New tasks, new solutions
Strategy Day 2019 is dedicated to the challenges of the coming years
2019/10/29 von mam
The Strategy Day on October 16th marked the beginning of the development of a new strategy for the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. In numerous workshops, participants from different status groups devoted themselves to the Identificatzion of problems as well as opportunities facing their Department. Valuable ideas for shaping the future of the department were developed.
The new President of the TU Darmstadt, Prof. Dr. Tanja Brühl, opened the Strategy Day 2019 with a congratulation: „The state of Hessen wants to initiate a comprehensive strategy process, and you are one of the first institutions to take on the task. Congratulations! “Only recently she took over the position of her predecessor Prof. Dr. Hans Jürgen Prömel. The Dean of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Tran Quoc Khanh, therefore, seized the opportunity to express his best wishes to Professor Brühl for her term of office. A new era is breaking with a new president. This is another reason why the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology decided to work out a new strategy. In addition, Prof. Khanh wanted to use the strategy process to live up to his social responsibility and contribute to the solution of the United Nations sustainability goals. The department is a „strategic actor“ who wants to work closely and constructively with its partners within the TU Darmstadt.
The strategy process was designed to be participatory. All status groups were invited to participate in the process, including students, scientific and administrative technical staff, as well as professors of the department. „We are a brainstorming pool for ideas that are worth discussing,“ says Prof. Khanh. He welcomed the constructive cooperation of all faculty members: „A good strategy is in the interest of everyone!“
Accordingly, members of all status groups worked together in a total of twelve workshops. Each workshop addressed a specific topic of university operations, such as quality in study and teaching, internationalization, diversity, research collaborations or research funding and knowledge transfer. Participants of the Strategy Day contributed to two workshops each. There, in small groups, they produced a SWOT analysis (Strenghts, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) of their selected topics. A number of important challenges and opportunities for the future of the department were identified: digitization in teaching, research and administration, personnel development for the scientific and administrative-technical potential, falling student numbers and strengthening the cohesion in the department were some of the numerous topics in the focus of discussions.
The Strategy Day was only the prelude to the upcoming strategy process. „Today's goal is to create a problem analysis,“ said Karl Ulrich Saß, Managing Director of etit. However, numerous further steps are planned to develop a strategy of the department based on this analysis, formulating and finally implementing concrete goals and measures for the future of the department. Another Strategy Day is planned for April 2020.
