University Council (Germany)

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A University Council is in Germany a committee at a university . Depending on the federal state, this is also referred to as the university council, board of trustees , foundation council or supervisory board . University councils are a comparatively new element in university administration and are usually made up of a majority of persons outside the university. As a justification for the introduction of the university councils, the ideal target is to relocate strategic competencies and tasks to the university council, operational ones to the university management and legislative to the (university-internal) senate.

History of origin

The concept - in the case of the supervisory board also the term itself - comes from the private sector and is based in part on company structures. The idea of ​​providing the universities with a supervisory body oriented towards the supervisory board of stock corporations stands in the context of the latest trends in the field of governance , especially new public management . The establishment of university councils was called for by representatives of the private sector, particularly clearly from the Center for University Development of the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft .

The idea of ​​a university council-like body was first discussed in Germany in 1945–1948 and later again in the 1970s. The first institutions of the university councils (which went well beyond the function of advising) were made possible by the Saxon University Act of 1993. University councils were introduced across the board, i.e. across almost all federal states, following the fourth amendment to the 1998 Higher Education Framework Act. Proponents of the University Council often cite the governing boards or boards of trustees of US universities as an example and role model for university councils (whose power was not taken over due to the different role of the state in the tertiary sector).

In recent times, increasing changes to the university councils (such as Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg, North Rhine-Westphalia in the course of new university laws) have been observed, some of which entail corrections to previous authorizations, but also new responsibilities. Above all, it becomes clear that the senates are being strengthened again vis-à-vis the University Council (cf. Schütz 2014).

Characteristics and competencies

The inclusion of a university council in the body structure leaves the previous division of competencies between the academic senate as the legislative branch on the one hand and the rectorate or presidium as the executive branch on the other hand quite far behind. On the one hand, the university councils often consist mainly of persons outside the university who come from the fields of business, politics, culture and (external) science - the university council is no longer part of the direct self-administration (in the sense of the administration of an institution by members of this institution) On the other hand, tasks that traditionally belong to the core competencies of the academic senate are already being transferred to the university council, for example the election of the rector or the establishment and closure of courses. In addition, the councils are partly involved in fundraising .

In principle, the university councils have an advisory role. University councils may make suggestions on strategic direction, structural changes, priorities in the distribution of funds, desiderata in studies and research, etc. In doing so, non-university perspectives should come into play, in order to give universities more relevance in research and teaching. The extent to which the proposals made are binding depends on the regulations of the federal state. Baden-Württemberg, Hamburg and North Rhine-Westphalia recently introduced accountability for their university councilors to the university and ministry. However, this does not currently exist in all federal states.

Structure and way of working

Since (university) education in Germany is a matter for the federal states, the university councils of the individual universities are structured differently. The majority of the members of a university council come primarily from the fields of science and business.

The staff structure of the university councils was examined intensively empirically. Schütz & Röbken (2013) examined the university councils of German universities and universities of equal rank or special universities on the basis of current data as part of an almost complete survey. The biographies and professions of the council members were evaluated. 70% of the members do not belong to the university in question and a fifth of the bodies are made up exclusively from outside parties. 47% of the council members come from other universities or academic organizations. The wider public (e.g. social associations, churches, culture) comprises around 11%. While scientists work significantly more often at traditional universities, technical and business schools have a correspondingly large number of members from management. 42% of the members belong to the social sciences and humanities, 37% come from the natural sciences and engineering, 6% from economics and 5% law (cf. Schütz / Röbken 2013).

reception

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Critics of the system of university councils see the new control instrument “university council” as a neoliberal reorganization of universities. University councils are therefore contributing to the de-democratization of universities. Furthermore, doubts are expressed about the democratic legitimacy of the university councils, and they are not in the tradition of a university system with equal group membership . The North Rhine-Westphalian Higher Education Freedom Act stipulates that half of the members should be external experts, but no explicit role is ascribed to the students or the so-called “Mittelbau”. According to the critics, this is an indication that the allegedly sought-after connection between university and society is rather a cooperation between business and university. There is a risk that democratically elected bodies such as the Senate will have to permanently cede competencies to external bodies such as the University Council. In the political sciences, this process is referred to as the “disintegration of the state”. This means the creeping infiltration of governing bodies of state institutions by external / private interest groups. This "privatization of organizational responsibility" threatens university self-administration in the long run.

Jörg Bogumil et al. In their study published by the Hans Böckler Foundation at the end of 2007, come to the conclusion that the composition of the university councils differs significantly depending on the type of university. According to the study, business representatives have an influential, albeit not a dominant, role on university councils. “In addition to these, people from the field of science play a significant role at universities. Universities of applied sciences and technical universities, on the other hand, are clearly closer to business in their staffing policy. In contrast, trade union members are only marginally represented in the German university councils with 3% and are therefore clearly underrepresented in line with their socio-political status. "

The advocates of university councils from the Center for Higher Education Development of the Bertelsmann Foundation contradict the accusations and counter the criticism that there are errors, but the success, which depends on the complementary assignment of tasks to the university committees and above all on constructive implementation practice, is already visible: " the university councils in Germany may not yet function perfectly everywhere, but they are on the way to becoming a success ”.

