Contents

• News from the faculty meeting
• Exclusive Interview with Carina Piek from the WiSSPo
• Short article Business School
• WiSo Workplacevideo Prof. Bindler
• Personalia WiSo: New arrivals and others
• WiSo in the media – November 20 / January 21

Adjustments to the faculty regulations were approved by the Faculty Council in December. One change concerns the structure and responsibilities of the offices of the Vice Deans. The office of the Vice Dean for Research and Young Academics will be divided into the office of the Vice Dean for Research and the office of the Vice Dean for Academic Careers. The office of the Vice Dean for International Relations will be discontinued. During the meeting of the Faculty Council on 18 January 2021, Professor Jacob was elected unanimously as the new Vice Dean for Academic Careers. Professor Gürtler was elected unanimously as the new Vice Dean for Research. Their terms of office will begin on 1 April 2021.

Carina, the WiSo Student Service Point (WiSSPo) was opened on 28 May 2019 in the new extension building in order to offer all services for WiSo students in one place. What has changed as a result in comparison to the previously decentralised service and counselling centres of the WiSo Faculty?

When the service facilities offered their counselling services in a decentralised manner, students and prospective students were referred to different offices and therefore had to travel greater distances across the entire campus in order to be able to resolve their concerns. Often these concerns are very complex and multi-layered, meaning that other units also need to be involved for clarification, and this was not possible in one place. For those seeking advice, this took a lot of time and understandably led to dissatisfaction. With the establishment of the WiSo Student Service Point (WiSSPo), all counselling matters are now bundled in one place, so that almost all counselling services are only offered in the counselling areas of WiSSPo. This ensures a better and faster service, which in turn leads to greater student satisfaction, and hence ideally to better academic performance and fewer dropouts.

An important aspect here was the integration of tasks at the WiSSPo reception desk which were previously handled by the WiSo Examination Office. These include, for example, the issuance of important certificates and graduation documents. Moreover, the issuance and acceptance of doctoral files on the part of the chairs is handled at the reception desk for Ms Mundorf from the doctoral office. We have also implemented central accessibility for telephone and written enquiries. Thanks to our hotline, not only are questions related to study advice answered, but also the FAQs of the other service institutions involved in the WiSSPo. In addition to the Student Advisory Service, these are the Credit Centre, the Career Service including the WiSo Alumni, the KLIPS team, the Master’s Admissions Office, the Doctoral Office, the Examinations Office, the ZiB and, in a supporting role, the WiSo IT service. If the enquiries go beyond the basic level of the FAQs submitted by the units, they are forwarded to the experts of the other service institutions. This system works on all three levels of communication – in person, by phone and by email. By implementing our email contact form, we are now able to respond to written enquiries as efficiently and individually as possible and collect important key data. For example, the drop-down menu for the reason for the enquiry in the form links all other service and advice facilities. If the person seeking advice enters “KLIPS” as the subject, the enquiry is automatically sent to the WiSo KLIPS team. This way, the person seeking advice receives an answer from the relevant contact person as quickly as possible.

What challenges did you face when setting up WiSSPo?

From my point of view, the biggest challenge was to get all the service institutions involved in WiSSPo on board through a working group and make them enthusiastic about the project, as there was some scepticism in the run-up. Naturally, different expectations and ideas clashed here, which ultimately had to be reconciled in compromises. The next step was to understand the different working methods and processes of all the consulting services so that they could be offered centrally in one place. In addition to my many on-site discussions at the respective institutions, as the student advising team, we also visited everywhere to get an impression of the quantity and quality of student enquiries received by other services. Besides the day-to-day business of student advising, this was a major challenge in terms of time. In particular, this affected the tasks of the Examination Office, as we had to learn them completely from scratch. The proper completion of these tasks is particularly important, as the legal capacity of the Examination Office must also be ensured. Consequently, the FAQs were also developed, which serve as the basis for the advice provided by the WiSSPo reception. Apart from the bundling of enquiries and the pilot function at the reception, the focus is naturally on qualified student counselling. For this purpose, a mission statement for advising was developed together with all services, which is published on our website and also presented on roll-ups in the advice areas. Furthermore, we are constantly educating ourselves in this area. For instance, the student advice team has completed the UzK’s Professional Student Advising training programme. We are currently seeking to obtain GIBeT certification (see gibet.org). Ultimately, however, it is the case that the student advisors are also familiar with the processes of the reception and can help out there, which creates a lot of flexibility in the work processes and continued quality assurance. Of course, the regular meetings we have with the Examination Office and the other institutions involved in WiSSPo as well as the internal communication through the use of the contact form also serve this purpose.

