The high mobility level at Konstanz is a sign of success for the university’s internationalistion strategy which sees internationality and the mobility of its students and researchers as a key element of its defining concept: in German-wide comparison, the International Office of the University of Konstanz achieved the top position in the recent “International Student Barometer” rankings, the worldwide largest survey on student mobility and experience abroad of undergraduates and PhD students. In worldwide comparison, the International Office at Konstanz was ranked tenth.
Providing “services with insight” is the key concept of the Konstanz International Office. This motto is the motor behind a comprehensive, high-quality and unbureaucratic service spectrum with the central idea of empathy: putting ourselves in the situation of the students. The International Office considers why students, despite their study plans often do not go abroad, so it can help to dismantle these mobility barriers.
It is against this background that the Konstanz International Office focuses especially on three main areas: financing the stay abroad, integrating the stay abroad in the course of study and acquiring language skills. Information and services are offered at the right time, not simply when the student already has concrete plans for a stay abroad. Instead, the International Office reaches out to the students before they even start their studies: the International Office accompanies students before and during their whole study period with information and assistance concerning study possibilities abroad.
The University of Konstanz very successfully combined its Study Abroad Campaign, which encourages students to spend time abroad, with diverse information programmes. “Our aim is to smooth the path and make the stay abroad as pleasant and enriching as possible. We take the students by the hand in very unbureaucratic personal contact. It’s not our policy to simply give instructions and send students from A to B,” assures Regina Sonntag-Krupp, head of the International Office at the University of Konstanz. “At the same time the students give us feedback about their preferences and ideas, not only about stays abroad, but also about very real issues involved in realising their wishes, so we can react pragmatically and with insight,” adds Ms Sonntag-Krupp.
The University of Konstanz’s internationalisation strategy benefits enormously from its key concept of short distances, close networking and flat hierarchies. “Our internationalisation work benefits from excellent interaction with other departments, especially the Career Service,” explains Regina Sonntag-Krupp. One of the most popular help lines is the Welcome Center, which supports international researchers when planning, preparing and carrying out their stay in Konstanz: this help ranges from organising accommodation to visiting the authorities and promoting social integration.
“We have the wholehearted backing of the university,” says Regina Sonntag-Krupp as she praises the structures at the University of Konstanz and their positive influence on the internationalisation process: “And last, but not least, the Excellence Initiative has given us a tremendous boost which benefits not only the researchers but all of our students too.”
Contact
University of Konstanz
Communication and Marketing
Phone: +49 7531 / 88-3603
E-Mail: kum(at)uni-konstanz.de
Regina Sonntag-Krupp
University of Konstanz
Head of the International Office
Universitätsstrasse 10
78464 Konstanz
Germany
Phone: +49 7531 / 88-2325
E-Mail: Regina.Sonntag(at)uni-konstanz.de
