THWS Goals and Objectives Agreement

As part of their Commitment to Innovation agreed to and signed by the University of Applied Sciences of Würzburg-Schweinfurt (FHWS) and the Bavarian State Ministry of Education, Science and Art on 8 July 2013 to guarantee and improve the quality and performance of universities in Bavaria, FHWS' President, Professor Dr Robert Grebner, and Bavaria's Minister of Education, Dr Ludwig Spaenle, signed another agreement on goals and objectives on 19 March 2014, effective until 2018.

In 2012, FHWS set out to create a new vision statement, defining additional elements that distinguish FHWS from other universities, and setting objectives for our improvement and development. We are devoted to achieving our new goals and objectives, which set the benchmark against which the University's performance can be measured. FHWS' vision means "networking". We strive to build and maintain a strong network of contacts allowing students to exchange information and share their experience with other students as well as to connect with professional contacts at home and abroad. To advance our vision, we decided to focus on becoming more international and engaging in research involving technology transfer. Our innovative approach to achieving these goals will be our key differentiator among universities in Bavaria and make Bavaria more attractive for students from around the globe. To support FHWS in accomplishing our goals and objectives the Bavarian government provides funds in the amount of 281,400 euros a year over a period of 5 years.

According to a forecast made by the Standing Committee of the German Ministers of Education in 2012, the numbers of first-year students are expected to further increase in the next few years. That is why the Goals and Objectives Agreement also includes commitments by the government and FHWS to expanding the University's enrolment capacity. For this specific purpose, the Bavarian government provides the total amount of 45 million euros in funding until 2018 in order to ensure FHWS will be able to provide sufficient enrolment capacity. Additional funds are provided to expand FHWS' classroom space to accommodate the projected increase in student numbers. In return, FHWS agreed to admit 1,895 first-year students in 2014. From 2015, we will admit a similar number of first-year students each year according to our increased enrolment capacity.

The Agreement includes the following additional goals and objectives we committed ourselves to achieve:

• Systematically improve the quality of teaching
• Strive to safeguard good scientific practice
• Take actions to advance equal rights and opportunities for women
• Make better use of funding opportunities offered by the European Union
• Take part in establishing and developing an integrated reporting process
• Use the centralised admissions services provided by the so-called dialogue-oriented service procedure
• Take actions to advance inclusive education at our University
• Promote an efficient university administration
• Promote our collaboration with other universities

Full version of the Goals and Objectives Agreement (PDF, in German only)