This week on SA Voices From the Field, we interviewed Gian Luca Giovannucci, President of the European University College Association.

Gian Luca is a lawyer registered with the Italian bar association.

He has been on the board of directors of Collegio Universitario Internazionale di Roma (CUIR) since 1992, advocating for the integration of life skills in the academic curricula and working for national recognition of University Colleges of Merit (Collegi di Merito) to foster academic excellence in Italy.

Recognizing the added value of internationalization in higher education, Gian Luca promoted the creation of the European University College Association (EucA) in 2006, and he has been its president ever since. During his tenure with EucA, Gian Luca has pursued the association's growth, and official recognition by European Union institutions of University Colleges' role in providing a holistic education for students that strengthens their development and employability.

While at EucA, he has overseen the creation and management of European research projects, namely Modernising Higher Education through Soft Skills Accreditation (MODES).

He is a keen supporter of NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, with which he has collaborated since 2012 in the organization of International Events. From the beginning, Gian Luca has enthusiastically participated in IASAS's creation. He has participated from the first meeting in 2010 in Venice, with IASAS President Emeritus Roger Ludeman, to his current role as Treasurer. In 2012, he attended the first IASAS Global Summit in Washington D.C., USA. He organized the second in Rome, Italy in 2014, continuing the collaboration until the Global Summit in Cork, Ireland in 2022. Gian Luca is a co-author of the volume "Supporting Students globally in the Higher Education", published in 2016 by IASAS and NASPA. When not engaging with EucA projects and students in Brussels, Rome or other European cities, Gian Luca is an enthusiastic promoter of "made in Italy" products: be it Italian fashion, cuisine or wines, he persuasively argues-as any lawyer does-the advantages of buying Italian goods.

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