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German academics keen to learn from USC visit
German universities can learn a lot from their Australian counterparts, according to the head of a delegation of German academics who visited the University of the Sunshine Coast today.
Professor Wolf Rieck of the Frankfurt and Main University of Applied Sciences and 12 of his colleagues from universities across the German state of Hessen toured the USC campus today and will travel to Fraser Island tomorrow.
Professor Rieck said German universities were set to introduce fees for students this year and viewed Australian universities as the benchmark for giving students value for money.
“You have very good strategies and philosophies and you treat your university as a market participant … you see students as customers,” he said.
“You are service-oriented and student-oriented … much more so than any German university.”
Professor Rieck, whose expertise is in architecture, said he was delighted by the environmentally-sustainable design of USC’s buildings.
“What we will take with us is an impression of this University’s wonderful architecture,” he said. “For all of us, it was really impressive how you try to bring into the buildings the philosophies of the university.
“We’ve gained the impression that we are in a very, very interesting place.”
Professor Rieck said the visit aimed to strengthen the Hessen-Queensland relationship and encourage greater exchanges of university students and staff between the two states.
While on campus, the Hessen delegation attended an Exchange Fair which highlighted USC’s Global Opportunities (GO) program, a student exchange program that recently received a commendation from the Australian Universities Quality Agency.
GO gives students the opportunity to spend a semester in one of USC’s many partner universities around the world, with the overseas study counting towards their degrees.
The Exchange Fair was attended by visiting students from partner universities from countries including Germany, the United States, Korea and Japan who promoted their home schools and countries.
USC’s Career Connection, Student Services, Student Guild and CHASE (Centre for Healthy Activities, Sport and Exercise) had booths at the fair to promote their services.