Goal: Finally Take Teaching Seriously!
Background: If the amount of funds allocated to a project is any indication of its status, then the case is clear. The federal government and the federal states provided the Excellence Initiative for Research with start-up phase funding of around 1.9 billion Euros, whereas they earmarked just 10 million Euros for the corresponding Excellence Initiative for Teaching. Nevertheless, in their Sunday addresses, the German politicians responsible for science and education take every opportunity to admonish professors and universities for not spending more time on students. In terms of structure, the new bachelor’s and master’s programs allot more time for teaching, student support, and examinations. But given the average ratio of 60 students per professor, frustration is foreseeable on both sides.
Prognosis: It may sound boring, but calls for more money are inevitable if better teaching is a goal. That said, there is little hope that the situation will improve. The 2020 Pact for Higher Education will channel additional billions to the universities, but only if they accept more students. The lack of funds is compounded by a systemic problem: when new professors are hired, their commitment to excellence in teaching counts less than their research work. As a result, in the past, good teachers often got stuck in mid-level staff positions, while hard-working researchers were promoted despite their poor teaching skills. This, at least, is changing: greater attention is being paid to applicants’ pedagogical aptitude, and new centers for university pedagogy are supposed to train future teaching staff.
Goal: Limit the Role of Business in Education!
Background: The criticism that teaching and research are too heavily subordinated to economic concerns was sparked by various changes at German universities: by the demand articulated in the Bologna reforms that universities teach “job-qualifying” skills; by professorships sponsored by companies; and by university rankings, since these promote competition between schools. University councils that include executives from large companies alongside academics and foundation representatives are another thorn in the side of the students. These councils are responsible for advising the university administration, and they usually also have a say in appointments to university executive committees. They are part of the new administrative structures that were introduced at many universities in the past years in response to new higher education laws. On the one hand, they reduce state influence and ensure that universities have greater autonomy, for instance, in the appointment of professors. On the other hand, they give university leaders greater powers and limit the influence of traditional university bodies such as academic senates. Because of them, the new university structure has been criticized as anti-democratic.
Prognosis: There is little chance that the state parliaments will amend the new Higher Education Act. The debate on the level of influence that companies should be permitted to exercise on universities is likely to grow more intense – especially since universities will be even more dependent on new sources of revenue in the future.
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