2016 Report on Progress UN Principles for Responsible Management Education
Our Profile_
Our Profile Reutlingen University is one of Germany’s leading universities, offering international academic programs with close ties to industry and commerce. On our campus we have around 6000 students spread across five different Schools: Applied Chemistry, ESB Business School, Informatics, Engineering, and Textile & Design. Professors, visiting lecturers as well as administrative and technical staff guide these talented young people along their academic path. The spirit of communication is very open-minded. On the one hand, most professors and lecturers maintain close contacts to business companies and civil society groups. These exchanges of information and joint research networks ensure that we offer the best possible combination of theory and practice. On the other hand, student initiatives are more than welcome. Administrative and technical staff provides valuable support in communicating and realizing series of lectures, discussion rounds and other student’s projects. Reutlingen University offers 45 degree programs at Bachelor’s and Master’s level, in which we train the top executives of the future. All our degree programs are accredited with internationally respected agencies. We feel obliged in supporting every single student for a successful academic and professional career. Beyond regular programs the Knowledge Foundation, Reutlingen University’s continuing education unit, offers a range of part-time executive degree programs, individually tailored management programs and further training opportunities for experienced specialist and management personnel. We consider the diversity of our students as inspiration and enrichment.
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Our Main Fields of Study e.g. Applied Chemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Environmental Protection e.g. International Business Studies, Industrial Engineering (Production Management, Logistics Management) e.g. Business Informatics, Mediaand Communication Informatics, MedicalTechnical Informatics e.g. Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics, Powerand Micro-Electronics, International Project Engineering e.g. International Fashion Retail, Transportation Interior Design, Textile Technology-Textile Management, Textile Design- Fashion Design
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Our Vision_ Bild und Zitat Prof Brumme
Our Vision Our society is getting more complex and multilayered. We meet this challenge by combining traditional values of humanistic education with high-tech development. We seek to encourage young minds to generate creative solutions. The Principles for Responsible Management Education (PRiME) are leading guidelines for making our vision a living reality. We are committed to fostering global responsibility and we are proud to be a PRiME member. Living Global Values Respect, responsibility and tolerance are the fundamental values young people need to grow in an international community. Reutlingen University is a university for Engineering, Business, Informatics, Applied Chemistry as well as Textile and Design – no matter where students come from and where they want to go. Our share of international students is more than 20%. They come from over 80 different countries. From September until December 2016 we will offer an orientation semester for refugees to start or continue their studies in Reutlingen or at another German university. Every semester around 600 Reutlingen students go abroad. We cooperate with more than 140 partner universities world-wide. Responsible University Looking inside the university’s administration we developed a schedule that formulates our next steps towards high quality, diverse and responsible university. In a transparent and cooperative process professors and staff
members from all faculties and administrative branches developed concrete aims for the next five years. Responsible learning and teaching with digital assistance, diversity management and assistance of young entrepreneurs as well as digitalisation and internationality are top priorities amongst others. Renewal of our Commitment We see PRiME as continuous process for reflection and improvement. This is our third report on progress in which we document the major achievements since 2014 and our future objectives. The most important effect of this regular reporting procedure is the constant exchange of individual activities that serve to implement the six principles for responsible management education. Herewith we renew our commitment to proceed on this way to educate responsible future managers in cooperation with our stakeholders and exchange effective practices related to these principles with other academic institutions.
Prof. Dr. Hendrik Brumme President of Reutlingen University
August 2016
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Contents
Our Profile_
p.2
Our Vision_
p.3
Principle 1_
Purpose
p.5
Principle 2_
Values
p.8
Principle 3_
Method
p.13
Principle 4_
Research
p.20
Principle 5_
Partnership
p.25
Principle 6_
Dialogue
p.28
Imprint Issued by Reutlingen University Reutlingen, August 2016 Contact: Dr. Ulrike Baumgärtner
[email protected] Reutlingen University Office for ethics and sustainability Building 2; Room 010 Alteburgstr. 150 D-72762 Reutlingen Phone: 0049 (0)7121 271-1065 Image rights: Reutlingen University or private
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Principle 1 | Purpose
Principle 1 | Purpose We will develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable global economy.
The Ethikum-certificate is handed over by the university’s president, 2015.
Office-Opening with wooden usbsticks, 2014.
August 2016
The professionally designed course flyer
2nd PRME Chapter Meeting DACH, October 2014 in Chur, Switzerland.
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Principle 1 | Purpose
Overview Successful change dedicated people.
management
needs
The team for ethics and sustainable development at Reutlingen University is in charge of inspiring colleagues and students with the idea of global responsibility. Thus the first part of this progress report concentrates on human resources developments in the team and the shifts in its working areas.
Major Achievements Human Resources Since January 2015, the team for ethics and sustainable development is enlarged. It consists now of Prof. Dr. Bernd Banke, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Martin Pfost, Dr. Ulrike Baumgärtner and a student assistant. Most commonly students work for one semester in the team. He or she takes over the online-based administration of our extra-curricular courses and the Ethikum. Apart from the administrative release he or she contributes a student’s perspective on our activities. This is a valuable contribution to meet the overall student’s expectations and their time schedules at the university. From May 2015 until June 2016 Raphaela Swadosch staffs the consultant for ethics and sustainable development as Uli Baumgärtner was on paternal leave. Thanks to an overlapping phase at the beginning and the end of the substitution the work flow could be managed without interruption. To this end, the university’s steering committee granted extra-ordinary financial resources. Increasing Participation In the last years, the participation at our extracurricular courses in ethics and sustainable development is constantly increasing. Roundabout 100 students are working on their “Ethikum” at the moment. In 2014, I August 2016
Prof. Dr. Banke, Ethics Officer „Man muss noch Chaos in sich haben, um einen tanzenden Stern gebären zu können.“ Friedrich Nietzsche: Also sprach Zarathustra (18831891).
