Annual Visit of the President and General Assembly at Zessko

On January 19, 2023, the annual visit of the President of the University of Potsdam, Prof. Oliver Günther, took place at the campus in Griebnitzsee. It was followed by the Zessko general assembly. The Head of Zessko, Dr. David Prickett, various representatives of the different divisions and language departments of Zessko were present.

In his report, Prof. Günther addressed the current general situation of the university, which is marked by numerous challenges: how to handle the easing of the Corona regulations and remote work after the pandemic, the heating of the buildings and, in this context, the status of the current construction measures, and the financial situation of the University.

Afterwards, Dr. Prickett gave his presentation on Zessko. He addressed, among other things, internal and external university partnerships and teaching projects, the development of course enrollment as well as the increase in face-to-face teaching in the 2022 summer semester, lessons learned during the pandemic regarding online teaching, and the further development of the media center as a meeting and self-learning space. Prof. Günther and Dr. Prickett thanked those present for their work over the past years. A short discussion session on topics currently of concern to the faculty and support staff followed.

As part of the President's visit, Dr. Elke Hirsch was honored for 40 years of teaching and service at the University. Prof. Günther and Dr. Prickett presented Dr. Hirsch with a certificate and bouquet of flowers to mark this happy occasion.

At the assembly, the topic of "collegial exchange," which had already been taken up at the last in-person assembly (2020) , was addressed again. Sophie Forkel presented the results from 2020. The goal for this assembly was to review and refine these ideas in order to be able to implement them at Zessko.

After the lively discussion on the topic of collegial exchange, the evening then moved on to the practical part of collegial exchange—the International Buffet. Many colleagues prepared something for the buffet and, in this way, contributed to the evening’s success.

Text: Samira Luna und Tina Oelzner

Published on Feb. 3, 2023