Legal Framework
The Foreign Language Unit was originally established at the end of the 1960’s and provided the newly established School of Mathematics and Physics with a foreign language teaching curriculum. It remained under the supervision of the aforementioned School until the 1980’s when its supervision was passed to the Central Administration, namely the Rectorship and the Senate.
Nowadays, the Foreign Language Unit runs as an independent teaching unit governed by a bylaw statement approved and passed by the University Senate (171/31-08-1992), in accordance with Act 17, Par.5, University of Patras Bylaws (Ministry of Education Decision B1/482/14-06-1989). It is funded by the university annual budget.
Every three years, the Unit appoints a Coordinator who is responsible for the day-to-day running of the Unit. The Coordinator is a faculty member of the Foreign Language Unit proposed by its members and approved by the University Senate.
Similar is the election process for the Head of Finance, a faculty member who is in charge of the Unit’s inflows and outflows.
FLU faculty members are elected to Instructor level positions based on the position availability.
Mission
The Foreign Language Unit offers English, French, German and Russian language lessons to all students whose Departments have a Foreign Language requirement (Foreign Language module) in their Undergraduate Program Curriculum (22 out of 24 Departments).
As far as the English Language is concerned, the Unit focuses on ESP and EAP taught courses.
The Foreign Language Unit also aims at collaborating with National and International Institutions of Higher Learning, Research Centers, Public and Private sectors, National and Local Governments, specifically in matters related to Foreign Language Teaching and Research, and overall, in other disciplines pertaining to its faculty members’ further academic advancement or interests.
participating in Seminars, Conferences, etc., pertinent to Foreign Language Teaching and Research, in journal article writing, and in the authoring of teaching materials and publications.