supervised nine students. To receive the “Ethikum”-certificate students need 100 ethical credits and three graded course attestations. For each course students obtain 20 ethical credits on average (depending on the work-load of the course). Eight students have received the Ethikum-certificate in 2015 and 2016 so far. Our courses are embedded in “StudierenPlus” – a university-wide program that aims at fostering social, cross-cultural, rhetorical, ethical and other skills beyond the professional expertise. Increasing Visibility Firstly and most importantly our ethics and sustainability office moved in a separate room in 2015. For both students and staff we are now easily reachable on the campus. For special occasions, such as the office opening or the good-bye-party of Raphaela Swadosch, we invite professors, staff, interested students and partners. This allows us to inform on our work in a nice atmosphere and it is a welcomed occasion to network. In order to increase the visibility of our program we further achieved that the Ethikum-certificate is handed over by the university’s president at his official semesterspeech. Change your perspective! We developed a claim for our program that follows the appeal of John Keating in Deads Poet Society. Parallel to the scene when the popular
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Principle 1 | Purpose English teacher stands on a class table we took a picture standing on a class table for our course program. In the summer semester 2015 the course flyer was firstly designed by a professional agency. Furthermore we relinquished to print our last PRiME report on our implementation progress. Instead we saved it on a catchy usbstick. The woody stick is a highly liked give away. At any public event at the university we are present and inform on our work. In October we will take over the moderation of the opening ceremony for the newcomer students. Finally, we have continued network activities with other PRiME-members in the regional chapter DACH. In October 2014, we participated at an official meeting in Chur. At this meeting we developed an idea for a PRiME-related research project. Increasing Liability In the last two years not only the number of participating students at our program increases significantly but also its liability. In some degree programs at the faculty textile and design it is obligatory to attend extracurricular courses or engage in societal project and receive so called “social credits”. For graduating students must show 10 social credits. Our office agreed with the faculty that 15 ethical credits can be converted in 1 social credit. Turning it round, this means no student of these degree programs graduates without any input on ethical or sustainability questions. The growing interlacing of our program and the faculty leads to a greater visibility, acceptance and attendance of our courses. Further developments in this direction are envisaged and worked on.
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Future Objectives The fourth regional DACH meeting is conceptualized as research conference. It takes place in November in Austria. To this end, we seek to present a first paper on our research project that aims at transferring knowledge on corporate social responsibility to the public sector of universities. Why do university sign initiatives such as PRiME? What are driving forces for change management? And how does a “University Social Responsibility” look like? These are leading questions we want to research on in the near future. A second objective is the development of a code of conduct for the university. This idea is fueled by the willingness of the ESB business school as largest faculty to start such a process. In September first talks will take place to discuss options for cooperation between the faculty and the ethics and sustainability office. To conclude, more and more students, student assistance and visiting lectures that are bound to our program leave the university. That is why the idea of an alumninetwork was born. We envisage a meeting once a year where alumni and students that currently participate in our program are invited for exchanging job opportunities, common goals or strategies to enhance global responsibility.
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Principle 2 | Values
Principle 2 | Values We will incorporate into our academic activities and curricula the values of global social responsibility as portrayed in international initiatives such as the United Nations Global Compact.
Youth Fashion Summit, TD 2016.
New Master Degree Program on energy systems and efficiency, TEC 2015.
School-project, INF 2016.
Business Plan: OmniCare, ESB 2016.
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Principle 2 | Values
Overview This chapter elaborates on the diverse projects the five faculties at Reutlingen University undertake to incorporate values of global responsibility in their academic activities and curricula. To conclude this chapter, I describe the range of courses students may attend in the realm of our extracurricular ethics and sustainability program. In the last two years we intensified the interdependency between the faculties and our program. Students at the faculty “Textile & Design” are obliged to take initiative in learning more than professional expertise. For graduating they must document that they have attended courses beyond their curricular with a workload of 10 ECTS credits in total. Here, our program matches perfectly. On the administrative level we agreed that 15 ethical credits can be converted in 1 ECTS credit.
Major Achievements Please note, the size of the individual faculties vary significantly. The faculty of applied chemistry, for instance, offers six degree programs whereas the faculty ESB business school has 15. Besides, this report presents additional projects. Courses and initiatives that are already listed in our 2014 report are not mentioned any more. Activity in the Faculty Applied Chemistry PETA, a German animal rights group, praises the animal friendly teaching methods at the faculty of applied chemistry in Reutlingen. They publicly state that they are happy to see the excellent teaching without any animal experiments. In doing so, Reutlingen University saves thousands of animals from pain, suffering and death. Herewith, the August 2016
University is a role model. PETA hopes that other universities follow this example in the near future. Activities in the Faculty ESB Business School In this section I highlight two projects that are newly developed at the faculty: a partnership university in South East Asia and a student idea on care services in a business plan seminar. The project “Making Business Engineering (BE) happen in South East Asia” is co-funded by the DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). It aims at establishing a Bachelor double degree program in International Operations and Logistics Management, at developing a BE Network and at founding a BE journal with scientific and economic contributions. In April 2016, representatives from University Malaysia Pahang, Institut Teknologi Bandung (Indonesia) and Ho Chi Minh City International University (Vietnam) as well as business representatives from the company WIHA visited the ESB Business School. They hold a two-days’ workshop to discuss and define the next steps and milestones for the project. A student idea on care services, which was evolved in a Business Plan Seminar at Reutlingen University, impressed a jury for young entrepreneurs. The student group developed a tool for relatives of people in need of care in matching their individual needs with providers and services of care. “OmniCare“-as they named the tool- is an answer to the complex, fastly growing and nontransparent market of care services. The innovative business idea convinced the jury and won a 3000-Euro-grant from the city of Reutlingen. Activities in the Faculty Informatics The faculty informatics established three new projects that are described in this section.
