KU undergoes internationalization audit of German Rectors' Conference
How is the KU positioned in terms of internationalization and where is still room for improvement? The University now addressed these questions as part of an audit offered by the German Rectors' Conference (HRK). Part of the process, which took several months, was a comprehensive self-report by the KU on its activities in the area of internationalization. The audit was accompanied by external experts. In their final report, the experts attest to the KU's "convincing and university-wide overall strategy, which also has the potential for international impact".
The HRK audit "Internationalization of Universities" supports participating institutions in the development of an institutional internationalization strategy and the elaboration of their international profile. It combines institutional self-reflection with external consulting. The KU decided to undergo the so-called "Audit kompakt", a compact audit format that is specially tailored to the situation and needs of smaller universities. "The KU sees itself as a University in a large global network with around 300 partner institutions. Only with an international positioning can it fulfill its mission in teaching, research and transfer", says Prof. Dr. Klaus Stüwe, Vice President for International Affairs and Profile Development. The audit by the German Rectors' Conference was carried out in order to assess the status quo and develop an internationalization strategy for the years to come. "We have already come a long way", says Stüwe, referring to the steadily growing proportion of foreign students, the great success of the double degree courses and the extensive support services for the mobility of students, researchers and administrative staff.
The KU set up a project group for the audit, which included representatives from the faculties and the University administration. The working group had a total of 14 KU members: Professors, employees from the non-professorial academic staff, Research Service Center and Language Center as well as a student representative. The head of the International Office, Dr. Anna Marcos, was in charge of conducting the audit. Other KU representatives were also involved in the talks with the external experts, such as the University Management, deans, the University’s communications department and students with international experience or from international degree programs. After submitting a self-report on internationalization, the KU welcomed a team of internationally experienced consultants on campus in summer 2024 for an on-site audit. The key figures and results of the discussions formed the basis for a catalog of recommendations that was presented to the KU last fall. This in turn formed the basis for a workshop at the end of the year, in which the results of the audit were structured and corresponding measures were developed.
The result of the audit is a positive recommendation report for further steps towards internationalization. The experts attest that the KU has already achieved considerable successes on the path to internationalization and has very good prerequisites for further steps. The KU not only has "a convincing and university-wide overall strategy, which also has the potential for international impact", but has also decided as an institution to explicitly focus on the topic of internationalization and thus "to lay the foundations for an increasingly strategically sound examination of this dimension of university activity", according to the final report.
Dr. Anna Marcos
In particular, the experts recommend that the KU further strengthen the University's international visibility and international marketing, promote an active language policy at the University, further expand the range of courses taught in English and intensify measures to internationalize the administration. "In addition to the specific results and recommendations, I consider it a great success that we brought together very motivated people from different areas of work and groups at the University who each contributed their own expertise as part of the audit", says Anna Marcos. In this way, it was possible to reflect on and further develop the topic of internationalization from very different fields of work and specialist perspectives.
"The certification is an incentive for us to further sharpen our international profile in order to become even more visible internationally", says Vice President Stüwe. He is convinced that the high level of participation in the auditing process will also be reflected in the implementation of further internationalization measures. The next steps – also in a participatory process – will be the development of an internationalization strategy and the specific addressing of prioritized recommendations.
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