Co-operation project "Security Management International"

Transcription

1 Co-operation project "Security Management International" 1. Objectives 1.1 Project Origin and Background The starting point for the development of internationally oriented study programmes was marked by the Bologna Process, the main objective of which is to enable broad student mobility across Europe. At the 5th Follow-up Conference held end of April, 2009, in Benelux the target was set that, by 2020, 20 percent of all students should complete work-placements or studies abroad. The currently 46 member states of the Bologna Process include 24 countries in Central, South-East and Eastern Europe. Internationalisation is a core element of the mission of the Berlin School of Economics and Law (HWR). It presently offers one BA programme and 11 Master's programmes in English, which, together with broad student mobility and the summer school programmes at the campuses of Schöneberg and Lichtenberg, provide the basis of HWR's Internationalisation Strategy. The Institute for Co-operation with Central and Eastern European Countries in Public Reform (IMO), established in spring, 2008, as a central institute, is an interdisciplinary centre of competence for development and advisory projects as well as for the organisation and the carrying out of international further training courses and, in this capacity, plays an important role for HWR's Internationalisation Strategy in the area of promoting scientific exchange and student and teaching staff mobility. Along with its higher education development goals, the project equally addresses specific vocational areas. As the pace of privatisation in the security sector continues to speed up, industrial and commercial security has now become a significant factor in marketing. In Germany alone, sales amounted to EUR billion in The rapid growth of the security market together with increasing specialism and professionalism encouraged HWR to implement a BA programme in Security Management. Increasing job diversification created ever new requirements for staff qualification, whilst appropriate training offers remained unavailable. With this programme now established and well accepted and acknowledged both by students and the markets, our main objective is to promote its internationalisation. Similarly, internationalisation has become an issue in the development of areas of activity in the industrial and commercial security sectors, which apparently follows the same trends as in the public sector. Crime does not stop at the national borders, but, as a rule, goes on in transnational networks. Product piracy, abduction, product blackmail and their prevention, or sports events, such as European soccer championships, usually hit more than one country in the EU. Safeguarding economic and public security requires adequate training for the future leaders in the private security industry. This means that their education must be internationally oriented. They must both acquire intercultural and linguistic competences and be enabled to experience and study the security architectures in other European countries. Page 1 of 6 Under a DAAD support programme, funded by Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

2 1.2 HWR and its Collaborative Partnerships with other Universities HWR has good experience in developing and carrying out both international study programmes (three double degrees and two joint degrees) and European projects, e.g. one Tempus-project (MBA Health Care Management, partnered by the People's Friendship University of Russia) and one GTZ-project in Kiev (development and implementation of an MPA programme at the National Academy of Public Administration). Since more than 15 years HWR chairs the Forum of German and Polish Administrative Universities. The latter two projects are both run by the IMO Institute. FH Campus Vienna is a state-of-the-art university of applied sciences which comprises four departments (Technology and Management, Public Management, Health Care, and Social Work). The Technology and Management Department includes a part-time Bachelor programme in Integrated Safety and Security Management. In Slovenia, the University of Maribor Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, located in Ljubljana, in 2008/2009 implemented two new Bachelor programmes strongly linked to Safety and Security Management (Criminal Justice and Security [Security and Police Work] and Criminal Justice and Security B.A.). It is the very regional connection between these partner universities that lets us expect considerable synergy and should positively impact on other countries in Central and South-East Europe. Noordelijke Hogeschool Leeuwarden is a university of applied sciences with approximately 10,000 students in four institutes (Healthcare and Welfare, Technology, Education and Communication and Business and Management Studies). Together the institutes offer about 50 Bachelor s degree programmes. The study programme Integrale Veiligheid (Integrale Security) is part of the Faculty of Business and Management Studies. Between HWR and the aforementioned partner universities co-operation relationships have been established or are in the process of development. Erasmus agreements exist between HWR and the institutes Maribor, Vienna and Leeuwarden. Co-operation with Campus Vienna is additionally supported by joint membership in CONRIS (Cooperation Network for Risk, Safety & Security Studies), a network of universities with accredited study programmes in the areas Risk Management and Safety and Security Management. 1.3 Objectives The Project applied for aims to promote the internationalisation of existing study programmes in Security Management by establishing an internationally oriented complementary degree programme in International Security Management. Mobility will be mandatory for students, which will thus provide them the opportunity to develop the firm international profile, required for successful transition into an internationally informed and oriented occupational environment. The partner universities have two options: either to integrate complementary study courses into existing degree programmes or to establish parallel international degree programmes. 2. Project Approach and Organisation At HWR Berlin, the existing degree programme in Security Management will be continued within the framework of basic studies. After 4 semesters, students can opt either for deepening their knowledge in a two-semester complementary international study course or to complete their studies as usual after seven semesters. At the same time, foreign students from the partner HEI will have the opportunity to study at HWR Berlin. As an incentive, students will be offered internationalisation of their degree plus a credit point increase from 210 to 240 ECTS, which can be counted towards continuing Master's programmes. This will, as the case may be, enable students to reduce the term of master's study by one year. Students who Page 2 of 6

