Germany: Through Reform and European Compatibility to Internationalization

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1 Germany: Through Reform and European Compatibility to Internationalization Stefan Hormuth President Justus Liebig University (Giessen) Vice president for International Affairs (HRK) 19 September 2002 (Note: The following document includes text from the National Report on the Bologna process in Germany as provided by KMK; HRK and BMBF, April 2002) State of the German university system The German university system is a federal one. Universities are governed by the laws of the sixteen different states of the federal republic of Germany, and universities are financed by the different states. This provides for variety in the legal and financial conditions under which universities work. However, the federal government provides a general law as a framework under which state laws are developed, and a certain degree of jointly financed tasks, such as major funding for construction and scientific equipment. Also, research funding through the German science foundation is jointly financed. During the last few years, German universities have been in a process of tremendous change. Most state laws have fundamentally changed the governing structures of universities as well as the relationship between university and state. Whereas before, universities were closely regulated by the state, most states now grant their universities a much higher degree of autonomy in decisions regarding personnel, planning and finances. Before, curricula and degrees awarded by German universities had to be approved by the state, now a system of accreditation is being established, which I will elaborate below. The internal governing structures of universities have been streamlined to allow for faster decision-making procedures that before were subject to processes involving various committees representing the different groups of the university: faculty, staff and students alike. By many this process, however, is also criticized as reducing the democratic decision-making and the involvement of the university as a whole. Many states have introduced Boards of Trustees, and have transferred to them powers that before were placed with the state. Both within the university, and in the relationship between state and university, output oriented systems of money allocation consider the number of students served as well as success in teaching and research as a basis for financing. 1

2 In a similar way, the new federal framework law establishes new career paths for professors and new ways of remuneration. Whereas before, the career path to a professorship went through the so-called habilitation, an additional degree about six years past the dissertation, and usually offered a permanent position only at an age well beyond forty years, the introduction of the new position of Junior professor, somewhat comparable to that of an Assistant Professor, is supposed to allow for earlier independence and responsibility in teaching and research. Currently, the salary for German university professors is mainly determined by their level of appointment as associate or full professor and is within these levels only a function of years since the appointment. This was sometimes considered ironically the ultimate academic freedom. In the future, salaries of professors in Germany, too, will be performance-based. Degree structure While most of these changes may, from the outside, be considered to be long overdue for a competitive university system, one of the internationally most visible changes occurs currently in the structure of degrees awarded. In Germany, and in some neighboring countries, the first degree awarded is still the Diploma or integrated Master s degree, a graduate degree taking a minimum of five years at the university level. Within this degree structure, graduation with an undergraduate degree at the Bachelor level is not possible. Degrees below the Diploma or Master level are not awarded by universities, but only by Fachhochschulen (comparable to polytechnics) or Universities of Applied Science, as they are now called somewhat euphemistically. As a result, German graduates are well trained, but universities suffer from a relatively high level of dropout rates and graduates are on the average older than their peers in other countries. In addition, the German degree structure is internationally not compatible, making it difficult for foreign students to enter a German degree program, and for German students to get credit at foreign institutions for work equivalent to a Bachelor s degree. In order to change this, a major change in the degree structure is underway to introduce internationally compatible Bachelor s and Masters degrees. This process, however, cannot be seen anymore strictly from a national, German, perspective, but I have to change to the European level. This change comes about because of the so-called Bologna declaration, a declaration signed by European ministers of higher education in Bologna in The Bologna Process 2

