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New vice-rectors at the FernUniversität: A breath of fresh air for teaching!
FernUniversität in Hagen elects new vice-rectors for AI and further education in order to make digital education fit for the future.
New vice-rectors at the FernUniversität: A breath of fresh air for teaching!
On March 10, 2025, the university election meeting of the FernUniversität in Hagen elected a new vice-rector. This event represents an important step in the university's restructuring to address current and future challenges. The new vice-rectors will take up their official duties on April 1, 2025, with the elected vice-rector Prof. Dr. Claudia de Witt will be responsible for teaching, studying and integrating artificial intelligence (AI) in educational processes. Your colleague, Prof. Dr. Osman Isfen, will focus on continuing education, academic careers and social responsibility. Rector Prof. Dr. Stefan Sturmer, who proposed the new candidates for election, emphasized the great importance of this restructuring for the future of the FernUniversität.
The previous vice-rectors, Prof. Dr. Uwe Elsholz and Prof. Dr. Stefan Smolnik, will leave after six or three years. What is particularly noteworthy is that Prof. Dr. Hans-Jörg Schmerer withdrew his application for the third vice-rectorate after the first round of voting. A new appointment process will now be necessary.
The use of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is increasingly seen as key to improving teaching and learning in higher education. Prof. Dr. Claudia de Witt is already intensively researching AI methods and their applications to increase the attractiveness of study programs. She sees great potential in AI to promote cognitive and metacognitive skills and address challenges in higher education. The specific possibilities that Prof. de Witt addresses include:
- Nutzung wissensbasierter Systeme und maschinellen Lernens zur Förderung des Wissenserwerbs.
- Echtzeit-Bewertungen offener Fragen und automatisierte Bewertungen von Studierendenbeiträgen.
- Einsatz von Chatbots für administrative Fragen sowie Educational Data Mining-Modelle zur Analyse von Lernfortschritten.
However, integrating AI into higher education also requires responsible handling. Data generated through registrations, surveys and examinations must be pseudonymized or anonymized for AI applications. Students' digital footprint provides valuable information about their learning behavior and preferences, which is why adaptive systems are essential.
Policy support for AI in higher education
The promotion of AI in higher education is also supported at the political level. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) has been involved in this area since the end of 2021 and supports various projects as part of the federal-state initiative “Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education”. This initiative aims, among other things, to develop study programs and intelligent assistance systems as well as to promote AI-based learning and examination systems.
Consortia like Cyber Valley strengthen research and training in areas such as machine learning and robotics. In addition, the AI Campus, funded by the BMBF, offers a learning platform with various educational resources on AI. These initiatives underline the urgency and relevance of the topic and show that universities must actively adapt to the “mathematization” of their offerings.
In conclusion, it can be said that the election of the new vice-rectors at the FernUniversität in Hagen represents not only a change in personnel, but also a strategic new beginning. The integration of artificial intelligence is seen as crucial for the future development of study offerings and the improvement of teaching, and it remains to be seen how these visions will be implemented in concrete terms. With the support of politics and science, the course is well set to give higher education a boost in innovation.