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Principle 2 | Values Firstly, Reutlingen University and the Business University Krakau (Poland) signed an ERASMUS⁺ treaty. This means the two universities enhance not only the exchange of students but also the exchange of academic and administrative staff. Prof. Dr. Hertweck, Herman Hollerith Zentrum (HHZ) at Reutlingen University, highlights that this exchange program is an important step towards a tight partnership between the universities. The faculty informatics and the HHZ will particularly profit from the plurality of chances for new international projects. Secondly, graduate students in informatics pick up course topics that were demanded by younger students. The so-called “Informatikwerkstatt” is a student project for students. Students for example teach now basic informatics for newcomers. And thirdly, the degree program medicaltechnical informatics cooperates with the Laura-Schradin School in Reutlingen since summer 2015. The school is specialized in biotechnologies. The project seeks to prepare high-school graduates for university life with a concrete and practical project. Pupils (12. Klasse) engineer measuring methods with a bioreactor and code a software program for recording and evaluating data. The cooperation is highly welcomed by pupils, teachers and professors. Activities in the Faculty Engineering A newly established master program, an innovative project on urban energy systems and sustainability, and a students’ project are the latest developments in the faculty engineering I describe in this section. Since summer 2015, students can study „Dezentrale Energiesysteme und Energieeffizienz“ at Reutlingen University. This master program trains future experts in energy-systems and efficiency. The faculty cooperates with the Reutlinger Energiezentrum and various well-known companies in the field regarding research August 2016
Bild und Zitat Student in
„Dezentrale Energiesysteme und Energieeffizienz“
projects that fit practical challenges and applications. This cross-linked training and research concept prepares young people perfectly to future carriers. Aspects of energytechnology, business-management or societal impacts are all addressed in the holistic approach. The Karl-SchlechtFoundation sponsors the master’s program. The faculty engineering hosts besides a project on urban energy systems and sustainability. The overall project aims at innovative simulation and optimization strategies for energy and resource management as well as new business models for urban energy systems. Five case studies are employed for validation of the strategies and models developed within the project. The working package at Reutlingen University contains the development of intelligent energy management strategies to be implemented at the distributed systems for an optimal control of energy producers, consumers and energy storages. The third project of the faculty engineering is driven by BA students of International Project Engineering. Since summer 2015 the students own a YouTube Kanal „IPtv“. Here, they load posts that present the degree program or they give advises for other students. The students’ team has formulated a marketing plan as well as milestones for its implementation. The overall aim is to learn how project and team working can best be organized and structured, how
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Principle 2 | Values interdisciplinary teams function and how leadership competencies can be gained. Activities in the Faculty Textile & Design The faculty textile & design is most active in initiating projects that foster global societal and environmental responsibility. In this section I describe five newly established activities. In the winter semester 2015/2016 students of the course “Fashion Chain” where asked for researching academic literature on “Green Fashion Retail”. Thus students dealt with topics such as sustainable fashion production and sustainable consumption and learned about its challenges. The course seeks both transport expert’s knowledge of the specific working area and train methodological skills on how to write academic papers in preparation of the Bachelor’s thesis. The best papers are published in the edited volume “Green Fashion Retail” in mid-2016. Furthermore, the faculty sets sustainability as priority issue in the course “Global Structures in the Textile Industry”. Concepts and challenges of sustainable supply chain management are of special interest here. Students learn about the interplay of various actors, procedures for code of conducts or rec-arrangements of supply chains. Another innovative research project and student course at the faculty is „SkypeLab – Transcontinental Faces & Spaces“. The international artwork project sheds light on the impact of digital tools and social networks on art and design. It is consciously openly structured to create a space for unprecedented effects. The project aims at raising more questions than giving answers. The Baden-Württemberg Foundation sponsors this project with 70000 Euro. SkypeLab connects universities and artists around the globe. Those international experiences are most important for young people in our global society. August 2016
On October 13th 2015, Reutlingen University and Donghua University Shanghai realized the „1st Chinese-German Textiles and Fashion Seminar“ in Shanghai. The seminar served as platform for students to present and discuss individual perspectives on the fashion and textile industry. 30 students took part at the inter-cultural exchange of ideas. In doing so, they received a better understanding for the chances of internationalizing markets. At the same time, differences in consumption behaviors became visible. Finally, four students of the degree program „International Fashion Retail“ took part as representatives of Reutlingen University at the Youth Fashion Summit in Copenhagen in May 2016. The Youth Fashion Summit is part of the Copenhagen Fashion Summit and serves as speaking tube for international fashion students. The Fashion Summit is the largest and most important conference on sustainability in the fashion industry. Students are invited to exchanging ideas with CEOs, top designers and politicians to enable the next generation to influence today’s decisions that shape the world of tomorrow. Two months in advance students are asked to prepare a project that transfers particular aspects of the United Nations Sustainability Goals to the fashion branch. Extra-curricular Ethics and Sustainability Courses A future objective in our last report is the organization of a regular “EthikumColloquium for students. Since winter semester 2014/2015 we realized this idea. Students that are engaged in social projects such as coaching of pupils at secondary school, assisting refugees or international students or supporting people with disabilities may present their activities in the colloquium. Here students further learn basic aspects of ethics and sustainability and exchange and reflect their individual
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Principle 2 | Values experiences. For participating in the colloquium students receive ethical credits. Having established a forum for exchanging experiences on practical social engagement we intensified the cooperation with institutions, such as schools and church communities. Inspired by a presentation of the institutions once a semester at the campus more and more students get actively engaged in social projects.
re-think the conceptual organization of the courses as workshops on two or three days. First ideas exist for a one-hour lecture and discussion round during lunch time once a week. In the long run we try to convince faculty deans and professors to reform their regular course work and integrate aspects of ethics and sustainability.
Our program offers approximately ten courses each semester. Classical themes are introduction courses on ethics and sustainability in an online format or as threeday workshop. Besides, we intend to meet the particular interests of our students at Reutlingen University. Thus we offer courses on specific issues, such as sustainable textile production, diversity management in companies, ethics and sustainability as components of systemic leadership or ethical problems in engineering and technical research.
Future Objectives Inspired and encouraged by the PRiME implementation workshop in Copenhagen in 2014 we seek to intensify the cooperation with the regular course program at the faculty’s level. The next objective in the near future is to identify flagship-courses where we could link our extra-curricular courses. Cooperating closer with faculty professors we may design courses that discuss issues regular seminars cannot address because of time constraints. Both sides could exceptionally profit from such a complementary teamwork. The more courses we offer in our ethic and sustainability program the more complicated is the timing. According to our experience students do not attend extra-curricular courses in the very beginning of the semester nor in the preparation phase for exams. Thus, we try to organize our courses in between these phases. A medium-term objective is to August 2016
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Principle 3 | Method
Principle 3 | Method We will create educational frameworks, materials, processes and environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership.
