2 years of digitised teaching and university operations. A résumé
Digital networking meeting of FB 18
2022/04/26 by Gleichstellungsteam etit
On 5 April 2022, the decentralised gender equality team of the department etit had invited to the annual networking meeting followed by a women's general assembly. The focus was on the topic “2 years of digitalised teaching and university operations. A résumé”.
The decentralised equality team of the department etit organises an annual networking meeting to exchange and discuss current topics with all status groups of the department. This year's networking meeting took place digitally. Dean of Studies Prof. Harald Klingbeil opened the meeting with a short welcome and introduction to the topic of digital teaching. Afterwards, there was a panel discussion with the following representatives of all status groups: Prof. Herbert De Gersem (Institute TEMF), Ferdinand Keil (WiMi IES), Maria Rizou (Service Centre etit), Anissa Hadhri (Student etit), Lennart Fedler (Student Council).
Prof. De Gersem, in his capacity as Vice President for Academic Infrastructure and Digitisation, gave a review of the past two years. He reported on the financial and structural challenges and emphasised the omnipresent willingness of staff and students to embrace change. In the subsequent panel discussion, the participants confirmed that the first period of mobile working was initially difficult and caused frustration with the lack of end devices and, for example, the lack of acceptance for digital signatures. Legal issues were also underestimated at first, and agreements within the team or with fellow students were not possible at short notice. Nevertheless, there were also many reports of a strong team spirit and willingness to help, so that university operations could continue. It was an excellent opportunity to digitalise many processes, and there were sufficient financial resources and technical solutions available. However, after two years of digital teaching and mobile work, social contacts are lacking and the anticipation of the attendance semester in summer 2022 was clearly noticeable. Due to the Corona pandemic, many digitalised solutions could be found in an astonishingly short time. Mobile work is also associated with many advantages. The wish was that the advantages from both worlds would be combined and lead to a more lively and flexible university life again.
Following the networking meeting, the women's general assembly of the department took place. Ms Marija Schultheis reported from the central Equal Opportunities Office, presented this year's programme and reported that the Equal Opportunities Action Plan (GAP) replaces the previous Equal Opportunities Concept of the TU Darmstadt. In addition, the sexualised discrimination and assault policy was updated and the counselling and complaint process was illustrated. Finally, the department's decentralised gender equality officers reported on the upcoming measures for Girls' Day and the schoolgirls' project days. In addition, a newsletter on the topic of gender equality will report on current topics once a quarter in the future.