3 during the 4th semester opt for Security Management International, will enter into IMO membership for semesters 5 and 6 and thus be given the opportunity to study in a stronger internationally oriented environment. The same will apply to incoming students Planned Structure / Study Course Plan As mentioned above, students in the integrated study programme will first complete four semesters of basic studies. This will be a starting point for students to deepen their knowledge in Risk Analysis abroad, in the context of the European Union. The courses will be held in English; therefore students will attend a mandatory foreign language module. An additional objective is to improve the student's intercultural competence and conflict management skills as well as their knowledge of the legal and economic framework for companies and services in the security industry on national and international level. Overview of the Planned Study Course / Integrated Approach 1st semester 2nd semester 3rd semester 4th semester 5th semester 6th semester Students in Security Management - Maintaining the existing study direction and course structure - 7 semesters Students in Security Management International - Profiled professional competences - Excellent command of English - Basic knowledge of another foreign language - 8 semesters - 30 additional credits (countable towards Master's programme) - Uniform basic studies from 1st to 3rd semester inclusively - 4th semester: special preparation for work placement or, respectively, year abroad - Differentiation of course offers (internationality) - Anglophone course offers - English for German students, German for foreign students - Maintaining the existing study format One-semester at a foreign university (Security Management or related studies) Work placement abroad, at least 6 months Degree students from foreign universities spending their year abroad in Berlin at HWR One-semester study at HWR Work placement in Germany, at least 6 months 7th semester 8th semester - Completion of study, maintaining the existing study format - Students returning from their year abroad will file into the expanded (as compared to the current curriculum) course offers in semesters 7 and 6. Page 3 of 6

4 2.2 Curriculum The partner universities were selected firstly under the criterion of compatibility with the Bachelor Security Management programme existing at HWR. The study courses, although comparable in terms of structure and content, may complement or add to each other due to country-specific realities and contents. The interaction between the three partner universities and their regional proximity provide excellent networking opportunities. Students will thus become familiar with the working manners in the hosting country and gather valuable experience for future employment. Regarding the curriculum for the two semesters abroad, the following modules are suggested: a) Introduction to study and work placement (5 ECTS) Students are to be made familiar with the structural conditions in another European country. Pluralised lifestyle, demographic change, ethnic identity, group marginalisation and social inequality caused by global factors have an impact on security in the EU area. Indepth and sustainable communication of such knowledge is possible only when based on personal experience and practical acquaintance with the life in the respective hosting country. This module accompanies the courses provided during the 1-semester study period in the selected hosting country and informs on the basic social and cultural framework of this country, including the essentials of its security policy. At the same time, the module imparts the basic knowledge of the forms of internal behaviour necessary to be able to start a work-placement in the hosting country. b) Foreign language skills (5 ECTS) Students will improve their knowledge of foreign language gained during the basic study course, learn technical vocabulary, and acquire the ability to lecture and discuss in a foreign language. In view of the one-semester work-placement, they should also learn the basics of the language spoken in the hosting country. c) International risk analysis, protection of critical infrastructures, disaster and crisis management (5 ETCS) For example, the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) is supposed to make existing measures more efficient. This, however, would require improved information exchange and joint investigation, identification and analysis of risks. For this purpose, it is necessary to come to a common understanding of the specific threats and basic conditions in other countries. Students should recognise the need for cross-border information exchange and learn how to realise it. Such understanding can only be reached when the related contents are communicated by teaching staff from the respective partner university. d) Intercultural competence and conflict management (5 ECTS) Students should be made familiar with intercultural phenomena in the hosting country. Pluralised lifestyle, demographic change, ethnic identity, group marginalisation and social inequality caused by global factors have an impact on security in the EU area. In-depth and sustainable communication of such knowledge is possible only when based on personal experience and acquaintance with the life in another European country. Furthermore, students should learn the practice of conflict management by experimental games emulating disputes between several states or population groups and prepare workshops on these subjects. e) Security services on international and national level (5 ECTS) The basic structural, political (including labour market policy) and legal frameworks of industrial and commercial security are different between the countries of the European Un- Page 4 of 6