WiSSPo has now been running successfully for over 1.5 years, and the team and the organisation have continued to develop. What milestones have so far been achieved since the opening?

One of the most important milestones was the establishment of the reception desk and its separation from the student advising desks. At the reception desk, in addition to the tasks previously performed by the Examination Office, brief information is provided on all questions related to WiSo studies. The reception also helps relieve the student advisors, allowing them to devote themselves to more complex questions or projects and new concepts. Despite the complex (communication) processes, being able to guarantee a certain service mentality and efficient processing is certainly one of the biggest milestones. The Media Network of the Faculty of Human Sciences developed a special waiting marker system for WiSSPo. The requirements profile we used as a basis for this has been constantly expanded over the past year and a half and adapted to the needs of the WiSSPo advisors. The system has also been well received by students, but there is still potential for development here as well. Students receive a waiting badge at the reception desk for a consultation with the expert if the reception desk is unable to help.

The implementation of the email contact form was also a special challenge, as on the one hand this connects all institutions despite their different processes and on the other hand ensures simpler, internal communication when processing a request. We therefore developed the form further this year and were even able to use it for the acceptance of master study places with applicants. As far as I know, the contact form embedded in Typo3 is the only one of its complex kind at the UzK that links different advisory services of a faculty in the context of requests.

Another milestone is certainly the induction of new (student) colleagues, which could only be carried out digitally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but which succeeded well despite the large number of topics to be advised on and the wide variety of complex processes. As a result, they have already been able to provide rapid support through our telephone hotline and incoming email enquiries.

What feedback do you receive from students?

In general, we receive a lot of positive feedback from students. The consultation hours of the Credit Centre are always in high demand. Students who have changed their degree programme or have completed courses elsewhere and would like to have them credited usually have a lot of questions about the application process.

In general, however, our open office hours on site are also very popular, enabling students to simply drop by without an appointment. This is a quick and uncomplicated way for those seeking advice to get the answers they need for further planning their studies.

There is also very frequent demand for the personal submission of theses or written applications at the Examination Office and the collection of certificates at the reception.

Is there a particular experience from advising students that has stuck in your memory?

At the beginning of my work as a student advisor, I was entrusted with a very complex case. It involved an Asian student of business administration, who was attempting her bachelor thesis for the second time, still had to pass an exam and, in addition to study problems, had recently started to suffer from mental illness and addiction. The student came to me several times a month for counselling; she did not have a social network here in Germany. It seemed that she would not be able to complete her studies after three years of diligence and effort. This also put her in a difficult family situation, as she faced a loss of respect in her home country and feared that her family would despise her if she returned without a degree. After many counselling sessions – obtaining information from the Examination Office and the affected chairs and following psychological counselling – the student finally completed her studies successfully. One day before she left for home, she came to the counselling office once again, tearfully thanked the staff with a hug and said that she was now a proud WiSo graduate and that she would not have managed to complete her studies without the help of the student counselling service. A year later, she wrote again to say that she now has a great job at a large Chinese company and that her family was very proud of her.

This story is a good reflection of our day-to-day counselling activities. Even if the problems are not always so complex, we try every day to support those seeking advice with our information and assistance in every phase of their studies, in order to accompany them towards successful graduation. Graduates should then be able to take their ideas and skills out into the world. This fits in well with the new WiSo slogan: “Today’s ideas. Tomorrow’s impact.”

The last year has challenged everyone as a result of the pandemic. Personal counselling plays a very important role in student advising, and this could no longer take place in its usual form due to the requirements of avoiding contact. How did you deal with this? Are there any lessons learned that should be kept in mind once the coronavirus crisis is over?

