Foundation university

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Foundation universities or foundation universities are colleges or universities that are supported by a public or private foundation or are organized in the legal form of a foundation.

Foundation universities in Germany

history

Even the medieval universities in Germany were foundation universities. They financed themselves through endowments and hardly from the state budget. In 1809 Wilhelm von Humboldt took up the model of a foundation university for the establishment of the Berlin University . According to Humboldt's idea of ​​a university, research and teaching should be kept free from government demands and requirements of a restrictive nature. In order to guarantee independence from the state also in economic terms, the Berlin university should be able to operate independently of grants from the state of Prussia . Humboldt suggested transferring domain property (from the property of the Church) to the university. The university should finance itself from their income and from donations. However, the model could not prevail, so that the foundation university in Berlin was not implemented.

With the establishment of commercial colleges in 1898, associations or chambers already appeared as sponsors. The first German foundation university of modern times was founded in 1914 in Frankfurt am Main with private funds from Frankfurt citizens. After the assets of the foundation university in Frankfurt were largely ruined after the First World War , it was financed through a university contract between the city of Frankfurt am Main and Prussia. In 1953 the state of Hesse took over financial responsibility for the university, so that the foundation university became a state university.

In the following period, several foundation universities were founded, which are supported by a foundation under public law , a church foundation under public law or a foundation under civil law. Following on from its tradition as a foundation university, the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main was transformed from a public corporation into a public law foundation in 2008.

Reasons for the organization as a foundation university

The main arguments in favor of the organization as a foundation university are:

  • Tax advantages (in particular the deductibility of endowments)

at public law foundation universities too

  • Denationalization and strengthening of university autonomy
  • Stronger anchoring of the university in civil society
  • Use of the positive term “foundation” for increased identification with the university and more successful acquisition of private capital

at private law endowed universities too

  • Realization of greater distance from the state with regard to organizational and personnel regulations
  • Greater feasibility of innovations in structure and processes
  • No connection with their locations to a single federal state
  • Possibility to select your students through your own admission regulations and limit their number in such a way that optimal supervisory relationships are guaranteed
  • Opportunity to offer university lecturers expanded research freedom, particularly through flexible teaching loads and lower committee work.

Current endowed universities

Universities supported by a foundation under public law:

After ten years, the five foundation universities in Lower Saxony drew a positive balance.

Universities sponsored by a church foundation under public law:

Universities supported by a foundation under civil law:

Universities that are themselves organized in the legal form of a foundation under public law:

Planned foundation universities

In some German federal states there are efforts to convert universities into foundation universities - such as:

Transfer to foundation refused

  • Hannover Medical School (Senate resolution December 12, 2012)
    This was the second attempt to convert the MHH into a foundation     university .
  • University of Osnabrück (Senate decision May 30, 2012)
    With 10 yes and 9 no votes, the necessary two-thirds majority in the Senate was not achieved. According to student representatives, the Presidium “did not deal critically enough with the concerns of individuals” and “only [highlighted] positive facts in communicating the project”.

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Dietrich Schröder: The foundation university didn't bring more money, but more autonomy. Märkische Onlinezeitung , May 7, 2014, accessed April 25, 2017 .
  2. ↑ 10 years: 5 foundation universities take stock. University of Hildesheim, April 19, 2013, accessed on April 25, 2017 .
  3. ↑ Simon Rothe: Foundation should make the university more independent . In: Ostthüringer Zeitung . Volume 27, No. 85 , April 10, 2017, p. 1 .
  4. ↑ From 2012. Staff Council of the Hannover Medical School, accessed on April 25, 2017 .
  5. ↑ Christian Beneker: MHH as a foundation - more independent and flexible: The Hannover Medical School (MHH) is making the second attempt to transform itself into a foundation university and to gain flexibility. In: Doctors newspaper . June 15, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Foundation university rejected! AStA of the University of Osnabrück, May 30, 2012, accessed on April 25, 2017 .