Organisation of Serbian Students Abroad
Encyclopedia
| Type | Student society Student society A student society or student organization is an organization, operated by students at a university, whose membership normally consists only of students. They are often affiliated with a university's students' union... |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1997 |
| Location | Serbia Serbia Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans... |
| Leaders | Stefan Stefanovic (University of Heidelberg), President Ana Ranitovic (Oxford University), General Secretary |
| Field | Students' union Students' union A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools... |
| Purpose | Connecting Serbian students abroad |
| Members | about 600 worldwide |
| Website | www.ossi.rs |
The Organisation of Serbian Students Abroad (OSSI; Serbian: Организација српских студената у иностранству; Осси) is a non-profit
Non-profit organization
Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...
, non-governmental organisation led by Serbian
Serbs
The Serbs are a South Slavic ethnic group of the Balkans and southern Central Europe. Serbs are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, and form a sizable minority in Croatia, the Republic of Macedonia and Slovenia. Likewise, Serbs are an officially recognized minority in...
students worldwide, with more than 600 members..
The principal goal of OSSI is to support and strengthen the community of Serbian students in the diaspora
Diaspora
A diaspora is "the movement, migration, or scattering of people away from an established or ancestral homeland" or "people dispersed by whatever cause to more than one location", or "people settled far from their ancestral homelands".The word has come to refer to historical mass-dispersions of...
by forming an extensive and dense network of local branches of its students at universities
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
around the world.
History
OSSI was founded by a group of Serbian students studying in Europe and North America in mid-July 1997. Among these students was the current Minister of Foreign AffairsMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Serbia)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia is the foreign ministry of the Government of Serbia. It is charged with maintaining the consular affairs and foreign relations of Serbia...
of the Republic of Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, Vuk Jeremić
Vuk Jeremic
Vuk Jeremić is a Serbian politician and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Serbia. He was sworn in on May 15, 2007 and reelected on July 7, 2008.-Education:Jeremić was born in Belgrade in 1975 to Miško Jeremić and Sena Buljubašić...
, who was then completing a degree at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. OSSI was virtually inactive from 2002 until 2007 when it was reactivated. As of June 2010, the organisation numbers more than 600 members around the world.
Organisation
Local branches are the principal units of organisation of OSSI and the focal points of its influence. Eight local branches have been implemented, in universities such as HarvardHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, Oxford and Donghua University
Donghua University
Donghua University is a public university in Shanghai, China administered by Chinese Ministry of Education and Shanghai municipality.-History:...
of Shanghai.
According to OSSI’s mission statement
Mission statement
A mission statement is a statement of the purpose of a company or organization. The mission statement should guide the actions of the organization, spell out its overall goal, provide a path, and guide decision-making...
, its members conduct all activity while respecting the uniqueness of cultures, communities
Community
The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...
and universities in which they live, constantly incorporating knowledge gained into the development of OSSI and its local branches. OSSI aims to be the most extensive, competent and information wealthy network of Serbian students abroad.
Activities
One of the chief activities of OSSI seeks to organise internships and placements for its members in both the private and public sector in SerbiaSerbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
, including the Government of the Republic of Serbia.
The "pOSSIbilIty Project" is geared towards finding adequate internships and employment in the private sector
Private sector
In economics, the private sector is that part of the economy, sometimes referred to as the citizen sector, which is run by private individuals or groups, usually as a means of enterprise for profit, and is not controlled by the state...
, while the "Meet Serbia" project (Serbian: Упознај Србију; Upoznaj Srbiju) sets up internships for a select group of successful Serbian students from abroad in the Ministries of the Republic of Serbia
Government of Serbia
Officially the Government of the Republic of Serbia is the executive branch of government in Serbia.-Current government:The current government was elected on 7 July 2008 by the majority vote in the National Assembly of Serbia and restructured on 14 March 2011...
. In the summer of 2010, the project placed 46 students in all the ministries of Serbia during a four-week timespan in which they were to get acquainted with the functional organisation of the state administration, meet some of Serbia's ministers such as Vuk Jeremić
Vuk Jeremic
Vuk Jeremić is a Serbian politician and the current Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Government of Serbia. He was sworn in on May 15, 2007 and reelected on July 7, 2008.-Education:Jeremić was born in Belgrade in 1975 to Miško Jeremić and Sena Buljubašić...
, Ivica Dačić
Ivica Dacic
Ivica Dačić is a Serbian politician. He is the leader of Socialist Party of Serbia and is First Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Internal Affairs....
and compile a feedback report of their impressions which was then presented to the prime minister of Serbia, Mirko Cvetković
Mirko Cvetkovic
Mirko Cvetković is a Serbian economist and the Prime Minister of Serbia as well as the Minister of Finance.-Biography:...
., additionally signing a bilateral memorandum with the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs
Ministry of Internal Affairs (Serbia)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is a governmental agency responsible for local and national law enforcement services in Serbia. It has numerous municipal and district branches throughout the country...
for further cooperation between the organisation and the Serbian government.
The second and other major part of OSSI's activity is advisory and supportive, aimed at helping out students in all three phases of their academic careers --– the application phase, during undergraduate studies as well as during postgraduate studies.
The organisation equally strives to promote dialogue and cooperation among its members, between them and their academic and local communities, as well as with their colleagues in Serbia and international organisations around the world through its multi-annual assemblies
General assembly
General assembly may refer to an official meeting of the members of a trade union, church, association, or similar organization, or of their representatives, in particular:-Governing bodies of international organizations:*The United Nations General Assembly...
, round tables and lectures, as well as through its numerous projects.