International Virtual Academic Collaboration (IVAC):The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is funding the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society (HWG LU) with nearly €150,000 for the duration of one year for the further digitization of degree programs with transatlantic partners.
The Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society is one of the few universities of applied sciences that the DAAD is funding with nearly €150,000 for the duration of one year as part of the "IVAC - International Virtual Academic Collaboration" program for the further digitization of degree programs with transatlantic partners. A total of around 50 universities and colleges were selected in the Germany-wide call for proposals, which was launched at short notice in the summer. HWG LU's application is a joint project of the International Office and the university-affiliated Transatlantic Institute, in which the University Communications department is also involved.
"We consider it an honor that the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society was one of the few universities of applied sciences that was able to convince with its application and will now receive a handsome funding amount from the DAAD for the period from September 2020 to September 2021 for the digitization of degree programs with a transatlantic connection," Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck, Vice President for International Affairs & Diversity, is pleased to say. "During the project funding period, topics such as new digital information and advising formats for international students, university staff and partners such as International Offices of partner universities, Goethe Institutes, etc., English-language teaching videos and a digital international lecture series will now be relaunched. In addition, existing formats will be evaluated and their content completed, hybrid forms of international cooperation will be developed, and new intercultural encounter formats in virtual form will be tested," adds Kerstin Gallenstein, head of the International Affairs department. In addition, the funding will be used to expand the services offered by the International Office's newly emerging Language Center with German and English courses in line with demand.
The call for proposals, which focuses in particular on cooperation with transatlantic universities, is a perfect fit for the university's Transatlantic Institute: Since its founding in 1998, the institute has worked closely with its two American partner universities, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG) and the University of West Florida (UWF). The use of U.S. visiting professors as part of the cooperative MBA "General and International Management" and the two dual bachelor's degree programs "International Business Administration - IBA" and "International Business Information Technology - IBAIT" form a fixed and integrated component of this. "The Corona crisis necessitated a complete conversion of all events with the US lecturers to a purely virtual format in March 2020. For the funding period, these digital formats are now to be converted into a hybrid form in the future, and the experience gained with the U.S. partner universities is to be further developed into the best possible form of future collaboration," explains Prof. Dr. Gerhard Raab, director of the Transatlantic Institute.
Although the DAAD's call for proposals focuses on transatlantic partnerships, the interface between the International Office, the Transatlantic Institute and university communications will also be used to advance other cross-university communication measures during the funding year: For example, work has already begun on revising the university's English-language websites, and an international social media communications concept and the reprinting of various English-language information materials in print and online are to follow. An English-language image film and a virtual tour of the university are also being planned in order to optimize the overall public image and thus the international perception of the university.
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) is funding the "IVAC - International Virtual Academic Collaboration" program with funds from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
Technical contact:
Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society
Prof. Dr. Edith Rüger-Muck
Vice President for International & Diversity
Tel. 0621/5203-102
edith.rueger-muck@ 8< SPAM protection, please remove >8 hwg-lu.de
