The Secondos Program of the University of Regensburg

1. The Secondos Program • of the University of Regensburg • Thomas Strothotte, Rector

2. Structure • Introduction • The Secondos Program • Structure of the Program • Current Status • Future Work

3. 1. Introduction • The University of Regensburg (Bavaria, Germany) • founded 1967, about 18,000 students • 85 % of our students are from our region • annual budget 170 Million Euros • University hospital budget 220 Million Euros • most important professor: Pope Benedict XVI • Challenge: shift from 13 years of school to 12; two groups coming out of high school next year

4. German Society is rather heterogeneous

5. German Society is becoming more heterogeneous over time • about 22 % of all 18-year-olds are either immigrants or children of immigrants; this may rise to 33 % over the next 15 years. • about 90 % the children of immigrants grow up bilingually.

6. German Society is becoming more heterogeneous over time • „Integration“ among freshmen • less than 10 % of freshmen at German universities are immigrants or children of immigrants • nonetheless already today between 10,000 und 20,000 of the 240,000 freshmen at German universities have grown up bilingually (estimate)

7. German Population Quelle: Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, 2007

8. German Universities‘ reaction to the demographic shift

9. 2. The Secondos Program • Market segment: 18-year-olds who are children of immigrants and are good students • have received the entire school education in Germany and have at least a B– average (top half of the grading scale) • are typically bilingual, at least with respect to their oral competency in their mother tongue. • know the culture of the country from which their parents or grandparents have come

10. Secondos Program – Terminology • Secondos • term used in Switzerland since the early 2000s • used to denote “in the second Generation“ (of immigrants)

11. Secondos Program – Creating Value for Students • developstheirmothertongueforthemandas well astheirinterculturalskillsat a professional level • makesthe potential in their bilingual andbiculturalbackgroundvisibleanduseful

12. Secondos Program – Curriculum

13. Secondos Program – Characteristics • intensive councelling in all phasesoftheprogram • transfercreditsfor all coursestakenabroad • Financing • Erasmus-Scholarships (uptoabout 200 € / Monat) orsimilarscholarships (e.g. „Go East“-programofthe DAAD) • tuitionfeeswaiversathomewhilestudyingabroad • Networking: Weprovideourstudentswithaccesstothe extensive networkbetweenthe Univ. of Regensburg and potential employers in Eastern and Central Europe

14. Secondos Program – Modules • Secondos Councelling (in particular career planning) • Secondos Lanuage Courses for Native Speakers • Secondos Tandem • Secondos Semester or Year Abroad • Secondos Industrial Internship

15. 3. Structure of the Program • Students • recruiting among students who would come to Regensburg anyways • recruiting nationwide in immigrant communities • Partner Universities abroad • selection of partners • building up relationsships between the rectors, the international offices, faculty members; consulates and the communities • development of model “learning agreements“ und “credit transfer agreements“

16. Nationwide Student of Recruiting • Each ethnic community has its own forms of communication • newspapers (in German or in their homeland) • television (in particular from their homeland) • internet • „word of mouth“

17. Advertising • ads and articles in newpapers • recruiting events in other cities in Germany • consulates • education fairs • Result: During the academic year 2009/10 we had about councelling sessions with about 100 individual potential students (secondos).

18. Secondos Partnerships

19. 4. Current Status • Partnerships • began in Juli 2009 with Babeş-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca; currently 5 partnerships • Students • began Pilot phase during 2009/2010 mit 12 students • our students are proud to be „secondos“… • for 2010/2011, • 156 (bilingual) freshman have expressed interest in our program (of about 4,150 new students, ≈ 4 % of our student body)

20. Summer School 2010„Turkish Law“ taught in the Turkish language • 20 of our law students in Regensburg enrolled • Professor from Turkey (Bahcesehir Univ., Istanbul) who has Postdoctoral experience in Germany • all students spoke perfect German • quality of students (average grades) same as the overall quality • almost all students were German citizens • 17 of the 20 students asked their questions in class in German • We now want to dev elop an extra-curricular certifcate program in Turkish Law as a recruiting method for law students of Turkish origin

21. 5. Future Work • Creating value through Education • We want to make the University of Regensburg more international using the potential we have within Germany: • Bilingual and bicultural “Secondos“ • “Diversity Management“ – Making use of our diversity rather than treating all students the same way • Contributions to • building up a positive identity and image for young immigrants in the 2nd generation • the University: National position for recruiting students

22. Challenges • Double bachelor degrees is unusual • Partnerships with „small“ countries (ones who have only small numbers of immigrants in Germany) • Dealing with clichés • With respect to courses in languages other than English or French (e.g. in the Summer School on TurkischLaw): No members of our faculty know the language nor the material • Justification of using ressources of the university to cater to a specific group (secondos)