"My goal is to create trust"

Ms. Schwarze, you’ve been part of the university since early November. How were you welcomed?

I was welcomed very warmly from day one and feel very comfortable on the team.

You come from the private sector. Have you noticed any differences in work practices compared to the public sector?

Oh yes. My previous employers (digades GmbH, Glaubitz GmbH & Co. KG) are in the electronics sector, and both companies operate in the automotive industry. The time pressure to always deliver “just in time” is significantly higher, and constantly and quickly adapting to new technologies and ways of working is essential.

What prompted you to make the switch?

The job posting. Even at my previous employers, I really enjoyed conducting internal and external audits, and I also renewed my auditor certification this past spring. In the private sector, there’s also the opportunity to work as an external auditor. The only problem is that I’m usually on the road four to five days a week, which is difficult to balance with my career and family life.

What defines your new field of work? Are there any overlaps with your previous activities? What makes it appealing to you?

Conducting audits as well as program reviews is a very exciting and new field in which I constantly have to adapt to new colleagues, cultures, and ways of working and understand their perspectives. In doing so, I can further expand my own knowledge and contribute my experience.

But optimizing existing processes and finding new approaches through professional exchange within my team is also very appealing. For example, which concepts from the business world can be adapted for use in the university’s Quality management system to optimize it?

Quality management always involves providing solutions and optimizing work processes. Do you follow a particular approach in this regard?

My goal is to build trust. As a rule, quality management always deals with problems that we have to solve together with our colleagues. My approach, however, is to build a strong foundation of trust early on, so that they come to us not only when there are problems, but also when they have ideas for improvements or optimizations.

In addition, you’re working on establishing the HSZG as a “family-friendly university.” What’s the idea behind that?

The audit of the Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences as a family-friendly institution aims to make it easier to balance work, studies, and family life. In addition to work-life balance, equal opportunity and gender equality are also key priorities. As a mother of two children, I face new challenges every day in juggling all my commitments. This makes it all the more important that the university creates opportunities to make everyday life easier—including caring for children and family members—while still allowing people to fulfill their potential in their careers or studies.

When you’re not busy with Quality management and accreditations, what do you like to do in your free time?

In my free time, I enjoy biking and hiking a lot with my family, but I’m also very involved in women’s soccer. I coach the girls’ team and play on the women’s team.