Mission statement & guiding values
The following guiding values were developed by members of the HdM in a participatory process from 2018 to 2020. The initiative was coordinated by the Senate Mission Statement Development Committee. The HdM Senate and University Council unanimously adopted the guiding values on 5 November 2020.
The mission statement for teaching was developed from 2017 to 2019 in a participatory process involving all status groups and adopted by the Senate on 5 July 2019.
Guiding values of the Hochschule der Medien
Appreciation
We treat each other as equals and value what everyone does here. Individually and together.
We have excellent colleagues at all levels. Appreciation is not just the recognition of professional expertise, but of the whole person. This applies to everyone who works for our university every day, no matter what level they are at
Participation
Everyone can get involved, everyone should get involved.
Participation is part of our self-image. It leads to responsible action and trust in the organisation. The more broadly the work is supported by everyone, the more diverse and efficient the university functions.
Responsibility
We take responsibility for our actions and see ourselves as part of society.
Responsibility arises from trust. Taking responsibility, including for dependents, means making and implementing well-considered decisions. This also includes being able to admit mistakes, learning from them and working together to find viable solutions.
Innovation
We have the will to create and dare to change. For us, courage also means learning from mistakes.
The reason and purpose of a university is innovation: discovering, developing and applying new things. We question things and processes, adopt different perspectives and discover new points of view.
Transparency
We are open and clear. We communicate extensively, comprehensibly and reliably.
Transparency creates trust and efficiency. Through transparency, we create openness and orientation towards common goals. This gives us all the opportunity to participate, help shape and take responsibility.
Trust
We build on trust and partnership and create space for mutual understanding.
Trust makes collaboration simple, efficient and enjoyable. Trust takes the pressure off us and enables a culture of trial and error, openness and flexibility. Trust creates opportunities for innovation. Those who give trust receive more in return.
Diversity
We embrace the diversity of people and topics. Together we shape a diverse university.
Insight into different ways of living and thinking not only enriches our perspectives. Creativity and innovation arise from the diversity of ways of thinking and living.
HdM culture
We are a place of exchange and opportunities. We create the conditions for this. In this way, we learn to understand change and open up perspectives.
In the sum of all the above-mentioned value dimensions, we have a specific HdM culture:
We study in order to understand the world.
We know in order to question ourselves critically.
We do in order to dare to do new things.
We are the HdM.
The teaching mission statement of the HdM
The mission statement for teaching was developed between 2017 and 2019 in a participatory process involving all status groups and adopted by the Senate on 5 July 2019.
About the teaching mission statement
With its mission statement for teaching, the Hochschule der Medien addresses the opportunities and challenges of teaching in times of digitalisation. We understand the term digitalisation to mean the massive social changes of our century, which are being driven by increasingly powerful computer technologies, the rapid networking of humanity via the Internet and globalisation. "At the beginning of the 21st century, we are experiencing something completely new in the history of mankind that is changing our world and all areas of our lives. "1
Digitalisation does not just mean the enrichment of an analogue world with digital technologies, but a comprehensive transformation. In the digital age, almost all information is available online and can therefore be accessed anytime and anywhere. This enables self-directed learning and requires a high level of information literacy. Against this background, we at the Hochschule der Medien need teaching in dialogue with digitalisation in all its facets: "We don't know what's coming - so we need an education that prepares us for it. "2
Self-image HdM
We prepare students for a changing future with media so that they are ready and able to help shape it. At the HdM, we support students with different backgrounds, regardless of their origin and length of stay at the HdM. We support students in the further development of their (study) skills.
Teachers' self-image
Based on the expertise we have acquired in theory and practice, we see ourselves in the role of guiding and supporting learners. In doing so, we focus on the continuous further qualification of our professional expertise as well as our methodological, didactic, personal and social skills.
Self-image of students
We take on a role as independent and active learners. By studying at the HdM, we strive for continuous skills development on a professional, methodological, social and personal level.
Shared understanding - teaching & learning
Learning at the HdM is an active process in which teachers and students share responsibility for successful study. Learning activities are carried out in a planned and reflective manner. We increasingly promote various forms of learning interactions. We consciously design examinations in order to initiate learning activities and enable the desired learning objectives to be achieved as comprehensively as possible (constructive alignment).
Shared understanding - communication & feedback
Teaching and learning requires feedback in a culture of trust in which mistakes are recognised as learning experiences. Within this framework, we promote learning and development processes at all levels of the university (course, degree programme, university).
Footnotes:
1 Brynjolfsson, E., & McAfee, A. (2014). The Second Machine Age. How the next digital revolution
will change all our lives. Kulmbach: Börsenmedien.
2 Andreas Ludwig, CEO Umdasch Group