"We were prepared for the fact that the town of Zittau would also take in more refugees. Now it is official, the district will set up additional accommodation for asylum seekers in Zittau. The staff at the university have of course been following the events of the last few weeks and are aware of the pressure on the Free State, its districts and municipalities to act on the issue of refugee accommodation. The situation is urgent and also requires our support and cooperation," says Rector Prof. Friedrich Albrecht.
Cooperation between the university and the Welcome Alliance is already going quite well at the Görlitz campus, for example through the involvement of a project group from the
Faculty of Social Sciences.
At the Zittau site, cooperation between the university and the town is being strengthened. This should work well, as the main players know each other very well.
"The Rectorate and some members of staff have developed ideas on how to support the university and take up the existing commitment of the staff and students," says Rector Albrecht. A refugee support working group has now been set up, which initially has the task of exploring and coordinating, e.g. finding out which offers are already available and which are particularly necessary, as well as coordinating with the welcome alliances and the authorities.
The contact person at the university in Görlitz is Prof. Michael Kaspar (m.kaspar(at)hszg.de); in Zittau this is Antje Pfitzner (a.pfitzner(at)hszg.de). In Zittau, it has already been agreed that she will take part in all important consultations on asylum seeker support. In terms of concrete measures, the initial focus will be on language courses, as there is a great need in this area. The Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences, the
International University Institute
adult education center
Both locations will also focus on integrating refugees who are willing and able to study into the university's degree courses and preparatory courses.
Contact:
Hella Trillenberg
Advisor to the Rector / Press Office
Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
Tel. 03583/ 61 1403
Fax. 03583/ 61 1402
Email: h.trillenberg(at)hszg.de