Deans Program
October 2006

In October 2006, the Fulbright Commission premiered "University Reforms in Germany", a program on innovative European developments in Germany´s higher education landscape. It was directed at senior representatives from leading U.S. universities. While in the course of the Bologna process a common European higher education framework is being designed, Germany´s universities find themselves under considerable pressure to reform their structures, modernize their study programs, to increase their budgets and their autonomy, to sharpen their institutional profiles, and to expand their cooperation with other European universities. "University Reforms in Germany" was conducted from October 14-20, 2006 and offered the five U.S. university experts -- provosts and vice-presidents from renowned Johns Hopkins University, University of Berkeley, University of Pennsylvania, University of North Carolina-Campus System, and the University of Washington -- detailed information on the various strategies different German universities have chosen to restructure their higher education management. The American experts visited the universities of Karlsruhe and Heidelberg, Technical University, Free University and Humboldt University of Berlin. They much appreciated the intensive discussions with their German colleagues from universities academic exchange organizations on such topical issues as the implications of the bachelor/master study reforms, the future of transatlantic exchanges, the excellence initiative, and the need to develop a new vision for German universities and their role in an ever expanding global education market where institutions search and compete for the best students and faculty.

An in-depth article about this Fulbright program will appear in the December 2006 issue of the magazine "Wissenschaftsmanagement" (Zeitschrift fuer Innovation, Lemmens Verlag, Bonn).