We have tried to set up alternative solutions for our existing on-site services as quickly as possible. We hope to be able to maintain the digital solutions after the coronavirus crisis is over, particularly with regard to applications and certificates. This is also an important concern for us from a sustainability perspective. Instead of face-to-face consultations, we have expanded our telephone consultation hours. Even before the pandemic, we were convinced that there can be no substitute for personal consultations. However, the pandemic has taught us that we can nevertheless handle many enquiries relatively well over the phone. In exceptional cases where face-to-face consultations are important and useful (such as thoughts about dropping out and difficult study situations), we offer Zoom conversations. We may also maintain this offer – depending on resources – for those seeking advice who cannot be on site or who contact us, for example, in an international context. In particular, we will continue to answer short enquiries by email; nothing has had to change in the processes here as a result of COVID-19.

Nevertheless, the issue of providing information and guaranteeing data protection also arises time and again, and we must continue to keep a responsible eye on this. Since the opening of WiSSPo, the demand for advice has risen steadily and understandably increased again during the pandemic. Even between years, when experience has shown that this time is typically very quiet, urgent requests were still received this year and had to be channelled to the Examination Office for processing. This shows us that WiSSPo is perceived by students as it was intended: the first point of contact for questions and problems related to WiSo studies, where students can get help as quickly and efficiently as possible.

What other goals and developments are planned for 2021?

Due to COVID-19, the year 2021 is difficult to plan. Of course, advising and supporting students in the context of their WiSo studies will remain the top priority. The new study programmes will start in the winter semester 2021/22, which will presumably lead to an increased volume of advising, although not as much as in the context of the PO change in the winter semester 2015/16, which was actively advertised to registered students.

Furthermore, we would like to take another look at the communication strategy to make the WiSSPo concept clearer to students. Often, a phone call or email starts with: “Since the Examination Office has been abolished, I am now turning to you.” While this makes us smile, it demonstrates that we still need to work on our external communication. 

As part of quality management, the WiSSPo FAQs are being further developed and should also be available to students on the website. At some point, I could also imagine the integration of a chatbot, but that is certainly still up in the air. All the same, we should continue to think about digital solutions in some places.

Depending on how the pandemic develops, we naturally hope to be able to offer a certain amount of personal on-site availability again – perhaps initially only by appointment. In this context, the WiSSPo concept with the consolidation of consulting services at one location can be implemented jointly again. By bringing together the individual consulting institutions under the umbrella of WiSSPo, beneficial information and consulting services can certainly be offered in the future.

Thank you, Carina, for the interview.

Short introduction to Carina Piek

Carina Piek took over project management for the WiSo Student Service Point (WiSSPo) in 2017 and has been coordinating it since its opening in May 2019. 

She completed her B.Sc. in social sciences and her M.Sc. in sociology and empirical social research at the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences of the University of Cologne. During her studies, she worked at the chair of Prof em. Dr Meulemann in a DFG-funded project and published an article in an associated edited volume by Prof Meulemann and Prof Birkelbach, which was based on her master thesis.

After initially working as a research assistant at the Institute for Sociology and Social Psychology (ISS) at the University of Cologne and at the Faculty of Education at the University of Duisburg-Essen, she moved to the WiSo Student Advising Centre in 2014 as a student advisor and now heads the team there. The WiSo Student Advisory Centre is part of the WiSo Dean of Studies Office under the direction of Alice Anna Oeter.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to be a challenge for us all at the start of 2021. The fact that our EMBA students see the situation as an opportunity is revealed in our interview with EMBA alumnus Veronica Romantini.

“I try to focus on the opportunities.” – Interview with Veronica Romantini (EMBA 20 alumnus) on how she deals with the current COVID-19 situation

Veronica Romantini works as Head of Sales for the Benelux and DACH region and is one of our EMBA alumni students. She graduated last year and shared some of her thoughts on the current situation with us:

 Veronica, in which way have you been affected by the current situation?

“I am a single working and studying parent of three children. The big difference is, of course, that the kids are at home and that I have to divide my time for all the different tasks: my work from home, taking care of the younger kids and the oldest one with homework and home schooling, regular housekeeping and shopping – all of it has to be done all at the same time. I have more things to do than usual.”

