preparing students for a career in the public service: the dual track training system in north...
TRANSCRIPT
Preparing students for a career in the Public Service: the dual track training system in North Rhine-Westphalia
Presentation at the Innovative Curricula Design Conference „Higher Education 2020“
Tartu, Estonia, April - 2014
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gourmelon
Prof. Dr. Andreas Gourmelon
Professor at the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration of North Rhine-Westphalia
Lecturer for Human Resources and Public Management
Worked as psychologist and controller in the Federal Employment Agency
Research in the area of HR-Marketing and personnel selection
Contents of this presentation
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, its staff and its internal university
How to become a civil servant in a municipality of North Rhine-Westphalia
Recruiting new students Combining theory and practise in the education of
civil servants
Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia
Germany consists of …
• the Bund (federal republic),• 16 Bundesländer (states),• and 12.700 local authorities
North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is a mainly industrial region in the west of germany; 17.6 million inhabitants.
Personnel in the public service of NRW (state and municipalities)
Top level
Graduates from master courses (e.g. studies of law)
Higher level
Graduates from specialised bachelor courses
Medium level
Jobholder passed vocational / in-firm trainings
Low level
Car
eer l
evel
s in
the
stat
e
and
the
mun
icip
aliti
es o
f
NR
W
Amount of personnel:• municipalites: 224.000 fte• state: 388.000 fte
University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration of NRW (FHöV)
Responsible for the education of all higher-level and some top-level students of the state and the municipalities in NRW
Under the control of the ministry of the interior 200 full-time lecturers and 800 part-time lecturers 7.300 students in different degree courses for state / local
authorities administration, police, statutory pensions administration
Degree courses on bachelor- and master-level Seven study sites all over NRW
Becoming a civil servant in a municipality:the perspective of a bachelor-student
Finishes highschoolSends an application
to the mayor
Studies three years,18 months at FHöV
18 months at municipality.
Is enrolled for the FHöV
Gets a job in an agencyof the municipality
Is employed bythe municipality
FHöV
Recruiting of new students by the municipalities
M. plans number of new students
M. determines job requirements
M. advertises its vacancies
M. selects best recruits
M. employs new students
Job requirements (e.g. Municipality of Bochum)
Highschool diploma Enjoys to interact with people, extraversion High achievement motivation High readiness of mind, brainpower, intelligence Team and service orientation Good verbal skills High sense of responsibility
Elements of selection processes
Online applications Online tests (e.g. intelligence) Structured interviews Presentations, simulations, work samples Selection commitees (including the equal opportunity
commissioner, staff council)
Combining theory and practise – dovetailed study sections
Students have scientific and practical study sections Scientific study sections are offered by FHöV, practical study
sections by the municipalities Scientific and practical study sections are dovetailed to each
other Students have to pass examinations during the scientific as
well as in the practical study sections
Combining theory and practise – contents and lecturers
Contents of the study course are determined by a study course committee; representatives of lecturers, students and municipalities are members of this committee
Full-time lecturers must have academic qualifications and professional experiences from outside the universities, ideally they worked for the state or a municipality
Part-time lecturers usually have a full time job in a municipality 40 % of all lectures are held by part-time lecturers
Combining theory and practise – „Practical Project“
During the „Practical Project“ (duration: 10 weeks) , students are confronted with a complex task.
The tasks are defined by the municipalities. Students work in a team and try to solve the
problems with methods from various scientific disciplines
Combining theory and practise – „Social Skill Training“
During „Social Skill Training“ students learn to interact with customers effectively and to work in a team
There a three weeks of „Social Skill Training“ Social Skill Training Groups consist of 12 to 14 students and two
trainers One trainer is a full-time lecturer of the FHöV, the other is a
practitioner from a municipality
Output and Outcome
There are no plans to use other universities for the bachelor education or to change the service of FHöV significantly
My perception: FHöV plays an important role as innovator in the administrative system of NRW
Since 1976 over 60.000 graduates
90 % of beginners passed all examinations
Municipalities and students are satisfied with the service of FHöV