3 On 19 June 1999, 29 European Ministers in charge of higher education signed in Bologna the Declaration on establishing the European Area of higher education by 2010 and promoting the European System of higher education worldwide. The Ministers affirmed in the Bologna Declaration their intention to: adopt a system of easily readable and comparable degrees adopt a system with two main cycles (undergraduate/graduate) establish a system of credits (such as ECTS) promote mobility by overcoming obstacles promote European co-operation in quality assurance promote European dimensions in higher education Convinced that the establishment of the European area of higher education requires constant support, supervision and adaptation to the continuously evolving needs, the Ministers decided to meet again two years later in Prague in order to assess the progress achieved and the new steps to be taken. Two years after signing the Bologna Declaration, the Ministers in charge of higher education of - by now - 33 European countries met on 19 May 2001 in Prague to follow up the Bologna Process and to set directions and priorities for the coming years. In the Prague Communiqué the Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the objectives of the Bologna Declaration appreciated the active involvement of the European University Association (EUA) and the National Unions of Students in Europe (ESIB) took note of the constructive assistance of the European Commission made comments on the further process with regard to the different objectives of the Bologna Declaration emphasized as important elements of the European Higher Education Area: lifelong learning involvement of students enhancing the attractiveness and competitiveness of the European Higher Education Area to other parts of the world (including the aspect of transnational education) The Ministers decided that the next follow-up meeting for the Bologna process should take place in 2003 in Berlin to review progress and to set directions and priorities for the next stages of the process to the European Higher Education Area. Currently, the German 3

4 Ministry of Education and Research, The German Rectors Conference, and the German Academic Exchange Service are preparing for the Berlin conference. These goals, to be completed by the end of this decade, have earned widespread support in most European states. A Europe-wide debate has been going on since 1999, involving governments, university organizations on the European level mainly the newly founded European University Association and on the national level, as well as student organizations. These debates have yielded a strong consensus on the main goals: - mobility - employability - compatibility - the importance on life-long learning - attractiveness/competitiveness of European universities worldwide Major changes are presently being undertaken in European university education: - the introduction of a European Credit transfer system (ECTS), to allow for easy transfer of credits within Europe - the introduction of a Diploma Supplement, containing information about the curricula, degree structure and actual work done - the introduction of degrees equivalent to Bachelor and Masters degrees (also mostly called this way) in many different countries - the introduction of structures for quality assurance and accreditation Globalization The Europe-wide process resulting from the Bologna declaration is by no means restricted in its effects to Europe. Rather, the process is also meant and actually results in the opening of European higher education to the whole world. Comparable degree structures, clear information as provided by ECTS and the diploma supplement, and universally accepted and accredited standards for higher education allow for the promotion of the attractiveness of European higher education outside of Europe. The situation in Germany The objectives of the Bologna Declaration correspond to the goals which the Federal Government and the Länder developed in recent years for modernizing higher education in Germany and enhancing the country's international attractiveness. 4

5 In Germany, the Federal Government and the Länder pointed out that the introduction of the new graduation system with Bachelor's and Master's degrees must be accompanied by measures which promote acceptance of these degrees by industry and society and open up to graduates new opportunities on the labor market. In addition the Länder and the universities in Germany make joint efforts to develop the traditional degree system courses further so that they fit in more easily with international structures. Relevant provisions have been included in all higher education acts of the Länder. This corresponds to the objective of the Bologna Declaration that a system based on two main cycles, namely undergraduate and graduate studies, should be adopted. The Framework Act for Higher Education (HRG) stipulates in accordance with the Bologna Declaration that the standard period of undergraduate study shall be between three and four years. In the 2002 summer semester, 544 Bachelor courses and 367 Master courses have been offered by higher education institutions in Germany. According to official statistics, a total of 18,945 students were enrolled on the new study courses in the 2000/2001 winter semester, 12,409 of them in Bachelor courses and 6,536 in Master courses. This is still a rather modest number but we have to bear in mind that many new course offerings have not yet been fully developed. 11,734 students of the total of 18,945 were in their first semester in the course on which they were enrolled. It is to be expected that the dynamic development in the area of Bachelor and Master courses will continue and that the number of students in these study programs will markedly increase in the coming years. The international orientation of the introduction of the new graduation system was supported by specific programs. Under these funding programs, support is currently provided for about 100 internationally oriented study courses in Germany. In January 2000, the German Science Council issued a recommendation concerning the introduction of a new study and degree structure (Bachelor/Master) in Germany. The new degrees are also given much attention in the recent recommendations of the Science Council concerning the development of universities of applied sciences (Fachhochschulen). The Science Council recommends that the new graduation system should be introduced at Fachhochschulen in a consistent approach. The Standing Conference of State Ministers of Higher Education (KMK) advocated that the European Credit Transfer System should serve as a model for the credit system to be introduced in Germany. A survey conducted by the DAAD in December 2000 revealed that, in the academic year 2000/2001, a total of 185 German institutions of higher education, including 93 Fachhochschulen, were introducing or applying ECTS in some 1,340 areas - not 5