ESB Charity Team, 2015.
The Diversity Audit “Vielfalt gestalten”.
August 2016
GLIMPSE HUMANITARIAN FASHION at a Oikos Talk, 2016.
The Learning Center, re-opening in 2014.
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Principle 3 | Method
Overview This chapter presents a colorful bunch of activities undertaken by members of Reutlingen University to create inspiring and helpful educational frameworks and materials. It encompasses new buildings, institutes and initiatives and shows that the implementation of the third PRiME principle is on the way at all levels of Reutlingen University.
Major Achievements Learning Center The reconstruction of building 3 has enabled a series of innovative changes to improve the usability of both library and service desk and create a multifunctional learning center in the middle of the Reutlingen University campus. Optimizing the study environment of the Learning Center was the main focus of our renovation. The Learning Center offers a wide variety of facilities to support working and studying at the university. Two large reading rooms with study areas, single and group study cabins, diverse group rooms and lounges, computer rooms and a cafeteria. This makes the Learning Center a central meeting point for everyone on campus. The central part of the Learning Center is the service desk in the entrance area. Here our friendly team is committed to helping you find and use the information you need. To complete our services we run classes for students, researchers and staff on finding, evaluating and organizing information. The German Library Confederation rated the library in the Learning Center Reutlingen with best grades. In all categories –offers, utilization, efficiency and development the academic library ranges among the best in Germany.
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Didactic Institute at Reutlingen University Only in June 2016 the Didactic Institute at Reutlingen University opens. It invites professors, lecturers and students alike to reflect their teaching and learning methods. The Institute offers a variety of courses ranging from individual coaching to learning mentoring. Asked about the relation of the Didactic Institute and the six principles of PRME the manager answers as follows. Principle 6 of the UN PRME-Initiative states that “dialogue and debate among educators, students, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organisations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability” need to be facilitated and supported. However, before different parties can enter into dialogue, constructively discuss current issues and successfully debate approaches to the challenges of tomorrow, they need to learn the dialogical skills which enable them to critically think about global society and to respectfully exchange their ideas. The Reutlingen Institute for Didactics aims at establishing a teaching and learning culture at Reutlingen University which realises the teaching-learning process in the form of a dialogue in which both lecturers and learners do not only critically re-think their expert knowledge but their expert knowledge in the context of a shared social responsibility. Even if values of social responsibility and sustainability are not yet integrated in all module manuals, teaching-learning methods can, in line with Principle 2 of the PRMEInitiative, initiate and practice tolerant and respectful dialogue behaviour: thinking, listening and focusing, giving and taking appreciative feedback are only a few examples of a dialogue behaviour which the Reutlingen Institute for Didactics considers the basis of social responsibility. Dialogue creates, after all, a teaching-learning atmosphere which allows independent and creative thoughts to prosper; if lecturers
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Principle 3 | Method value their students’ opinions, those students will learn to appreciate diversity and cooperation. Consequently, lecturers at Reutlingen University will be invited to have their seminar plans and teaching strategies checked in terms of dialogue and the PRME principles and they will be invited to attend seminars on didactic methods which can be easily implemented in class to initiate dialogue and debate. Furthermore, the Reutlingen Institute for Didactics will focus on mediating lecturers and students that learning by heart does not necessarily show a heart for society; instead, examination practices need to be developed which do not only test factual knowledge but also scientific, economical and hence social responsibility. In line with Principle 5 of the PRME-Initiative, the Reutlingen Institute for Didactics will hence scrutinise structures which prevent lecturers from implementing didactic methods and examinations which unnecessarily impede the dialogue of the teaching-learning process. Quality Management Reutlingen University has a long tradition in quality management. Above all, it aims at increasing transparency and accountability of learning and qualification milestones and concepts for degree programs. The milestones encompass specialist’s qualifications as well as general ones in the following areas: • • • •
academic and artistic skills; the capability to find and practice qualified jobs; the competence for social engagement; and personal development.
The concept for degree programs entails the transportation of specialist knowledge, general knowledge as well as methodical competences. The combination of the individual modules is coherent with the formulated learning and qualification August 2016
milestones. The design of practical phases allows for receiving ECTS-credit points. Degree programs integrate opportunities for studying abroad in the curriculum and accept credits that are obtained at other universities in accordance with the Lisbon Convention. The level of the degree programs implements the university wide concepts of gender equality and of support for students with disabilities, students with children, migrant students and students from low-class milieus.
START YOUR STUDIES A successful graduation implies a successful beginning of the studies. That is why Reutlingen University re-arranges fundamentally the initial phase for students. Various course offers, such as mathematics or language courses, student mentors or assistance in doing research in the library and academic writing are expanded to help students in starting their studies. The ministry of science Baden-Württemberg funds the project with 900.000 Euro for the next three years. E-learning In its mission statement, Reutlingen University highlights the need for individual support and guidance of students. E-learning is a didactic and methodological answer to meet the increasing demands of flexible and individual learning offers. The structure and development process of the university includes the following concrete measures to build up structures for digital teaching and learning. • • •
Election of a new Vice-President for digitalization and diversity; E-learning support office in the Learning Center; Online courses in mathematics as preparation courses for all members of the university;
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Principle 3 | Method •
•
Technical establishment of learning management tools as well as teaching and video platforms; Production of online lectures called MOOCs (Massive Open Online Course) such as in controlling. (This project is co-funded by the ministry of Baden-Württemberg with 25.000 Euro.) Further development of digital support in the curriculum; Advanced training of staff in digitalizing teaching.
promotes family-friendliness and equal opportunity, which describes the right of all persons to enter, study and advance in academic programs on the basis of merit, ability, and potential regardless of ethnicity, age, gender, religion, sexual orientation, disability or social background.
Green IT
Every year, the Equal Opportunity Office publishes detailed statistics that reveal the gender ratio in the student body and among the staff and faculty members. Currently, 44% of the students, 48% of the graduates, 48% of the staff, and 14% of the professors at Reutlingen University are female. The following table shows the gender distribution in the five different faculties.
