The University offers Staff Weeks to its employees as continual professional development, and an important part of the University of Bonn's internationalization strategy. Professor Birgit Münch, vice rector for international affairs at the University of Bonn: “Fifteen international colleagues from eight different countries took part in our Staff Week. One unusual factor for a Staff Week, but something that we see as crucial: University of Bonn employees are warmly invited to register, because the intensive specialist discussions and the cultural exchange give new inspiration for daily office life.” She very much appreciates the diversity of the participants: “We have guests from Finland, France, Georgia, Latvia, Sweden, Tanzania, Czech Republic, and the USA. Together with the Bonn employees, they formed a working group offering a fantastic range of experiences and full of best practice examples to share.” Staff Week is an excellent chance to intensify existing partnerships with international institutions of higher education and to build new ones.
University of Bonn promotes international qualifications of its employees
Holger Gottschalk, provost of the University of Bonn, encouraged the participants to seize the day: “Take as much as you can from these encounters, and enjoy the Bonn Staff Week and everything that goes with it.” Learning about the higher educational landscape of other countries while also getting to know colleagues from those places, including how they handle things elsewhere, are important for one’s own work. Because you rarely have the chance to get out of your own bubble and consciously look at things in a different way. “External impulses are always valuable.” And beyond this: “Staff Week contributes to the internationalization of our administrative staff and is a wonderful opportunity to form professional networks and to engage in discussions.”
And so it was. Teresa Vallée, a contract attorney at the University of Bonn, was particularly enamored of the famous chats over coffee: “It’s always hugely fascinating to talk with colleagues from around the world. We quickly determined that we all face similar challenges and can learn from one another. Seeing your own work through the eyes of others is truly enriching.”
For Kevin Kuhne, an administrative specialist in quality management for learning and teaching, Staff Weeks was serendipitous: “There’s a lot going on in our area right now since the implementation of Service Concept 2.0. The Scandinavian partners reported on similar approaches to structuring their offerings and it was great to talk with them about our understanding of service and their practical experiences with the digital world.” Another lesson learned that has stuck with him: France, like Germany, has begun offering cooperative studies models and it's fascinating to see how French universities are reacting to the needs of business and industry, as well as needs in the medical and healthcare fields.
Over the course of the program, participants learned about the organizational structure at the University of Bonn, allowing them to draw comparisons to their own universities. There were numerous opportunities to discuss examples of best practice. And that is precisely the idea behind a Staff Week: The subject matter has been organized to provide participants with the chance to meet colleagues entrusted with similar responsibilities at their own universities and to discuss first-hand how they go about providing the services in question.
“Internationalization at home”
Bärbel Konermann-Krüger is responsible for intercultural qualification offerings for administrative staff at the University of Bonn. She's thrilled that Staff Week has now established itself firmly within the larger internationalization framework: “The five days lend themselves to really intensive discussions. A singular opportunity to learn from one another. You gain an entirely new perspective for your own work.” For Bärbel Konermann-Krüger, Staff Week in Bonn falls under the far-reaching umbrella of the “Internationalization at home” campaign and is a fantastic chance for anyone interested in improving their intercultural skills but unable to organize a stay abroad.
She believes that internationalization of university education can only succeed if all members of the University of Bonn community—not just researchers, teachers, and students, but also members of the central and decentral administrative staffs—are included in the process. Staff Week is thus an important element in the existing portfolio of internationalization options for administrative staff.
