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This article examines centralised and decentralised approaches towards managing internationalisation by means of a case study. Reutlingen University (Hochschule Reutlingen), a university of applied sciences in Southern Germany, has three decades of experience in managing internationalisation. Its strongly integrated and hybrid approach combines centralised and decentralised strategies with the aim of achieving responsiveness, innovation, transparency, quality, and goal alignment. Centralisation and decentralisation are manifested on two levels: university versus schools, and school versus individual programmes. Since internationalisation is embedded in virtually all areas of the university’s operations, examples will be provided ranging from administration and marketing to research, international programme management and curricula.
Die Internationalität muss das Markenzeichen und ein wesentlicher Bestandteil des Leitbildes einer Hochschule sein. Für die Strategieentwicklung und -umsetzung bedarf es der notwendigen Strukturen an einer Hochschule sowie der Vernetzung mit weiteren nationalen und internationalen Partnern. Keine Hochschulleitung würde dieses Erfordernis in Zweifel ziehen. Und doch unterschätzen noch immer Rektorate und Präsidien diesen "Dauer-Marathon". Eine Internationalisierungsstrategie wird vielfach und damit gleichzeitig unkorrekt mit einem Perpetuum mobile
verglichen. Einmal verabschiedet, geht es weiter - es gibt keinen Stillstand. Aber das passendere Bild - auch für die Hochschule Reutlingen - ist die Strategie, die einem "kontinuierlichen Verbesserungsprozess" gleicht.
This paper looks at the case of Reutlingen University (Hochschule Reutlingen), a university with a reputation for international student mobility. It examines how the university strives to fulfil its mandate to prepare ‘industry-ready’ graduates for the global industry by providing an international practice-oriented education. The key focus is on its efforts to establish credit-bearing internship programmes for international students, an area where the institution has ramped up its activities in recent years. Internships for international students is understood to encompass both domestic internships for international students (exchange and degree-seeking students) as well as internships abroad for home-grown degree-seeking students. The paper presents models and approaches that seek to ensure the quality of the international internship experience. It discusses challenges that the university has encountered on the way and makes suggestions about how to create internship opportunities against the backdrop of competing demands and expectations.