Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences has initiated a broad participation process for university development. All employees, teaching staff, researchers and students are invited to work together to identify potential for the strategic development of the university and to develop concrete solutions.
Kick-off at the Wolfsburg campus
More than 50 employees met with the Executive Board at the Ostfalia Wolfsburg campus to kick things off. Volker Küch (Full-time Vice President for Human Resources and Finance), Prof. Dr Ina Schiering (Vice President for Research, Development and Technology Transfer) and Prof. Dr Thomas Benda (Vice President for Teaching, Studies and Continuing Education) listened in a fishbowl discussion and answered many questions. Like many colleges and universities, Ostfalia is also facing challenges:
- The number of students is falling due to demographic change.
- Political and economic crises are unsettling and affecting many companies and cooperation partners of the university.
- The automotive industry, in which many graduates of the engineering and business degree programmes have made a career, is undergoing a profound transformation.
- Applications with artificial intelligence are changing entire job profiles - and not least university teaching.
"The world around us is changing rapidly, so we will change too. We want to continue to provide our students with an educational programme that teaches the right skills for the challenges of our time. We will define the measurable goals and milestones in the change process together and in constant dialogue," says Volker Küch.
Positive feedback from participants
The feedback from participants at the first event was consistently positive. There were lively discussions not only with the Executive Committee, but also among all participants. "It was a very intensive, constructive dialogue," said one participant by way of example. The dialogue rounds will continue at the Salzgitter, Wolfenbüttel and Suderburg campuses until the beginning of June.
