen to logout of the application. Make sure you perform a save of your application before logging out.

Help

The Help button opens an online version of this User Guide.


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Intro – General Information

When you create a new application, it opens with the Intro page:


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Languages selection

Select the language of the application form

when printed as a pdf

Select the interface language i.e. the language of the on-screen text and buttons

Select the language of correspondence with EACEA

Select the official language for general completion of the application

If the official language used for general completion of your application is not EN, FR or DE, choose one of those 3 languages

(EN, FR or DE) for the translation of your Erasmus Policy Statement


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Part A – Institutional profile

A.1 Applicant Organisation

Information in this section comes from the PIC information you recorded in the Participant Portal. Most of this information is greyed out and cannot be modified. Where fields are not greyed out and are empty, please fill in those fields.


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A.2 Legal Representative

Enter the details of the Legal Representative. If the address is different from that of the Applicant Organisation, use the checkbox to empty the pre-filled address details and record a different address.


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A.3 Coordinator

Enter the details of the Coordinator. If the address is different from that of the Applicant Organisation, use the checkbox to empty the pre-filled address details and record a different address.


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Part B – Statistics

Please complete the relevant figures in the corresponding boxes. 1 decimal place is allowed, if required.

Part C – General organisation of programme activities

All the checkboxes in this Part are mandatory. If any checkbox is left unchecked, it will not be possible for you to submit your application.

Part D – Erasmus Policy Statement

On the Intro page, you indicated which official language you are using to generally complete your application form. If the language you chose was English, French or German you will have three fields to complete in Part D – one field for each part of your Erasmus Policy Statement.

However, if the official language you selected on the Intro page was a language other than English, French or German you will also have indicated a translation language for your Erasmus Policy Statement. In this case, you will have six fields to complete in Part D – three fields for the official language version of your EPS and three accompanying fields for the translation language. This can be seen – for the first part only – in the following screenshot:

Where there are six fields present, they must all be completed.

Field for EPS text in official language

Field for EPS text in translation language


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Part E – Endorsement of the application

Complete this Part as follows:

complete the fields, provide your response to the privacy statement and save;

print the Endorsement page using the Print button (the whole document will appear in the print window but you can print just the Endorsement page);

have the printed Endorsement page signed by the Legal Representative identified in Part A.2;

have the printed Endorsement page stamped with your organisation’s stamp or seal;

scan the signed and stamped Endorsement page so that you have an electronic version of it.

Allowed file types for the scanned document are: pdf, jpeg, jpg, gif, png, bmp, tif and tiff.


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Part F – Attach endorsement and submit

F.1 Attach endorsement

(i) Use the Browse button to locate the scanned version of your signed and stamped endorsement page (Part E).

(ii) Click on the Open button within the browse window to confirm the file’s selection and the filename will appear in the selection window:

(iii) To complete the operation and attach the Endorsement, click on the Attach button. Once your endorsement form has been successfully attached you will see the filename of the file displayed on-screen along with the date and time that you performed the attachment:

If you attach the wrong endorsement file and need to replace it with a different one, simply perform the attach function again (there is no delete attachment button). Only the most recently attached file is retained.


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F.2 Submission

If the Submit button is active it means that your application is ready for submission. If it is inactive, follow the on-screen instruction and use the Check All function to detect the errors and correct them.

Once the Submit button is active you may submit your application:

Remember that once your form has been submitted you will not be able to modify it or attach a different Endorsement page.

On successful submission, an on-screen message confirms the date and time of the submission:

An acknowledgement of receipt is automatically sent by email to the Erasmus Coordinator, as identified in Part A.3. The date and time of submission will appear on the application when it is printed.


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Resume or print an existing application for accreditation

You are not required to complete and submit your application in one go i.e. in one visit to the online application system. You may logout and return to update your form as many times as you like, prior to its submission. (Once the deadline has passed, an applicant can only access his or her application in a read-only state. Unsubmitted applications cannot be submitted after the deadline.)

Once your form has been submitted you can no longer modify it. You can however access it in read-only format e.g. for the purposes of printing it.

When you log in to resume or print your application it is automatically opened and displayed for you.

To access your existing application:

Navigate to the Application eForm homepage. Here is the link:


Click on the button to Resume or print an existing application for accreditation.

You will be required to enter your ECAS login details and then you will be automatically directed to your existing application.

Remember! An existing application can only be reopened using the same ECAS account with which it was originally created!

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/PPMT/


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Technical assistance

If you encounter technical issues that are not addressed in this guide you may contact the EACEA Helpdesk to request assistance. The contact details and hours of operation are as follows:

EACEA Helpdesk Availability

Tel: +32 229 90705

Email: [email protected]

08:30 to 17:30, Monday to Thursday

08:30 to 17:00, Fridays

Excluding public holidays and European Commission holidays

All times are Brussels time

When contacting the Helpdesk, please have the following information to hand or include it in your email message:

Your telephone number and your email address;

The programme and accreditation type you are applying for;

The following details for the computer that you are using to complete and submit your application:

o The version of Adobe Reader (or Adobe Acrobat) that is installed; o The web browser and version you are using; o The operating system and version installed on the computer;

Details of any error messages / error codes that you encountered;

Screenshots of the problem (if contacting the Helpdesk by email).

Non-technical assistance

The EACEA Heldpesk staff are only authorised and trained to help applicants who are encountering technical problems i.e. IT-related problems.

If you have questions relating to non-technical issues e.g. if you have a question about the eligibility rules or the content of the application form, please contact the programme team via the following mailbox: [email protected].

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

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