Bielefeld University to receive Teaching Quality Pact award for 'Richtig einsteigen' programme

The two heads of the Joint Science Conference (GWK - Gemeinsame Wissenschafts-konferenz),  Professor Dr. Annette Schavan (German Minister of Education and Research) and Doris Ahnen (State Minister of Education, Science, Further Education, and Culture for the Rhineland-Palatinate), announced on Thursday 13th December in Berlin that Bielefeld University will be granted a total of 12.14 million Euros from now until 2016. The University is receiving this award from the Teaching Quality Pact for its programme 'Richtig einsteigen' [Getting started properly] designed to improve study conditions and the quality of teaching. Rektor Sagerer announced: 'This success permits innovative impulses precisely where they will be particularly effective and sustained: at the beginning of studies and when starting to teach at our university'.

The aim of Bielefeld University's 'Richtig einsteigen' programme - which builds on existing measures and strengths - is to strongly raise the successful graduation rate and permanently improve the quality of studies. It specifies the areas for strategic measures in which new concepts can be developed along with structures to improve study conditions and extend high-quality teaching.

Examples are teaching the necessary mathematical and literal skills for a specific subject during the first year of studies, improving counselling and supervision when starting a study course, extending peer learning services, and strengthening the use of cooperative forms of learning in study courses. In addition, the introduction of a systematic study success monitoring system should generate new empirical data on the course of studies and indicate where there is a need to act and intervene in any specific degree programme. Moreover, in the field of teaching, the University wants to improve introductory programmes for staff and continue the target-group-specific further development of higher education teaching courses for lecturers.

The concept is based on an intensive data-assisted assessment of studying and teaching at Bielefeld University (statistical data, results of a current student survey, data on study success rates). It will also be able to draw on preliminary findings from five research projects the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research is carrying out at the University as part of the programme 'Hochschulforschung als Beitrag zur Professionalisierung der Hochschullehre' [Higher education research as a contribution to the professionalization of higher education teaching].

The money will be used primarily to pay for additional personnel: The faculties should appoint more staff to improve supervision, counselling, and the teaching of study-relevant basic competencies. Staff levels should also be built up and extended in central services (training tutors, monitoring study success, imparting higher education teaching qualifications, etc.). There will be a  total of 37 new positions. Funds will also be available for visiting lecturers and tutors.

'With this money, the University will be able to apply innovative impulses for the further development of the studying and teaching culture where they are particularly effective and sustained: at the beginning of studies and when starting to teach', says Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Sagerer, Rektor of Bielefeld University. 'This success is a clear sign that good teaching and targeted counselling are very important at Bielefeld University. I thank the staff who have put together such a convincing programme. However, even these funds are available for only a limited time. The fundamental problems facing our universities - insufficient funding and poor student-tutor ratios - remain'. 

The 'Richtig einsteigen' programme has been planned by Lehren und Lernen [the centre for teaching and learning], a section of the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Student Counselling (SL_K5 ), and is now being implemented together with the faculties.

Bielefeld University was already one of the winners of the 'Exzellente Lehre" [excellence in teaching] competition. This programme to sponsor teaching set up jointly by the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft [Association for the promotion of German science and humanities] and the Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs of the Länder in the Federal Republic of Germany awarded a prize to the University for its new culture of studying and teaching in 2009.

Source: Bielefeld University