Small University, Big Opportunities

Following a successful application, the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences (HSZG) was one of six universities to begin participating in the Peer-to-Peer Strategy Consultation program of the Higher Education Forum on Digitalization (HFD) on September 23, 2020. For one year, experts will now support HSZG in its strategic engagement with digital teaching and learning.

The kickoff event, held at the end of September, provided an opportunity for the university representatives participating in this peer-to-peer format to get to know one another and exchange ideas about their strategic processes regarding the digitization of higher education, as well as the first steps in the peer-to-peer advisory process.

During the presentation, the HSZG made it clear that our university, located in the heart of Europe, has great potential, pursues innovative goals, and faces unique challenges.

The focus is on the key areas of the digital workplace, as well as educational equity, access, and openness. In line with the HSZG’s research focus on “Transformation Processes in Business and Society,” the university’s strategic goal is to establish itself as a partner in “lifelong learning” in order to help ensure that skilled workers in the region can continuously generate new innovations within their companies. Another strategic goal is to strengthen the economic and social relevance of our degree programs. For this reason, interdisciplinary degree programs spanning various disciplines and that are cross-faculty / trans-faculty in nature are to be developed, integrating technical, economic, social, and ecological aspects of innovation.

The HSZG links its strategic process in the area of digitizing study and teaching to a wide range of goals and the implementation of measures aimed at increasing the attractiveness of the campus as a place to study and ensuring quality assurance. This includes, for example, the development of new formats (microdegree programs) that feature unique selling points and strengthen the societal relevance of our educational offerings. Another key focus area is the establishment of measures for competency development and for supporting faculty in implementing initiatives to digitize studies and teaching.

In the next step, the HSZG working group “Digital Higher Education” (comprising the Vice President for Education and International Affairs, members of the Office of Education, the Center for Knowledge Transfer and Education, and the Center for e-Learning) will draft a so-called self-report describing the university in the relevant areas. This report will serve as a working document for the HFD experts and form the basis for the peer-to-peer on-site consultation planned for the first quarter.