Green IT is a further long-term project to reduce the power consumption and the ecological footprint as well as the operation expenses. Technical instruments to measure the power consumption are installed and student groups document regularly the consumption. The project seeks to a PUE mark under 1,5. In doing so, Reutlingen University envisages to apply for the audit “Blauer Engel” in 2017 at the latest.
Although the number of women receiving doctorates has increased over the past 20 years, female professors still remain underrepresented in German universities. Reutlingen University is no exception to this. In order to attract a higher number of female job applicants and to increase the likelihood that women are appointed as professors, several measures were taken that are already listed in our last report.
• •
Diversity Management Reutlingen University recognizes further the diversity on campus as a positive circumstance and as an opportunity for growth. We strive for a university culture that
In addition to the percentage of 48% female staff, Reutlingen University has many international faculty members. About 5,800 students are enrolled at out university, 20% of which are international students from more than 90 countries.
FACULTY
STUDENTS
GRADUATES
STAFF
PROFESSORS
Applied Chemistry
56%
52%
65%
13%
ESB Business School
51%
50%
73%
18%
Informatics
28%
33%
17%
8%
Engineering
14%
7%
23%
10%
Textile & Design
81%
88%
52%
14%
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Principle 3 | Method We believe that recognizing and valuing diversity leads to improvements for everyone on campus, including: • • • • •
a more vibrant student population and staff; a better working and learning environment; attracting and retaining the best students and employees; achieving the goals set in our structural and development process; improving the reputation and esteem of our university.
Since diversity also comes with a number of challenges and risks (such as potential for miscommunication, conflict or exclusion), we recognized a couple of years ago that there is need for management and policy to neutralize the risks and take advantage of the opportunities presented by diversity. To get started on implementing a strategic diversity management, the university decided to partake in the Diversity Audit of the Stifterverband (http://www.stifterverband.org/english). A working committee for diversity issues was established and we took a baseline measure of where our university currently stands in terms of diversity and equality issues. The goal was to enable the university to identify areas of strength and weakness in order to come up with improvement strategies. Based on our analysis, a number of measures will be taken in the upcoming years. Individual assistance and support of students through mentoring programs, language courses and tandems or intercultural training courses are core aspects of the improvement strategies. We aim to link up the large range of different activities that already exist, develop new instruments for specific target groups and combine the many aspects of diversity management at our university into one overall concept. After two years work in progress, Reutlingen University received the certificate “Vielfalt August 2016
gestalten” as one of five universities in Germany. Family-friendly University Reutlingen University has initiated a regional network of all universities in South-West Germany that committed themselves to family-friendliness. A first meeting of three universities took place in May 2015 at Reutlingen. Representatives from Mannheim, Stuttgart and Reutlingen exchanged their experiences and best practices. The officer of the service department as well as members of the Steering Committee are aware that there is still a long way to go. In addition to the existing projects described already in our report 2014, which run all very successfully, three new aspects are addressed in the last years. The overall aim is to make work-life and private life compatible for students and staff with children. Firstly, the service department launched a manual that describes in four chapters all you need to know about child care services, family-friendly conditions for studying, financial assistance and further offers of the university. The manual highlights the most important information and points to the persons to contact. Secondly, the topic „caring for elderly people“ gains increasingly importance. Reutlingen University acknowledges that the demographic change has also effects on its everyday-life. The university offers its staff to participate for free at a further training on “job-care compatibility” which is organized by the city of Reutlingen. Furthermore, the officer at the service department made a training as expert to pilot concerned staff members. Finally, the university-wide intranet provides a platform for students that are interested in baby-sitting. Parents that are members of Reutlingen University may find an individually suitable child care here. This is a valuable
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Principle 3 | Method contribution to the child care services at the university.
Bild und Zitat Kristina Gehrke zu Flüchtlingsprojekt
PRiME-Related Student Initiatives & Projects The last part of this chapter highlights students’ initiatives and projects that relate to PRiME principles. Please note again that we include only projects that have not been mentioned in our report 2014. Those projects are still active and run successfully. In the following, six projects are described in detail. The student initiative oikos organizes each semester series of public talks where experts and business representatives report on their work. In 2016, three representatives from “Glimpse humanitarian fashion“ report on their mission. The nonprofit organization aims at assisting victims of forced prostitution. With pubic talks they seek to inform about the global problem of forced prostitution and trade in human beings. They relate the issue to aspects of clothing and fashion. Particularly students from the faculty of textile and design visited the talk and were impressed and sensitized. GLIMPSE Clothing gGmbH further assists in finding job trainings and resocialization programs for the victims. A second project which is initiated by members of oikos is a tandem-project to help refugees. The students’ initiative build up tandems of one student and one refugee. The tandems are meant to fostering language skills and to sharing free time. In doing so, students of Reutlingen University learn about the situation and everyday problems of refugees in Reutlingen and assist in integrating them. They cooperate with the Diakonie Reutlingen which supports the students professionally. Another project that seeks to support refugees is the “refugee committee” which is founded in the winter semester 2015/16. The university-wide committee serves as agency for individuals and organizations in helping to find projects and engaged people for ameliorating the situation of refugees. August 2016
Besides, the committee organizes events to draw public attention on its work. Students who wish to get engaged might join the committee, help at events or serve as buddy that supports refugees who start studying at Reutlingen University. In May 2016, two students from the faculty of textile and design participated at a conference on “universities and sustainability – saving the world from the ivory tower” in Bonn. The conference was organized by the Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, the Verein zur Förderung politischen Handelns e.V. and the nongovernmental organization rootAbility. Twelve students from all over Germany discussed ways of making the own university more sustainable in a two-daysworkshop. Based on an exchange of already existing sustainability activities at each university the students developed the idea of an over-arching students’ network to promote ideas such as zero-emission-campus and green offices. To conclude this chapter, I describe two projects that are launched by students of the ESB Business School. On the one hand, a project team of the ESB Consulting e.V. supports a health project in Reutlingen. The so called “BIG-Project” trains young women and mothers in health questions and communicates sports courses for free. In the winter semester 2015/16 the students started the “BIGgo-Project” as funds for the health project run out. The “BIGgo-Project”
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Principle 3 | Method describes the setting up of a social cooperative in order to guarantee the future funding of the BIG project by winning the public sector, citizens and companies as cooperative members and sponsors. In return, cooperative members can make use of health promotion and social counselling services. Eight committed consultants from ESB Consulting e.V. worked on setting up the social cooperative together with the responsible persons of the “BIG-Project”. This includes surveys and based on these data an acquisition plan. In this way, the consultants were able to put into practice the theoretical knowledge they have gained for a nonprofit purpose as well as getting an idea of the exciting process involved in setting up a foundation. On the other hand, students from ESB Business School support two nonprofit organizations for many years now. In various fundraising activities students collected 39.000 Euro which is an all-time record. In doing so, both Integramus e.V. Reutlingen – an association dealing with discriminated children in Togo and Kenia- and the society to support children suffering from cancer Tübingen received 19.500 Euro from the students.
