Preparing students for a career in the Public Service: the dual track training system in North Rhine-Westphalia

Presentation at the Innovative Curricula Design Conference „Higher Education 2020“

Tartu, Estonia, April - 2014

Prof. Dr. Andreas Gourmelon

Prof. Dr. Andreas Gourmelon

Professor at the University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration of North Rhine-Westphalia

Lecturer for Human Resources and Public Management

Worked as psychologist and controller in the Federal Employment Agency

Research in the area of HR-Marketing and personnel selection

andreas.gourmelon@fhoev.nrw.de

Contents of this presentation

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, its staff and its internal university

How to become a civil servant in a municipality of North Rhine-Westphalia

Recruiting new students Combining theory and practise in the education of

civil servants

Germany and North Rhine-Westphalia

Germany consists of …

• the Bund (federal republic),• 16 Bundesländer (states),• and 12.700 local authorities

North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) is a mainly industrial region in the west of germany; 17.6 million inhabitants.

These cities are in NRW …

CologneDortmund

Düsseldorf

Personnel in the public service of NRW (state and municipalities)

Top level

Graduates from master courses (e.g. studies of law)

Higher level

Graduates from specialised bachelor courses

Medium level

Jobholder passed vocational / in-firm trainings

Low level

Car

eer l

evel

s in

the

stat

e

and

the

mun

icip

aliti

es o

f

NR

W

Amount of personnel:• municipalites: 224.000 fte• state: 388.000 fte

University of Applied Sciences for Public Administration of NRW (FHöV)

Responsible for the education of all higher-level and some top-level students of the state and the municipalities in NRW

Under the control of the ministry of the interior 200 full-time lecturers and 800 part-time lecturers 7.300 students in different degree courses for state / local

authorities administration, police, statutory pensions administration

Degree courses on bachelor- and master-level Seven study sites all over NRW

Becoming a civil servant in a municipality:the perspective of a bachelor-student

Finishes highschoolSends an application

to the mayor

Studies three years,18 months at FHöV

18 months at municipality.

Is enrolled for the FHöV

Gets a job in an agencyof the municipality

Is employed bythe municipality

FHöV

Recruiting of new students by the municipalities

M. plans number of new students

M. determines job requirements

M. advertises its vacancies

M. selects best recruits

M. employs new students

Job requirements (e.g. Municipality of Bochum)

Highschool diploma Enjoys to interact with people, extraversion High achievement motivation High readiness of mind, brainpower, intelligence Team and service orientation Good verbal skills High sense of responsibility

Elements of selection processes

Online applications Online tests (e.g. intelligence) Structured interviews Presentations, simulations, work samples Selection commitees (including the equal opportunity

commissioner, staff council)

Combining theory and practise – dovetailed study sections

Students have scientific and practical study sections Scientific study sections are offered by FHöV, practical study

sections by the municipalities Scientific and practical study sections are dovetailed to each

other Students have to pass examinations during the scientific as

well as in the practical study sections

Combining theory and practise – contents and lecturers

Contents of the study course are determined by a study course committee; representatives of lecturers, students and municipalities are members of this committee

Full-time lecturers must have academic qualifications and professional experiences from outside the universities, ideally they worked for the state or a municipality

Part-time lecturers usually have a full time job in a municipality 40 % of all lectures are held by part-time lecturers

Combining theory and practise – „Practical Project“

During the „Practical Project“ (duration: 10 weeks) , students are confronted with a complex task.

The tasks are defined by the municipalities. Students work in a team and try to solve the

problems with methods from various scientific disciplines

Combining theory and practise – „Social Skill Training“

During „Social Skill Training“ students learn to interact with customers effectively and to work in a team

There a three weeks of „Social Skill Training“ Social Skill Training Groups consist of 12 to 14 students and two

trainers One trainer is a full-time lecturer of the FHöV, the other is a

practitioner from a municipality

Output and Outcome

There are no plans to use other universities for the bachelor education or to change the service of FHöV significantly

My perception: FHöV plays an important role as innovator in the administrative system of NRW

Since 1976 over 60.000 graduates

90 % of beginners passed all examinations

Municipalities and students are satisfied with the service of FHöV