Ninth Teaching and Study Report (2012 - 2016)
The University of Kassel presents a comprehensive teaching and study report every four years or so. The ninth teaching and study report of the university, which has now been published, covers the reporting period from the summer semester 2012 up to and including the winter semester 2015/16.
In terms of function and structure, it follows the eighth teaching and study report, which has proven its worth as an instrument for defining the university's position internally and externally, for example in accreditation procedures, in dealings with the Hessian Ministry of Science and the Arts, and as an information tool for new appointments. The most recent amendment to the Hessian Higher Education Act has now extended the transmission of university reports to the Hessian state parliament. The responsible committees of the university have discussed the report approvingly in the current semester.
The determining perspective continues to be the university-wide perspective and a systematic approach to topics relevant to teaching and studying over the last three and a half years. Points of reference are in particular the development plan of the University of Kassel as well as the target agreement with the Hessian Ministry of Science and Art.
The report describes the continuing high demand for studies, as well as its effects and reactions to this. The competitive position is characterized as good - against the background of the state policy requirements: The university achieves its quantitative goals and opens up the possibility of good studies to many prospective students.
The study programs are an important starting point for the analysis. The report contains a presentation of the portfolio of study programs - which has not changed significantly - shows the clear improvements in student satisfaction, describes differentiated current views of study duration and success, and addresses changes - which are also quite sensitive - in university access.
As in the previous report, the status of development with regard to cross-cutting issues (heterogeneity, equality, disability, internationalization) plays an important role. Also presented are further development steps in the institutional arrangement for promoting young scientists, such as the concept for promoting young scientists, the introduction of the supervision agenda, the formation of the Graduate Academy, and the increases in the number of doctorates.
Another central topic is the further development of quality assurance and support for studying and teaching, here in particular the description of the evaluation procedures and their implementation, the presentation of the system evaluation as a further development of the model of program/cluster accreditation in 2014 and the introduction of an evaluation statute in 2015.
In the reporting period, the further development of the didactic quality of teaching, with a special focus on e-learning, as well as the expansion of infrastructures, for example in the area of construction and with regard to the advisory and service offerings, were essential for studying and teaching.