5 ion. Although increasing harmonisation efforts will lead to a maximum of approximation, certain differences between nations will continue to exist. The contents of the modules are designed to enable students to understand the legal system in force in the respective partner country and to recognise common grounds on international level. They should be made familiar with the respective country's economic, trade and labour legislation, its legal provisions related to security services as well as the basics of its criminal law, and thus be enabled to engage in cross-border activities in the area of industrial and commercial security. Another core element of this module relates to political science. Students should be introduced to the political system of the respective country, deal with its specific political peculiarities and learn how this is reflected in the policies of the European Union. Through joint study programmes such knowledge can be made usable for all parties involved and transferred to the respective home country in order to build a common security architecture. f) Module by choice (5 ECTS) The topic of the module by choice will be developed according to the preference of each partner: HWR Berlin will provide the module Youth culture and juvenile crime and NHL Leuuwarden offers the module Cyber Security. g) Work placement and work placement evaluation (30 ECTS) Students will be introduced to one of the areas of operational, commercial or municipal security within the framework of the work placement abroad. They shall transfer the theoretical knowledge into practice, gain professional experiences and be enabled to understand specific security necessities and to develop adequate measures taking into account the respective particularities Project Advantages and Benefits As the European Union develops and globalisation grows, companies no longer confine their activities to their home country, but strive to expand globally. Therefore, in cases of product blackmail, violation of intellectual property rights or criminal threat, company security officers will have to safeguard the security of their company not only at home, but also abroad. In addition, European approximation in commercial security service procedures has made it possible that, since 1 January, 2009, commercial security services can be offered and rendered across the borders of the EU member states. To meet the challenges of this trend, the future leaders of the industry need to be prepared accordingly, which requires imparting specific skills and knowledge as described in the modules above. Such skills and knowledge, however, must be gained in situ, i.e., at the respective partner university, in order to achieve sustainable results. This has the advantage that practical lectures in connection with workplacements in companies or public agencies in situ may stimulate application and realisation of taught content. In addition, it is planned that students participating in the international study programme at the respective partner university will either receive a joint degree or obtain a double degree. A conceivable option would be to obtain joint or double degrees with the universities of Maribor and NHL Leuuwarden 2.4 Project duration, objectives and activities The intended first project period is 18 months until and, in its initial phase, will be devoted to internationalising the programme. At several working meetings a standard format for the modules of the degree programme in Security Management International will be prepared, so that the lectures to be held in semesters 5 and 6 will be structurally identical and differ only in their county-specific module contents. Once this is completed, project implementation and student exchange will follow suit starting from winter semester 2011/2012, with the objectives listed under 1.1 and 1.2. The objectives to be achieved include the following: Page 5 of 6

6 Promoting student mobility Improving the command of foreign languages, especially of technical English Internationalising security knowledge and Sharpening student profiles Page 6 of 6