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The University of Duisburg-Essen wins the Prize for the Best Student Marketing
The University of Duisburg-Essen has won the University Communication Prize 2009. The prize worth 25,000 euros goes to the university's Academic Advice Centre for Studies and Career (Akademisches Beratungszentrum Studium und Beruf) for its project "UNI-Trainees". 40 universities competed for the prize. The University Communication Prize is being conferred for the third time, and this year will be presented in Leipzig. In previous years, prizes have been awarded for the Best University Magazine and the Best Website. The Marketing Concepts of the Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences and the University of Mannheim were also nominated for the prize.The Jury found that the University of Duisburg-Essen and its "UNI-Trainees" project had served to encourage an orientation towards academic education. Building on the foundation of a thorough analysis, the project had succeeded here in creating a programme that is consistently and resolutely oriented towards the requirements and conditions of the region. The teachers' qualification as disseminators of the higher education system was, the Jury stated, exemplary in all respects. "This provided the pupils and students with support and assistance, thereby enabling each to take the right continuing educational path for them, encouraged them to study and supported them in the choice of right subject and right place," read the words of appreciation. The university had chosen a good path to take for raising the pupils' interest in studying and for reducing the student drop-out rate. Particular mention, said the Jury, had to be given to the selfless nature of those involved, since the project extended far beyond student marketing for the home university alone.
HRK President Prof. Dr. Margret Wintermantel emphasised at the award ceremony that student marketing is becoming ever more important, even in times of high applicant numbers. "Students today can choose between more than 300 universities and over 9000 study opportunities. If they want to achieve what is best for them, then they need orientation: Knowledge about the programmes and services offered, and knowledge about their own motivation and their own abilities. Good student marketing can contribute to both these aspects," said Wintermantel. The universities must be committed to reaching those interested in studying and those who hold the right skills, abilities and interests for the study opportunities in question.
The University Communication Prize is awarded by the German Rectors' Conference (Hochschulrektorenkonferenz - HRK) and publishers ZEIT Verlag. The Robert Bosch Foundation (The Robert Bosch Stiftung) supports the project and donated the prize.
The Robert Bosch Stiftung is investing some 60,000 euros from its financial budget this year in the form of prizes and project funding. The Foundation's goal is to create a broad-based science communication platform, because a competitive research base needs the support of the general public. In launching this competition, the aim is to encourage the universities to make their services and performance, and especially those in research and teaching as well as in the non-university sector, visible and to communicate these with the help of professional PR work and activities. At the same time, the universities are to be supported and encouraged in the conception and development of high-quality, target-group orientated communication instruments.
The University Communication Prize is donated by the Robert Bosch Stiftung
The University of Duisburg-Essen wins the Prize for the Best Student Marketing [Größe 0.09 MB, Typ pdf]
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