HNEE elects two new vice presidents

A President, a Chancellor and three Vice Presidents: The Executive Board of Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development (HNEE), chaired by President Prof Dr Matthias Barth, has two new members. On 22 September 2021, the Senate elected Prof. Dr Uta Steinhardt as the new Vice President for Studies and Teaching. Johanna von Hackewitz will represent the interests of students as the new Student Vice President, and Prof Dr Alexander Pfriem, Vice President for Research and Transfer, was confirmed for a further term of office. As Head of Administration and Budget Officer, Chancellor Markus Koenecke has been at HNEE since 1 October 2020.

"HNEE will continue to develop dynamically: The university's unique profile must be further expanded, not least in order to fulfil its important function and its own aspirations as a driver of sustainability transformation in society," explains Prof. Dr Matthias Barth, President of HNEE. He is looking forward to working with his highly motivated Vice Presidents to anchor HNEE even more firmly in the region, but also to increase its international visibility.

In her first term of office as Vice President for Studies and Teaching, Prof Dr Uta Steinhardt will work to empower students to shape a sustainable future in its various facets, to learn skills and abilities for initiating transformation processes at different levels and to support the further development of suitable framework conditions. One focus will be on the externally funded project "Digital Innovation & Learning Lab" (DiLeLa), which was launched in June 2021 under the leadership of the Vice President for Academic Affairs. The initial project term of three years will focus on promoting structural innovations at HNEE. The aim is to develop and test learning and experience spaces for digital and hybrid forms of teaching and learning with teachers and students in order to strengthen and bundle digital skills at HNEE. In addition, the further development of the range of courses on offer and the quality management of teaching and study programmes are among her other areas of responsibility: "When developing new study programmes, we must succeed in making much greater use of the synergies of existing study programmes in order to strengthen the coupling of specialist and sustainability skills of our students in particular," said Prof. Dr Uta Steinhardt after her election to the Senate.

Prof Dr Alexander Pfriem, who has held the position of Vice President for Research and Transfer since 2013, was re-elected by the Senate. In recent years, HNEE has successfully expanded its research activities and closely interlinked them with companies and institutions in the region. Prof Pfriem will primarily focus on the further development of the research strategy and focal points and the associated strengthening of interdisciplinary research collaborations. A particular focus will be on expanding and optimising internal processes, especially in the area of research data management. Prof Pfriem also sees the topic of "Third Space" as an important field of action at HNEE, to which he would like to devote more attention. This involves establishing a service-oriented third area at the university that combines expertise from the fields of science and administration.

Johanna von Hackewitz takes over from Felicitas Hasper as the 21st student vice president and thus as a full member of the Executive Board for one year. HNEE created the office of student vice president in 1999. Always in the interests of the student body, she would like to do even more for student interests, especially when it comes to important decisions at the university. In addition, the topic of teaching quality is very close to her heart: "In close cooperation with the Vice President for Studies and Teaching, it is important to me to further develop the quality of teaching by integrating student needs and general pedagogical-didactic criteria," said the new student Vice President in her address to the University Senate.

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