Have you acquired any special skills that have helped you in your position?

“I have experienced that a clear structure to the day and my tasks can help me master the multi-tasking requirements in these times. A family is like a working team and everybody has their own strengths and weaknesses and the leaders, the parents, should recognise them in order to divide the tasks accordingly. Now that there are a lot more tasks to handle, it is even more important to get the youngest on board as well and to give everybody their own responsibilities. It is an opportunity for the little ones to learn new things and it's an opportunity for the parents to consistently teach the kids what is important for them.”

Do you think there is something beneficial in all of this?

“The day has 24 hours and if we were previously forced to divide it hermetically into actions, now we can divide the time differently. Some could say it creates variety; some could say it creates confusion. I think it is only a matter of getting used to something new. I try to focus on the opportunities.”

Last but not least, looking back at your EMBA studies, you graduated last year. How did you experience the courses that were held online – due to the COVID-19 situation?

“The digital classes I participated in were a positive surprise for me. In the beginning, I was sceptical about it, but the result was very good! The reaction of the university was very fast and outstanding. I feared that the class could be too theoretical but the professor structured it very well, with high content exchange as well as group work and student participation. Being demanding, the attention was kept high so it was quite dynamic even if virtually.”

Interested in the Cologne-Rotterdam Executive MBA (EMBA) at the University of Cologne and the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University? Then find out more during our EMBA Info Webinar on 25 February 2021. Learn more about our EMBA programme and take the opportunity to get talking to our EMBA alumni and our team. If you wish to register or have any further questions, please contact our Marketing & Admissions Team or mba-admissionuni-koeln.de or use this link.

New dates for 2021 – Advanced Management & Healthcare Management  

For the two certificate programmes Advanced Management and Healthcare Management, new dates are available. You can now register for them. This year, the Business School again offers an extensive range of higher education programmes for professionals and managers in topics such as digitalisation, entrepreneurship and finance. Find out more about the certificate programmes and seminars here and successfully take control of your career. 

About the Business School of the University of Cologne

The Business School of the University of Cologne has been offering executive programmes and management seminars in both English and German since 2015. It is part of the WiSo Faculty of the University of Cologne. The programmes are taught by professors of the faculty, the Rotterdam School of Management and experts from the field.

Contact: Janna Pressentin and Juliana Milla, Marketing & Admissions Manager, telephone: +49 (0)160 91939002

The WiSo Faculty also saw some developments in terms of personnel:

WiSo Library and Learning Centre

The WiSo Faculty is to receive a Library and Learning Centre, which is being built in the flat wing and the SSC as part of the renovation. The team led by WiSo library manager Dr André Drost is responsible for merging the libraries in the Library Centre. In order to complete the merger in a timely manner, he has allowed himself to be relieved of his duties as USB department head. We would like to thank the USB, with whom the WiSo Faculty would like to continue to work closely, for this concession.

Zentrum für Internationale Beziehungen (ZIB) – Centre for International Relations

After 11 years as head of the Centre for International Relations, Christoph Sonnenschein left the WiSo Faculty in mid-February to take on new professional challenges. We sincerely thank him for his commitment and his services in connection with the internationalisation of our faculty. We are pleased that Diana Hehle, who already held the position of deputy head of the ZIB for several years, will now take over the leadership position.

In deep sadness

We bid farewell with great respect to our esteemed Professor (emeritus) Günter Wiswede. Wiswede was a professor of economic psychology and, among other roles, Director of the Institute for Economic and Social Psychology from 1986 to 2003.

He was a wonderful person with a great personality, whom we will fondly remember.

WiSo Marketing regularly checks the press review of the University of Cologne for articles and mentions of the WiSo Faculty and its professors in the national and international media. These press clippings are constantly reviewed and collected after WiSo reports. Here we would like to give you an overview of the publications in the national media in which WiSo professors serve as experts or which publish articles written by them. If the article is available online, you will find a link to it below. Press articles that are only available in print media are mostly available via the electronic journals database of the University and City Library.

The list is compiled according to available data. If an article is missing, please send us an email.