Harz University of Applied Studies

The Harz University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule Harz) is a higher education institution in the Harz district of Saxony-Anhalt, a state of Germany. It is spread over two campuses, one in Wernigerode and another in Halberstadt. The Wernigerode campus accommodates the Department of Automation and Computer Sciences and the Department of Business Studies. In contrast, the Halberstadt campus houses the Department of Public Management.

History
In October 1991, Harz University of Applied Sciences was founded as Fachhochschule Harz. Initially, the courses on offer comprised Business Administration, Tourism, and Business Informatics at the Department of Business Studies in Wernigerode. In the 1991–1992 winter term, 77 students took up their studies. Meanwhile, six Bachelor's degree programs were offered at the Department of Business Studies. In the 2007–2008 winter term, two Master's degree programs – Business Consulting, and Tourism and Destination Development – were launched.

In autumn 1992 – one year after foundation – teaching started at the Department of Automation and Computer Sciences. At the beginning of the 1992–1993 winter term, 28 students were enrolled in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science programs for the first time. Today, about 800 students are enrolled in a total of eight computer science and engineering-based degree programs. The course offering has since been complemented with a Master's degree in Computer Science (Mobile Systems).

The Department of Public Management in Halberstadt is the most recently created department. In the 1998–1999 winter term, with the addition of degrees in Public Administration and Administrative Economics (Public Service Management), university education for the public sector started. The course offering was enlarged by introducing degrees in European Administrative Management and Administrative Management (eGovernment), and the undergraduate degrees programs of the Department of Public Management were complemented by a Master's degree in Public Management.

On 27 January 1998, Fachhochschule Harz was renamed to Harz University of Applied Sciences. The courses on offer continued to increased in the following years. In 2003, the institution received the Best Practice Hochschule 2003 award from the Centre for Higher Education.

In, students were enrolled at Harz University of Applied Sciences.

Wernigerode campus
Wernigerode is the headquarters of the Harz University of Applied Studies. The administrative and didactic buildings of the Department of Business Studies as well as the Department of Automation and Computer Sciences are located on a 6.2 ha green campus in the Wernigerode district of Hasserode. In a new building on the site of a former paper mill, central departments like an electronic data processing centre, a library, numerous didactic rooms and laboratories, and a media centre with integrated recording studio can be found. The Language Self-Learning Centre aims to improve language skills of students individually by integrating multimedia systems. The main auditorium has high-tech equipment and more than 250 seats.

Since the 2006 summer term, a Student Service Centre takes care of students' needs. Moreover, the Harz University of Applied Studies is equipped with Wi-Fi, bundled service facilities (dining hall, cafeteria, and halls of residence), and offers a large selection of sports facilities, a broad cultural program and a variety of student associations. A beach volleyball court, an openair chess installation, fitness rooms, and a modern sports hall are also situated on the Wernigerode campus.

Halberstadt campus
In the 2004–2005 winter term, the Department of Public Management started teaching at the new campus at the in Halberstadt. In the city centre of Halberstadt, old and new architecture is fused together and forms three buildings. The large lecture hall, designed along the lines of the British Commons, has room for lectures and public events. In addition to regular language courses, a Language Self-Learning Centre is also available to students at Halberstadt. The dining hall Domcafete of the Student Union Magdeburg was recently established.

International alignment
By converting the course offer into internationally recognized Bachelor's degree programs and introducing Master's degree programs, the Bologna Process is accommodated at Harz University of Applied Studies. By ensuring that final examinations are comparable, the creation of a European education system enables increased individual mobility within the course of studies and an international career after completing tertiary education.

The international profile of Harz University of Applied Studies is reflected by intense language courses in all degree programs, international course offers, and the application of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) in all departments. Currently, the international office is responsible for 71 cooperations with foreign partner universities in 28 countries worldwide. Each term, more than 100 students from Harz University of Applied Studies benefit from the opportunity to study abroad for one or more terms. At the same time, roughly the same number of multinational students are welcomed as full-time or exchange students at Harz University of Applied Studies.

Research
Harz University of Applied Studies is the location of the Centre of Competence for Information and Communication Technologies, Tourism and Services that is part of the research initiative called Network of Excellence for Applied and Transfer-oriented Research (KAT) in Saxony-Anhalt. Within this network, applied research activities of all institutions of higher education in Saxony-Anhalt are linked to each other: 157 projects at four universities of applied sciences with a total capacity of about €8million in 2009. Since 2005, the following research foci of the Centre of Competence of Harz University of Applied Studies have been defined:
 * e-government for business organizations
 * legal basis of e-administration
 * application of geographic information systems and web-mapping-services
 * polymer fibers
 * tourism for generation 50 plus
 * security, distribution and e-government
 * automated vehicular disposition
 * microcontroller applications

The thematic spectrum of research projects of Harz University of Applied Studies ranges from communication technology, mobile robotics, and electronic administration to service quality in tourist value-added chain and double-entry bookkeeping. The volume of third-party funding regularly makes up ten per cent of the budget of Harz University of Applied Studies.

Arts, culture, and lecture series
Harz University of Applied Studies has a deep relationship with the Harz region. Many offers are explicitly addressed to non-students. The exchange of ideas between different generations and occupational groups represents the main concern of this alignment.

Art exhibitions
The Rector's Office, a 100-year old villa with a varied history, and the so-called paper mill, a new building on Wernigerode's campus, incorporate areas for various art exhibitions that are held on a regular basis. A wide range of student, full-time, and amateur artists from the region or other areas are targeted.

Karl Oppermann foundation
Exceptional for a university of applied sciences in Saxony-Anhalt, the Karl Oppermann foundation was opened at Harz University of Applied Studies in 2008. The internationally known artist and former professor at University of Arts in Berlin, Karl Oppermann, contributed four large-format oil paintings that deal with international issues. These masterpieces are a donation or on permanent loan to the library of Harz University of Applied Studies in Wernigerode and accessible to the public. In 2009, the artist enlarged the foundation with a portrait of Alexander von Humboldt and a large-format triptych. Oppermann's paintings are about self-awareness, departure, and search for luck, but also about escape, expulsion, and fight for survival.

Conference and Event Management
In 2006, increasing interest in using Harz University of Applied Studies as a seminar and congress location resulted in founding a Department for Conference and Event Management with a market-driven service offer. Harz University of Applied Studies hosted the first conference of the Wine Tourism and Culinary Commission in 2010 at Freyburg.

Education that encompasses generations
Since 2007, the so-called GenerationenHochschule, literally 'institution of higher education for the generations', has evolved into something of a tradition, which is embraced by the local communities. Twelve times a year more than 250 students representing all generations participate in special lectures given by certified experts of Harz University of Applied Studies] and the world of business. The headlines of these lectures stem from the world of business, nature, and environment; they are related to present and future ways of life. In 2009, the program of the GenerationenHochschule was complemented by a series called GenerationenHochschule aktuell. These special lectures are dedicated to the latest and spontaneous topics.

Children's university
In partnership with an international foundation and supported by sponsors from the world of business the so-called Children's university (KinderHochschule) has been taking place four times a year, on Saturdays, since 2006. All presentations are designed specifically for children – they are hands-on and interactive. In the early days of 2009 GEOlino, a science journal for children also started supporting the project.

In addition to a certificate, which is handed out at every event, the young students take home a junior student pass, and collect points until they reach 'the status of genius'. Every step in their career ladder is rewarded with some little present.