Graduate in Administration (FH)

Diplom-Verwaltungswirt (FH) is an academic degree that is awarded by the universities of applied sciences for public administration after completing a dual study course (study plus integrated practical blocks in an authority). As a rule, it is therefore only worn by career officials of the higher non-technical service (or the third qualification level / the third entry office). The academic degree is sometimes listed as a Diplom-Verwaltungswirt without the addition (FH) as a state name. In some German states the title is provided with details of the study, for example, the additional discipline police or Department of General Internal Administration . Originally, federal civil servants were awarded the academic degree of Diplom-Verwaltungswirt without the addition (FH) at the University of the Federal Government for Public Administration (HS Bund) in accordance with the then technical college law in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia .

Requirements and content

The prerequisite for admission to the dual study program at the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration (FHöV) is the certificate of the technical college entrance qualification or the general university entrance qualification (Abitur) and an employment relationship as a civil servant on revocation, e.g. B. Candidates for inspectors / commissioners or approval by the relevant training authority.

The dual degree usually lasts three to four years, depending on the subject. Theoretical phases at the FHöV alternate with practical phases at the training authority. The practical phases usually amount to a quarter to a third of the study time, but can account for up to 50 percent depending on the state / federal state.

The main course focuses on law (including local , state , administrative , social and private law ), economics ( business and economics ) and / or social science subjects (e.g. psychology ) or mixed forms (e.g. for the Bundesbank or police service ).

In addition, in the 1990s, the administrative business administration course (VBWL) was introduced for the first time , which is intended to promote the modernization of administration through the targeted application of private-sector concepts, especially the switch from cameral to double-entry bookkeeping. The academic degree for these graduates is either Diplom-Verwaltungsbetriebswirt (FH) or Diplom-Verwaltungswirt (FH) . In addition, a variant adapted to the requirements of modern information technology is offered with the qualification as a Diplom-Verwaltungsinformatiker (FH).

During the course, the student is usually a candidate for an inspector , i. In other words, he is in a civil servant relationship on revocation and receives candidate payments from his employer . These amount to around 50 percent of the later initial salary.

activity

Entrance office is usually an office of grade A 9 , provided that it is accepted as a civil servant after graduation. As an employee, the graduate in administrative management is classified as a career starter in the comparable pay group 9 or 9b of the collective agreement for the public service (TVöD). Graduated administrators (FH) perform tasks as clerks and work in the middle management level (senior service) in public administration.

Civil servants in the middle service can be accepted into the higher service as so-called “promotion officers ” after having worked in the middle service for at least four years and an above-average service assessment. You must have at least a secondary school leaving certificate and have often successfully completed a so-called technical college entrance qualification. During the ascent, the civil servants are on an equal footing with the candidates (completion of the technical college, work in training phases), but with the same salary. During this "candidate" period, you can be promoted to the final stage of middle service (official inspector). For older civil servants (aged 45 and over) there is the possibility in some federal states of "exam-facilitated advancement" at a study institute. The difference to normal advancement is that this procedure is shorter, usually takes place at a study institute and no training phases have to be completed. However, the designation “Diplom-Verwaltungswirt” is omitted. This procedure is also planned at the federal level.

In this respect, it remains to be stated that not every civil servant in the higher service is also a graduate in administration.

The academic degree of Diplom-Verwaltungswirt (FH) in the course of the Bologna Process

Against the background of Europeanization and the associated standardization of courses in the field of administrative sciences, the discussion about the Bologna Process has also reached German universities. The core of the Bologna Process is the division of the overall course into the Bachelor's and Master's courses.

The main incentives to consider such an amendment to the local courses were the fear of losing touch with the top of the international academy and the increasing number of international companies, such as B. an international police mission or the cooperation of the justice ministries of the European Union. In addition, the well-known German term for diploma has no equivalent in the English language. In English, 'diploma' simply means 'graduation', without any promise of quality. Thus, a European higher education framework should be created by 2010 through the Bologna process. Two-stage courses (Bachelor / Master) are to be introduced here.

The resolution of the Interior and Culture Ministers' Conference of April 17, 2002 agreed on the following points:

Bachelor graduates can, regardless of which university (university, technical college) they acquired the degree, be employed in the higher service.
Graduates from master’s courses at universities and accredited courses at universities of applied sciences can be employed in the higher service.
According to a resolution of the Conference of Interior Ministers, there has been no additional accreditation procedure for the higher service since January 1, 2008.

For example, the master’s degree in European Administrative Management in the Department of General and Internal Administration at the Federal University for Public Administration is accredited.

Some administrative colleges continue to award the degree of Diplom-Verwaltungswirt (FH) ; others conclude their studies with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) or Bachelor of Arts (BA) within the framework of the Bologna Reform . Non-consecutive Master’s degree programs (so-called advanced master’s degree programs) can convey the academic degree of Master of Public Administration or Master of Science. Previously awarded degrees as a Diplom-Verwaltungswirt at the FHöV are treated as equivalent to the Bachelor degree.

literature

Center for Higher Education Development - CHE (2003a): Arguments for a quick and consistent changeover to Bachelor and Master courses at German universities. Position paper April 1, 2003
Bologna Process: Realizing the European Higher Education Area. Communiqué of the Conference of European University Ministers on September 19, 2003 in Berlin , Berlin 2003

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Justice in Bavaria: Training of civil servants for entry into the third qualification level (specialist career in natural science and technology) ( Memento from July 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Decision of the Conference of Interior Ministers ( Memento from February 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive )

[1] University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration and Justice in Bavaria: Training of civil servants for entry into the third qualification level (specialist career in natural science and technology) ( Memento from July 6, 2012 in the Internet Archive )

[2] Decision of the Conference of Interior Ministers ( Memento from February 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive )