New semester - new luck. The winter semester 2021/22 had highs and lows at the F-MK. We take a look back.
Author: Marcel Kremser
Back from the second summer of coronavirus, the university management had high hopes. The winter semester starting in October 2021 was to be held in person as far as possible. To this end, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences has developed a hygiene concept. 3G, social distancing and a general obligation to wear masks were at the top of the list.
Unfortunately, after about two months, the central regulations changed and we gradually returned to online teaching - and the struggle with motivation, concentration and other things started all over again for us students ...
But our lecturers were also less than enthusiastic about the necessary measures. But they are all proud of us. Here are a few comments:
"We can look back on the past winter semester with pride, because despite the pandemic conditions, we made the best of it together with the students. We were able to carry out at least some of the field research that is so important for tourism management students, and other compulsory excursions to South Tyrol will be made up for at the beginning of the summer semester.
I would like to thank the lecturers for their commitment and, above all, the students who did not let themselves be discouraged!
I look forward to the 2022 summer semester!"
~ Prof. Pflicke
"The last semester was turbulent again, after we had all hoped otherwise in October. I would like to thank the students for their support and flexibility in what will hopefully be the last virtual semester."
~ Prof. Saatkamp
"The students worked with great concentration in the winter semester 21/22. They can work very professionally and manage their learning time independently. Neither their work performance nor their motivation has diminished during this time. I am very proud of them!"
~ Prof. Maćkowiak
In the examination period of this winter semester, the so-called flexibilization regulations for the examination process no longer applied, but rather a supplementary regulation that was reduced in certain points. In contrast to previous corona semesters, regulations such as the "corona attempt" (examination results could be canceled upon request) or registration and deregistration until immediately before the examination were no longer applicable. Despite the online teaching taking place until shortly before the exams, the normal rules of the game tended to apply again, which was discussed critically by the Student Council in particular. Nevertheless, the winter semester 21/22 did not count towards the standard period of study and oral examinations and thesis defenses could be held online again. Despite the intensive discussions about the supplementary regulations, the examinations ultimately ran smoothly and without any major cancellations, according to Dean Maiwald.
Whether you like the online mode or not, the online University Information Day (HIT) was enjoyed by many, both inside and outside the university - as evidenced by the approximately 170 people who were only interested in our faculty. On the wonderfully coordinated plan and in the very user-friendly online tool, prospective students found many appealing events such as the respective degree program presentations, an info point at each faculty and, of course, taster lectures.
One highlight was definitely the quiz show "Schlag den Prof", which was developed and staged by Tourism Management students as part of the Event Management module. Chapeau for so much creativity, hard work and enthusiastic implementation! If you want to read more about how "Schlag den Prof" came about, then take a look here.
This and many other articles are thanks to the F-MK student editorial team. We are students from the faculty's degree programs and publish monthly articles on various topics according to a coordinated editorial plan: Specials in teaching and studies, excursions, projects, but also events in Görlitz and the surrounding area and many more.
Small spoiler: There will soon be even more sections, which you will then also be able to see on the Faculty website. You will also be informed about our latest works via a newsletter that will arrive in your mailbox every month. Please don't just put us in the waste paper basket, but enjoy the change from the sometimes dry university material and read what's going on at the F-MK. Lecturers also contribute a lot.
Do you also have a cool topic that we could / should report on? Do you have questions about the faculty? Then simply write an e-mail to redaktion-mk@hszg.de.
As a member of the Faculty Council, I can give you an insight into what our Faculty Council has been up to during the winter semester in addition to the points mentioned above.
The shortage of nursing staff has been a problem in Germany for a long time. Apparently, better incentives are needed so that more people qualify in geriatric nursing or healthcare and pediatric nursing and help people in need professionally as nurses in hospitals, pediatric wards, outpatient care services or inpatient care facilities.
A special incentive will now (hopefully) be the "bedside nursing" course, which is new in Germany. From the winter semester 2022/23, our faculty will provide academic training for nurses. In addition to a Bachelor's degree (Bachelor of Science), the eight-semester course will also allow students to obtain a state professional license as a nurse.
The special features and plans for the course have taken on such a concrete form that the legal framework (study and examination regulations) has been agreed, other legal approvals have been obtained and over 70 (!) cooperation partners in the region have been brought on board for the very high practical component. Prof. Maiwald says: "We have never had a degree program of this complexity and scope in terms of corporate practice at our faculty. "Thanks to the team around Prof. Knoll, Prof. Heese and Ms. Knothe, as well as the many other players at the university and in the surrounding area, we are now in the starting blocks," says Prof. Maiwald. But there is more to the course: some classes / courses will take place in realistic skills and sim labs in an additionally rented building on Postplatz in Görlitz, which is almost ready for occupancy.
In the last Faculty Council of the winter semester 2021/22, the topic of class / course evaluations was on the agenda. Every semester, we have to evaluate classes / courses in certain modules. Some of us are probably asking ourselves: "But why this module? I would much rather evaluate another one!"
The fact is that class / course evaluations are planned centrally for each semester by the university's Quality Management department. In this respect, the discussion in the Faculty Council addressed the question of the extent to which students who are dissatisfied with classes / courses can initiate evaluations themselves. Until this (hopefully) happens, I would like to give you some advice: If you are dissatisfied with the way a lecture or seminar is being conducted or even with the content, you can already make use of the following options - step by step:
One last important point in the Faculty Council was student marketing. Did you have high school students sitting in your lectures in November and asked yourselves: "What the heck are they doing here?"
The answer is simple: starting this year, you can replace the much-feared and not exactly beloved term paper in the 10th grade or BELL (special learning achievement) in the upper school by attending eight blocks of courses at one or more universities or colleges and then writing a short report about them. Unfair? Perhaps.
But this is our chance to show what a great university, what a great faculty we are. In general, we will intensify the exchange with and the offers for the (vocational) grammar schools in the districts of Görlitz and Bautzen.
