The start of the summer semester 2021 will be virtual due to the pandemic. Lectures will also largely take place online, supplemented by selective face-to-face events - if the general conditions allow. Comprehensive online examinations as an alternative to traditional face-to-face examinations were widely tested for the first time in the winter semester 2020/21 and met with great approval from students as part of an "opportunity semester".
As in the two previous semesters, the start of the summer semester 2021 at HWG LU was virtual due to coronavirus. University President Prof. Dr. Peter Mudra and the two Vice Presidents Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck and Prof. Dr. Ellen Bareis welcomed the approximately 380 new students (according to preliminary figures) on behalf of the university via live stream from the university library. Ludwighafen's Lord Mayor Jutta Steinruck, University Chancellor Carolin Nöhrbaß and liaison lecturer Prof. Dr. Birgit Angermayer conveyed their greetings and wishes for the start of the semester via a recorded video message. The General Students' Committee (AStA) and Sarah Gonzalez-Störkel, a second-semester Marketing student, then introduced the new arrivals to their university and the tasks and services offered by the student representatives. The degree programs, the Student Service Center, AStA and University Communications have also compiled all the important information for starting your studies on the university's homepage. The AStA also offers "Ersti Speed Friending" via Zoom so that first-semester students can make contacts with their fellow students. City institutions such as theHaus, the Wilhelm Hack Museum, the Local Agenda initiative and LUKOM also introduce themselves in a short video. The traditional welcome service will also take place online.
Start of a largely virtual summer semester
The virtual first semester welcome today, Monday, March 8, 2021, marks the start of another largely digital semester. The university management, Departments and Senate had already agreed on this in January in order to give students, lecturers and staff planning security. Where possible, the online offerings will be supplemented by selective face-to-face events. Whether the examinations at the end of the semester will take place in person or again as an online format is still being discussed.
"Digital Rediness" award for HWG LU
The university can draw on the positive experiences of recent months in terms of both digital education and possible online examinations. The feedback from the student representatives and semester spokespersons, as well as the results of the student survey, showed that the HWG LU's regulations, which are geared towards providing opportunities, service orientation and planning security, were well received by students. A recent survey by the StudyCheck portal also confirms this assessment: the organization asked over 36,000 students about their experiences of "digital studying" during the coronavirus crisis. HWG LU is listed among the top 50 universities in Germany and is one of the top three universities in Rhineland-Palatinate. "Of course, we are self-critical enough to know that our structures as well as our content and methodological approaches always need to be developed further. But we are delighted with the feedback from our students, who appreciate our great efforts to digitalize university processes even beyond this ranking," says University President Prof. Dr. Peter Mudra, delighted with the "Digital Readiness" award.
Comprehensive online examinations as an alternative to traditional face-to-face examinations were widely tested at the university for the first time in the winter semester 2020/21 and met with great approval as part of an "opportunity semester". This semester of opportunity allows students to have examinations canceled without consequences after the grades have been announced if the result is worse than desired. "We made a bold decision with the online exams. But the decision was very well received," summarizes Prof. Dr. Ellen Bareis, Vice President for Studies & Education, Quality Management, Arts & Culture.
Link to the video message: https://youtu.be/92k6gzzHs50