Future Objectives The engagement in fostering an inspiring environment that enables effective learning experiences for responsible leadership is highly diverse at Reutlingen University. The office of ethics and sustainability is actively involved in processes and network meetings for structural developments. Whenever possible it contributes ideas or proposes concrete activities to further implement the PRME principle. Besides the office is an often used contact point for student initiatives that need administrative assistance. Our objective is to stay actively involved and to accompany several internal reform processes at Reutlingen University. August 2016
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Principle 4 | Research
Principle 4 | Research We will engage in conceptual and empirical research that advances our understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of sustainable social, environmental and economic value.
Courses of Lectures for Doctorate Students in Informatics
Research Campus BioMedTech
August 2016
Fashion Colloquia in Sao Paulo, 2016.
Virtual Power Plants
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Principle 4 | Research
Overview Apart from major developments at Reutlingen University, such as new funding for the doctorate program in informatics or the setting up of a new research campus, we summarize in this fourth chapter individual research projects and studies that are worked on at faculties and at the Reutlingen Research Institute. We asked all faculties and institutes to contribute to this report. Nevertheless, we are convinced that our following list is far than complete and numerous PRiME-related research projects are not mentioned here.
Major Achievements New Funding of the Doctorate Program in Informatics The ministry of Baden-Württemberg provides scholarship funds for twelve doctorate students at the faculty of informatics. The doctorate program “Services Computing” is linked to the Herman Hollerith Center. Half of the doctorate students will be settled directly at the Hollerith Centre in Böblingen. In doing so, the Center increases its men/ women power to 15 scholars. The other doctorate posts will be placed at the University Stuttgart. “Service Computing” is a cooperative doctorate program between the universities in Reutlingen and Stuttgart. Thus, the funding of the ministry has two positive impacts. On the one hand, it is an important step to strengthen research at Reutlingen University and its visibility. On the other hand, it fosters the regional research cooperation and considers the overall set-up of the Hollerith Center as valuable. Research Campus “BioMedTech” The newly established research campus “BioMedTech” combines in an unprecedented way medical technic and biotechnology. The new campus builds August 2016
systematically bridges between the two branches with regard to space and content. In this environment, Reutlingen University intends to convert research projects on future medicine into products that compete at the global market. Heading for this aim research teams work closely together with business representatives at the research campus. Currently, experts develop innovative coverings for implants. New Center for Interactive Materials In March 2015, Reutlingen University opened the doors of the new center for interactive materials. Herewith, the faculty of textile and design further extends its research activities and integrates them in its teaching programs. An important partner in this regard is the Institute for Textile Technology and Process Engineering in Denkendorf with whom a shared professorship is created. By cooperating Reutlingen University and the Institute in Denkendorf profit from its respective competences in the areas of future technologies, mobility, lightweight construction, functionality as well as health, security, environment, recycling and comfort. In a newly established master’s program “Interdisciplinary Material Science” these expertise is combined. Fashion Colloquia Sao Paulo Three young scholars of the faculty textile and design took part at the Fashion Colloquia 2016 in Sao Paolo, Brasil, and presented their doctorate thesis. Their academic work deals with sustainability in the textile industry. The Fashion Colloquia is a global conference that serves as forum for current discussions about conflicting aspects in fashion and economy, environment, society and culture. It was initiated by the fashion metropolises Milano, Paris, London and New York in 2011. This year, the conference took place in Sao Paolo, the fashion metropolis of Latin America. In participating at such an internationally recognized conference
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Principle 4 | Research scholars from Reutlingen University prove their high standard research.
Bild und Zitat Prof. Strähle
Studies on Sustainability in the Textile Industry This section highlights two individual studies on aspects of sustainability in the textile industry. The one deals with sustainability and transparency in the fashion business. The other sheds light on the topic “greenwashing”. The former was published in the journal „International Business Research and Marketing“ in 2016. It analyses the impact of QR-codes and sustainability on the individual consumption behavior. It shows that consumers have generally a positive attitude towards sustainability and wish to support sustainable companies. Many consumers, however, have only limited knowledge about sustainability in the fashion business. They prefer products with QR-codes which offer detailed information. Knowing about the origin, the manufacturing and the quality make consumers a positive shopping feeling. This result suggests that transparency delivered by QR-codes influences the consumption behavior. The latter was published in the „International Journal of Business and Commerce“ and focuses on the issue of “greenwashing”. The research shows that consumers are stronger influenced by the brand of a product than the actual sustainability activities of a company. Projects of the Reutlingen Research Institute The last section of this chapter offers insights in the research projects members of Reutlingen University are currently working on. We enlisted only projects that relate to PRiME principles.
