In February the summer semester 2020 started off like any other semester before. New students who already had a business background joined the MBA batch for the 2nd semester and everyone was ready for a busy semester with interesting classes, Guest in Classroom sessions, excursions and projects. But only two weeks later everything changed. Due to the rising figures of Covid-19 infections in Germany the government closed all university campuses in order to guarantee the safety of students, professors and staff. Over the weekend Pforzheim University switched all face-to-face classes to a digital format. This enabled students to join the classes without having to leave their dorms, flats and apartments and in the same time to pursue their studies without any delay. As Evana, one of our current MBA students stated "it was a challenge for both the university and the students to handle the situation pertaining to the sudden change in schedule and delivery of the class lectures. Our faculty members have come up with innovative ways of teaching - using several online tools and techniques, to make quality education not just feasible to us but also interesting."
Now, after a busy semester with lots of new knowledge, a series of inspiring guest speakers in our virtual MBA classroom and virtual team work on different projects the summer semester is coming to an end. After their last classes and exams the 2nd semester students were virtually meeting up the MBA team for the evaluation workshop to share their individual experiences with the challenges of virtual group work, the classes and the MBA program in general.
Besides the regular evaluations conducted by the quality management of the university the evaluation workshops are an important tool for the MBA team to get first-hand impressions and comments from the students to find out what can additionally be done to support them with their learnings and also in means of consistent quality assurance of the program.
Although this has been a very unusual and challenging semester at times for everyone due to the pandemic and all related restrictions, the students appreciated that they were able to complete the second semester according to the curriculum.
We wishing all of our students a nice summer break! Stay safe and we are looking forward to seeing you again in September!
 

Text: MBA
Photos: MBA