1. The Quality of Teaching Pact of the Federal Government and the Länder Governments of Germany

2. Background: HE system in a federal state Background  Broad-based higher education and research system  Approx. 400 public and private institutions of higher education (universities, universities of applied sciences, colleges of art and music) and  More than 200 non-university research institutes (MPG, FhG, HGF, WGL,…)  Divided competences in a federal state  Länder are responsible for  most of legislation in higher education and for  establishing, financing and regulating higher education institutions  Federation and Länder cooperate via joint funding programmes to strengthen the science system, i.e.  higher education institutions and  non-university research institutes 1

3. Joint programmes (1) Joint programmes of the Federal Government and the Länder  Higher Education Pact (2007-2015)  First phase 2007-2010: an additional 185,000 new students  Second phase 2011-2015: an additional approx. 327,000 new students  Federal Government provides 11,000 euros (1 st phase) and 13,000 euros (2 nd phase) per new student; Länder are responsible for ensuring overall funding  Excellence Initiative (2005-2017)  Promoting top-level university research in 45 graduate schools, 43 clusters of excellence and 11 institutional strategies  Federation and Länder invest 4.6 billion euros in total  Pact for Research and Innovation (2005-2015)  Financial security for research organisations (DFG, MPG, FhG, HGF, WGL)  Increasing funding by 3% per year since 2005 and by 5% per year since 2011 2

4. Joint programmes (2): The Quality of Teaching Pact Quality of Teaching Pact (2011-2020)  Federal Government provides about 2 billion euros  Goals:  Improving study conditions and quality of teaching in public HE institutions  Increasing completion rates and ensuring the success of Bologna reforms  Broad impact and a wide range of measures, meeting specific local needs  Structure:  Two competitive application rounds in 2011 with quality-oriented selection criteria:  reliable data-based SWOT analysis  added value and coherence of proposed measures  sustainability and monitoring concept  Funding from fall 2011 resp. spring 2012 until 2016  Further funding until 2020 after successful re-evaluation in 2015 3

5. Quality of Teaching Pact: process, participation, funding decisions  Process:  Peer review and funding recommendation by 12 experts  Final funding decisions by selection committee (12 experts and 4 governmental representatives)  Participation:  Proposals by >90% of public HE institutions  339 individual and joint applications submitted in two rounds  Funding decisions:  186 HE institutions selected, that is three quarters of public HE institutions: 78 universities, 78 universities of applied sciences, 30 colleges of art and music  Individual funding depends on specific concept and proposed measures, ranging  from <0.2 million euros for each partner of a small joint project  up to 27 million euros for large universities (for a period of 5 years) 4

6. Quality of Teaching Pact: thematic focus  Main focus of selected concepts and measures  Support transition from school to higher education / (e.g. through more teaching staff from professors to peer tutors, smaller groups, mentoring, preparatory courses, summer schools, self-assessments)  Better diversity management for increasingly heterogenous student bodies (e.g. through specific advice and support, additional courses in languages and maths, individualised and intensified courses)  Additional didactic training for teaching staff (e.g. through additional offers, individual coaching, incentives)  Implementation of new teaching and learning concepts (e.g. through strengthening practical relevance, focussing on research-oriented or problem-based learning, enhancing blended learning, introducing e-exams)  Improved quality assurance (e.g. through new responsibilities, procedures and institutions)  Specific programmes e.g. in engineering, medicine, teacher training etc. 5

7. Quality of Teaching Pact: effects and outlook The Quality of Teaching Pact: what have we gained yet?  Quality of teaching and learning has become a major topic of strategic considerations in German HE institutions  HE institutions consider their own strengths and weaknesses  New staff introduce new ideas and networks, thus promoting structural and "cultural" changes  Increased teaching staff for three quarters of German HE institutions  Approx. 3000 additional jobs in HE have been created (at least for the programme period until 2020) 6