6 only to Bachelor/Bakkalaureus and Master/Magister courses but also to traditional study courses. With a view to strengthening the international dimension, legal conditions (including work permits) to be fulfilled by foreigners wishing to study and do research in Germany were improved in 1998 already. The many and diverse efforts made by the Federal Government, the Länder and the institutions of higher education have already resulted in substantial improvements for foreign students and researchers at numerous higher education institutions. No tuition fees are charged in Germany for studies leading to a degree qualifying for a profession; this may even be a second degree earned in a two-cycle program. This principle also applies to foreign students. The individual states and the institutions of higher education are making great efforts to improve social and subject-related support for foreign students at German universities. An inter-institutional system of quality assurance is emerging in the Federal Republic of Germany, supplementing quality management by individual institutions. Transnational initiatives and collaborations of universities and evaluation centers have been established or will shortly start work to ensure transnational evaluation In connection with the introduction of the new graduation system, the KMK and the HRK established an accreditation system including a national German Accreditation Council for the launch of the new Bachelor/Bakkalaureus and Master/Magister courses. The aim of accreditation is to ensure minimum standards with regard to study contents and to assess the professional relevance of the degrees awarded. The accreditation procedure is mainly implemented by different regional agencies and agencies focusing on specific fields. The European dimension with regard to curriculum development, cooperation between institutions, mobility schemes and integrated programs of study, training and research is taken into account by German universities in numerous ways. Cooperation between German and foreign institutions of higher education within the framework of contractually agreed partnerships is gaining increasing importance. In addition to traditional forms of university cooperation, increasingly complex networks of cooperation between institutions in several countries are emerging; some of these networks are of a regional nature or have developed from a special scientific focus of the institutions participating. From Prague to Berlin The follow-up conference to Bologna, that took place in Prague in Prague in May 2001, expanded the number of participants in the process, specified the goals and developed 6

7 working structures which enable further progress to be made with the process. The aim is to establish a European Higher Education Area. The Berlin Conference will be a milestone on this way. The Bologna process is characterized by open working structures which enable a great variety of ideas and people to be included in the process. Only if we succeed in keeping this process open and avoiding firmly established forms of organization with restrictive rules and regulations can the Bologna process be effective. The European Higher Education Area will develop from a common basic understanding of training structures in Europe. It is based on the common views of participants, on mutual trust and on tolerance towards the diversity which is characteristic of Europe rather than on laws, regulations and procedures. The objectives of the Bologna process can be achieved only if comparable quality standards apply to higher education throughout Europe. Developing a reliable quality assurance system is therefore necessary for promoting mobility within Europe and for enhancing the attractiveness of European higher education institutions to non-europeans. This does, of course, not mean harmonizing higher education in Europe and introducing standardized curricula for all universities in Europe. This would be incompatible with European traditions and would call into question the diversity, which is one of Europe's assets in the higher education sector. The goal is not to harmonize systems but to ensure equivalence. As I stated at the outset, changes in the German university system are at the same time part of a grander Europe-wide reform which in turn should open European universities worldwide. Therefore, I invite you to follow the further development of the European Higher Education Area and recommend the official website which has been created for the Berlin Conference under 7

European Higher Education in a Global Setting. A Strategy for the External Dimension of the Bologna Process. 1. Introduction

European Higher Education in a Global Setting. A Strategy for the External Dimension of the Bologna Process. 1. Introduction The Bologna Declaration (1999) sets out the objective of increasing the international