August 2016
Development of ecological gluten and adhesive systems for industrial textile applications, based on natural resources Within the project, ecological adhesive systems derived from renewable resources for non-woven bonding and gluing and finishing of textile fabrics will be developed. The work focusses on the industrial processibility of the adhesives and on the technological performance of the end products. Slow Fashion: Design,- technical and economical innovations for sustainable clothing suppy in the masss market By means of practice oriented applied research, the development and transformation of innovations in the field of sustainable clothing will be supported. Innovations in design, technology, production and services will be evaluated, regarding the extension of the useful life of apparels as well as the potential hindrances within the complete textile chain. Evaporator for waste heat recovery The enhancement of the energy efficiency of internal combustion engines and thermal treatment processes are the major goal of this project. Today more than 60 % of the chemical energy in the fuel is converted into waste heat. Rankine Cycles can be used to
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Principle 4 | Research recover some of the thermal energy in for e.g. exhaust gases by converting it into mechanical energy. Generally, the thermal efficiency of Rankine cycle systems increases with higher temperatures. Hence to control fluctuating temperatures up to 650 °C at up to 50 bars system pressure are requirements to the system and its apparatuses. Because of the compactness and high resistancy to pressure load plate type total evaporators are particularly suitable for the usage in a waste heat recovery system especially at internal combustion engines. Before bringing this system quickly onto the market some open questions about evaporation under fluctuating conditions need to be answered. The technical objectives in this project are to investigate and to evaluate different evaporators for Rankine cycles. Modeling and Simulation of evaporation, together with testing in the lab. And to provide the thermo- and fluiddynamic foundations to select applicable designs. This results are required steps in the development process of an energy efficient Rankine cycle system. Development of a thermally stable non-toxic material for 3d-printing applications made from renewable resources In current state-of-the-art 3d printing, fused deposition modeling is done with filaments made of petro-based acrylonitrile-butadienestyrene (ABS). During the process, they emit possibly hazardous gases. Alternatively, filaments made of biodegradable polylactide (PLA) are used. Unfortunately the latter material contains petrochemical additives due to the fact, that pure PLA-filaments for printing have poor properties according to thermal stability, as well as further disadvantages like shrinkage, adhesion, brittle fracture, melt fracture and weld line stability. This R&D project aims at developing novel PLA-filaments for 3d printing applications. The resulting PLA shall exclusively contain biodegradable additives. August 2016
Additionally, thermal stability shall be improved, and other disadvantages shall be eliminated. Simultaneously, the 3d-printing process shall be redeveloped based on a new nozzle geometry, so as to process the newly developed PLA filaments securely and achieve optimum printing results. Socks made of locally grown fibres Today socks are usually made of cotton. Cotton as raw material gets more and more under discussion due to the high environmental burden by artificial irrigation and the use of pesticidal agents. Furthermore the working conditions for the field workers are matter of critics. An alternative could be to manufacture socks out of fibers grown in local areas. Local in this case means fibers growing in the mid-European area like Germany and the neighbored countries. Flax and hemp are possible fibers. In cottonised condition these fibers have very similar properties to cotton. The main disadvantage of a rough hand can be compensated by mixing with lycell. Extrudable pellets made out of recycled materials By pelletizing of the textile fraction from tire recycling, new and innovative applications in the field of extrusion and injection moulding will be possible. By optimization of the process parameters the energy- intensive step of coumpounding shall be avoided. Virtual Power Plants The long-term economic goal of the consortium is to achieve a national leading position in the field of "virtual power plants" and their components. The necessary knowhow will be accumulated by initiating the pilot project “VK”. The resulting innovative, economically viable and marketable products will alter the energy sector. Aim is the development of a universal control box that
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Principle 4 | Research can connect power generation and storage facilities together. This will optimize economic feasibility and network stability.
Future Objectives We remain active in communicating best practices in research on aspects of social and environmental responsibility at regional meetings. Besides, we are thinking of highlighting sustainable research projects on the university’s webpage and further enlist relevant Bachelor and Master thesis. Our own research project on “university social responsibility” implies an online-based collection of related academic papers from various scholars.
August 2016
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Principle 5 | Partnership
Principle 5 | Partnership We will interact with managers of business corporations to extend our knowledge of their challenges in meeting social and environmental responsibilities and to explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges.
Digital Workshop with Google
www.noee.eu
August 2016
RAMPF-Sponsoring
Sustainable Transformation of the Textile Industry in Dietenheim
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Principle 5 | Partnership
Overview
Bild und Zitat Christopher Eh, Bürgermeister Dietenheim
Partnerships with business corporations are traditonally tight at Reutlingen University. Most research projects as well as lectures are linked to challenges in the real world. The very identity of the University of Applied Science is to find academic answers to practical problems. In the ranking “U-Multirank” Reutlingen University ranges in the category “top performer” referring to “joint publications with economy and industry”. In doing so, Reutlingen University is among the best three universities out of 25 top universities worldwide. 17 of these universities come from Europe and the best three are German. Furthermore, Reutlingen University receives three best grades in the category “internationality”. In this regard, it ranges among the best seven German universities. The even better grade than last year can be ascribed to the enlarged offering in foreignlangiuage courses. Finally, the university gained two best grades in the category “regional engagement”. The following chapter describes four aspects of the excellent partnership with the business world.
Major Achievements Digital Workshop with Google In May 2016, Reutlingen University organized a „Digital-Workshop on Campus“ in cooperation with google. During three days experts from google trained interested students for free. It was possible to participate face to face or online. The overall aim of the workshop was to train young people in digital skills which are relevant for their future careers. The following topics were discussed in detail: online marketing, optimizing search engines, social media and mobile marketing. The experts August 2016
communicated the knowledge in a comprehensive way without lobbying for a particular brand. In addition, students may attend 23 digital online modules and receive a certificate from google and the European Industry Association IAB Europe. Cooperation with the Group of Companies RAMPF The group of companies RAMPF is an internally active specialist for engineering and chemical solutions. They concentrate on reaction resin and engine systems. RAMPF and Reutlingen University signed a sponsoring treaty. The cooperation seeks to establish an intensive exchange of expert knowledge and technology transfer with the faculty of Applied Chemistry and Engineering. RAMPF offers students various possibilities for gaining practical experiences, such as internships, student trainee positions, practical oriented thesis or papers. Sustainable Transformation of the Textile Industry in Dietenheim The Project combines two reallife laboratory perspectives: Revitalizing the urban areas of the city of Dietenheim under sustainable concerns of the textile value chain. The current open sales-space of the city of Dietenheim will be used to demonstrate the sustainable fashion value chain to
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Principle 5 | Partnership consumers, so they may experience all dimension of the textile production and consumption. This shall be used to change attitudes towards the fashion consumption. In empirical examples (based on an interdisciplinary approach consisting of economics, psychology, fashion design etc.) the mechanisms of attitude development and change in attitudes shall be explored. Support of Young Entrepreneurs Reutlingen University supports students and graduates on their way to self-employment. In the winter semester there is a University-wide Business Plan Seminar with experienced entrepreneurs. Further, Reutlingen IHK (Chamber of Industry and Commerce) offers individual advice. In doing so, Reutlingen University is together with the University Heilbronn the best ranked university in Baden-Württemberg in the category “support of young entrepreneurs”.
