The best of two educational worlds
Teaching cooperation between universities and technical colleges. Previously unthinkable, today socially acceptable and in demand: joint courses.
Two training locations, two systems, one degree: Although cooperation between technical colleges and universities is not the norm, it is becoming increasingly interesting for students and teachers. For example, the Human-Computer Interaction master’s degree, which has been offered jointly by the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences and the University of Salzburg since 2019, is in great demand. The four-semester course, which deals with the user-friendly design and implementation of digital technology, has an international focus. The academic director of the course at the University of Applied Sciences, Bernhard Maurer, sees great advantages in this cooperation: “The aim is to offer good teaching. If two institutions with two teaching systems and teaching content come together here, then that has great potential.”
The advantages of both worlds
The students are enrolled at both the FH and the university, attend courses at both locations and receive a degree from both institutions. “You benefit from the large pool of teachers and the associated larger spectrum that is taught. That is very important in this practical and theoretically oriented course,” explains Maurer.
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Image: SN/FH Salzburg
Another advantage is the possibility of being able to offer a joint doctoral program – this is something that a university of applied sciences has not been able to do up to now. Manfred Tscheligi, Professor for Human-Computer Interaction at the University of Salzburg, is also convinced of the joint master’s degree: “The FH has the technical, practice-oriented expertise, the university is more theoretical and scientifically oriented. These synergies complement each other perfectly. It was obvious to use this to create a good education that is both practical and scientifically sound.” In the course of planning and preparing for the master’s degree, it was important for him to offer the degree entirely in English. “First of all, English is the technical language, Secondly, you have to think globally and internationally here in order to stay safe.” According to Tscheligi, this decision has paid off: “Our master’s degree is doing well internationally, we are seen abroad and attract international students, some of whom have a lot of specialist knowledge for an exciting professional Bring exchange. This is particularly exciting due to our interdisciplinary studies – just like different cultures.”
Which rules apply where?
Prof. Andreas Uhl from the University of Salzburg and his team have been offering the Applied Image and Signal Processing master’s degree together with the Salzburg University of Applied Sciences for around ten years. The decisive factor for the cooperation at the time was primarily the optimal use of existing resources – “that just makes sense for a small location like Salzburg,” says Uhl. It wasn’t always easy: “In the beginning we had to overcome a lot of hurdles. But the efforts have paid off. “We have agreed that the university rules apply to courses that take place at the university, and those of the FH to FH events. That works quite well,” explains Uhl. “It’s exciting for the students because they have the opportunity to understand two institutions, their orientation and working methods.”
A change in the law was necessary
Prof. Johann Höller describes the cooperation between the University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria and the Johannes Kepler University in Linz (JKU) as “well coordinated” with regard to the Digital Business Management course. The head of the institute at the JKU proudly recalls the beginnings eleven years ago: “We were among the first in Austria to offer something like this. At that time, even the applicable law was changed, because until then, such cooperations were not allowed in Germany, ”says Höller. “We absolutely wanted to do this because digital business was not very common at the time and there were corresponding skills at both locations.” In the meantime, the market in this area has grown enormously, but experience has shown that it makes sense to continue the cooperation. Höller: “Both the university and the FH have excellent systems and teachers. It makes sense to combine the best of both worlds.”
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Image: SN/jku linz
Lessons are mainly held on weekends, the modules are divided up in terms of space and staff. “Part-time studying is more of a FH feature. That hardly exists in this form at the universities, although many students work part-time. However, they often do not have the right prerequisites, which means that the study times are longer. This shows how important the common organization is,” replaces Prof. Andreas Auinger, who is Höller’s cooperation colleague as the head of the Digital Business Management course at the Upper Austrian University of Applied Sciences/Campus Steyr. He is also satisfied with the development of the master’s degree: “At first it was exciting how it worked . Although there are other areas, e.g. B. at the research level, long-term cooperation between technical colleges and universities. But not as part of a regular course of study.” He believes that many applicants feel attracted to this cooperation because they don’t have to switch from a familiar system to a new system that is unfamiliar to them.
In addition, the FH can choose the students – such a “selection” is not possible at universities. Due to the great demand – around 100 applicants – an admission procedure is necessary. From next autumn there will be ten additional study places (40 instead of the previous 30). In this context, Johann Höller refers to graduation rates of around 90 percent – “that’s above average, you can’t ask for more”.