Situation in the countries

  • Baden-Württemberg: After the new LHG (2014), the so-called supervisory boards were reorganized into university councils, see § 20 LHG BW.
  • Bavaria: University councils consist of the members of the Senate and "ten personalities from science and culture and in particular from business and professional practice" (Art. 26, Paragraph 1, Clause 1 BayHSchG ), so they are made up of equal numbers of internal and external members.
  • Berlin: the law provides for a board of trustees consisting of 8 internal and 14 external members, but all Berlin universities use the trial clause to implement alternative models.
  • Brandenburg: There is an inter-university state university council.
  • Bremen: There are no university councils legally stipulated. Some private universities have comparable bodies (so-called boards)
  • Hamburg: The law provides for a university council of 9 (UHH and HAW Hamburg) or 5 (at the other universities) members.
  • Hessen: A purely externally staffed university council with up to 11 members is planned.
  • Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: According to the State University Act (version of January 25, 2011), the formation of a university council is an optional provision. This university council must be filled purely externally. He has an advisory role.
  • Lower Saxony: The universities in the state have a university council with a majority of external members, each with 7 members. The foundation universities in the state have an analogue board of trustees.
  • North Rhine-Westphalia: The law requires that the University Council min. 6 and max. Comprises 12 members and at least half is externally staffed.
  • Rhineland-Palatinate: the university council has 10 members, half of which are external and half internal.
  • Saarland: the university council has seven external members.
  • Saxony: With the Saxon Higher Education Freedom Act of December 10, 2008, university councils were also introduced in Saxony. According to the law, the university councils consist of 5, 7, 9 or 11 people, with all but two of them being external to the university. This means that the university councils in Saxony are mainly made up of people who are not connected to the university. The more detailed tasks of the committee are regulated by § 86 SächsHSFG.
  • Saxony-Anhalt: The board of trustees comprises five external members.
  • Schleswig-Holstein: As part of the amendment to the University Act, the university councils are again responsible for each university individually. According to the old law, there was a university council of the universities of Flensburg, Kiel and Lübeck. All committees are made up of purely external members.
  • Thuringia: According to Section 32 (3) ThürHG, university councils must consist of either two-thirds or all of them (based on the members entitled to vote) from outside the university.

See also

literature

  • Borgwardt, A. (2013): University councils and university management. Between advice and control. Bonn.
  • Horst, T. (2010): On the constitutionality of the regulations of the Higher Education Act NRW on the University Council. Hamburg.
  • Schütz, M. (2014): Reorganization of the university councils. In: Die Neue Hochschule 55 (4), 126–129.
  • Schütz, M. & Röbken, H. (2013): University councils - an empirical inventory of their composition. In: The University. Journal for Science and Education 21 (2), 96-107.
  • Schütz, M. & Röbken H. (2012): Every year again? The new (old) discussion about the University Council (also as: Year After Year? The New (Old) Debate on the University Council). In: Das Hochschulwesen 59 (6), 146–153.
  • Thomas Schmidt: German University Councils: Concept, Presentation and Legal Analysis , Frankfurt am Main; Berlin ; Bern; Bruxelles; New York ; Oxford; Vienna: Lang 2004, (also dissertation University of Cologne, 2002), ISBN 3-631-52147-2 , series of Kölner Schriften zu Recht und Staat; Vol. 17.

swell

  1. ↑ Jörg Bogumil, Rolf G. Heinze, Stephan Grohs, Sascha Gerber: University councils as a new control instrument? An empirical analysis of the members and areas of responsibility , final report of the short study December 2007, p. 14
  2. ↑ [1] (PDF; 96 kB) Ten CHE requirements for a higher education freedom law in North Rhine-Westphalia (2005)
  3. ↑ [2]  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Best Law - Worst Law: University Laws of the Federal States on the Test Bench (2002)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.stifterverband.de  
  4. ↑ Britta Behm, Ulrich Müller: Success factors for university councilors, in: Volker Meyer-Guckel, Mathias Winde and Frank Ziegele (eds.): University council handbook - Food for thought and success factors for practice (PDF; 2.9 MB), Essen, 2010, P. 26f. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  5. ↑ Ralph P. Müller-Eiselt, University Councilors in International Comparison, in: Volker Meyer-Guckel, Mathias Winde and Frank Ziegele (eds.): Handbook University Councilors - Food for thought and success factors for practice (PDF; 2.9 MB), Essen, 2010, pp. 106–129. Retrieved February 25, 2011.
  6. ↑ Handelsblatt: The uncontrolled power of managers at universities , September 10, 2010
  7. ↑ Jörg Bogumil, Rolf G. Heinze, Stephan Grohs, Sascha Gerber: University councils as a new control instrument? An empirical analysis of the members and areas of responsibility ( memento of the original dated November 4, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Final report of the short study December 2007. p. 55.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.boeckler.de
  8. ↑ Jörg Bogumil, Rolf G. Heinze, Stephan Grohs, Sascha Gerber: University councils as a new control instrument? An empirical analysis of the members and areas of responsibility, final report of the short study December 2007, p. 55
  9. ↑ Ulrich Müller in an interview with Deutschlandfunk on September 9, 2010. Retrieved on February 25, 2011.