Future Objectives Tight partnerships with business corporations are most often mutually inspiring and fruitful. However, there might also appear dark sides regarding restricting dependencies for a university that stands for impartial research and teaching. In the last years some sponsoring treaties raises questions considering the responsible performance of the business partners. The office for ethics and sustainable development proposes to install and communicate transparently the criteria for sponsoring rooms or degree programs at Reutlingen University.
And the support is fruitful. In 2015, 18 students or student groups set up a start-up enterprise. Two of them explicitly or implicitly seek to change the world to the better. The first business idea is an invention for saving bikes from thefts. Velocate, as it is called, is a digital tracker that is fixed at the light of the bike. As soon as the bike moves the owner receives an alert and may call the police. The founder of the enterprise is a passionate biker that envisages with his invention a durable reduction of the material and ideal loss when a bike is stolen. The second start-up enterprise is Noée. The young fashion designer intends to create real sustainable clothes: the materials, the way of coloring the clothes, the working conditions etc etc. – everything shall fulfill sustainability criteria. At least one collection of elegant clothes is already realized in this way.
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Principle 6 | Dialogue
Principle 6 | Dialogue We will facilitate and support dialogue and debate among educators, students, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organisations and other interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and sustainability.
Talk at Osiander Reutlingen 2014
Conference for all Sustainability Officers in Baden-Württemberg 2015
August 2016
Business Forum in cooperation with Weltethos, Tübingen 2014
Talk with Herta Däubler Gmelin 2015
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Principle 6 | Dialogue
Overview
Bild und Zitat Christian Riethmüller, Osiander
We further intensified the already wellestablished dialogue with other universities and academic institutes, with the churches, with political representatives, with schools and with civil society organizations in the last two years. In this chapter we highlight the most important developments and events Reutlingen University in general and the office for ethics and sustainable development in particular has organized and is engaged in.
Major Achievements Three future objectives we announced in our report 2014 in chapter 5 and 6 were realized in the last two years. Furthermore, the cooperation with schools and civil society organizations has been integrated in the institutional framework of our program. Finally, our office presented its work on university wide events. Studium Generale In 2014, we envisaged taking-over the public lectures series “Studium Generale”. This has taken place. In cooperation with the Theological University, the Christian Community at the university as well as the Campus Reutlingen Association we take a leading role in organizing the lectures. Each semester four speakers are invited to shed light on various challenges and developments of society. The overarching device for the series is “Responsibility for our Society”. On the one hand, the lectures series serve as a forum for professors at Reutlingen to present their working areas to a broader public. On the other hand, we invite well-known politicians or authors to discuss with members of universities in Reutlingen as well as the public.
August 2016
In this section, I describe two events that symbolize the variety of aspects of this dialogue forum. Firstly, we invited Benedikt Herles, a provocative author, who heavily criticizes the teaching methods at business schools. In winter 2014, we organized a talk in a wellknown local book shop, Osiander. Herles discussed with the Dean of the ESB Business School his thesis and the methods that are used at Reutlingen University. Both agreed that ethical reflections and the teaching of social values should become more important in future curricula. Business Schools should be the place where value oriented business students are inspired and encouraged on their way. This event was particularly interesting for students of all faculties. The second event took place in 2016 when the former minister of justice, Herta DäublerGmelin visited Reutlingen and discussed the TTIP treaty with an ESB professor in macroeconomics. She opposes the treaty in the current version whereas he is in favor for a positive completion in the near future. The debate was highly controversial and very interesting to follow. The topic appealed a large number of people living in Reutlingen and the region.
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Principle 6 | Dialogue Business Forum in Cooperation with the Weltethos Institute Tübingen The second project we proposed already in our last report is the idea of inviting business corporations, civil society actors as well as academic scholars to exchange experiences and perspectives on corporate social responsibility and social business. The forum took place in 2014 and was organized as cooperation between the Weltethos Institute and the ethics and sustainability office. Both partners presented small inputs that were discussed in several workshops during the day. A broad variety of business corporations participated at the forum and bi-lateral meetings followed this event. Conference of all Sustainability Officers in Baden-Württemberg Finally, we announced in our last report to host the regional conference of all sustainability officers which takes place twice a year. In 2015, all sustainability officers came to Reutlingen University. Our president welcomed the guests and we got the opportunity to present the work of the ethics and sustainability program as well as two selected research projects on aspects of sustainability. It was a comfortable occasion to bring together relevant players of our own universities as well as to build a networking forum with external experts. Cooperation with Schools and Civil Society Organizations Once a semester we organize a meeting with schools and civil society organizations that are looking for students that get involved in volunteering. We announce the meeting in our course program. Students that decide to work with pupils or in a social organization for a semester may present and discuss their experiences afterwards in our colloquium and receive ethical credits. This institutional framework is highly valuable for the schools August 2016
and students alike to find easier the respective partners. Presentations at University Wide Events To conclude this chapter, I mention the Newcomer’s Day, which is organized for newly hired staff, the Open House, which is organized for pupils that are interested in beginning their studies at Reutlingen University as well as the Welcoming Day for fresher. At all university wide events the office for ethics and sustainability contributes by presenting its work and program.
Future Objectives We are constantly thinking about the most effective way of adverting our courses and events for students. We feel that students often not notice traditional ways of announcements, such as flyers, posters or emails. Therefore, we are thinking of creating a facebook account or another social media platform. A final objective for the future is a reform of the refectory and the cafeteria. On the one hand, a lot of students and staff members are very discontented that our refectory most often favors breaded meat and fries in oil. They wish more attractive vegetarian alternatives. On the other hand, the responsible persons emphasize that at the end of the day people do not decide for the vegetarian alternative but for the traditional meat menu. The office of ethics and sustainability will further work on this issue in order to initiate shifts in the awareness and the food offers.
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