Minutes of the Meeting of the Association of Fellows and Guests of the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg. Institute of Advanced Study e. V. – Alumni Club on 11 December 2017
Beginning: 16:00
End: 17:45
Participating members: Prof. Dr. Dr. Manfred Herrmann, Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hinrichs, Prof. Dr. Karina de Santis, Ingeborg Mödden, Heidi Müller-Henicz, Evert Kramer, Sabine Friedrichs, Wolfgang Stenzel, Norbert Boese, Christiano M. Chiessi, Amretashis Sengupta
Top 1: Salutation by the Chairperson and Announcement of the Agenda
Prof. Herrmann greeted the assembly and acknowledged that the invitations were according to form and that a quorum was present. The current agenda and minutes of the last meeting (14/12/2016) were accepted.
Top 2: Chairperson’s Address
The HWK Alumni Club currently has 180 members, meaning that 14 new members have joined since the last meeting in December 2016.
Prof. Herrmann once again affirmed his desire, expressed last year, to hand his position as chairperson over to someone from a somewhat younger generation. He expressed his willingness to remain in office until the next regular election of the chairperson in 2018, though he would like to find a replacement as soon as possible. To this end, he requested that the HWK create a list of the former HWK Fellows who are based at either the University of Oldenburg and the University of Bremen so he can approach suitable candidates. Among the most important criteria is a close affinity to the HWK.
Sabine Friedrichs will assemble the list and promptly send it to Mr. Herrmann. The Chairperson will then begin looking for a replacement in spring 2018.
The dates and plans for the HWK Rector's farewell party have been changed. He will give a symposium that will include contributions from former Fellows next year on 22 August, and the Rector's official farewell party will take place on 23 August 2018.
The HWK Alumni Club would like to personally invite its members to a reception.
TOP 3: Financial Report for 2016
The secretary reported that the Tax Office (Finanzamt) in Delmenhorst has issued a notice of exemption for 2015, thus confirming the association’s tax-exempt status for this year.
Apart from account fees (€59.88 for all four quarters of 2016) and a small postage charge (€2.80 for four quarters), there were no significant changes in the account. The account balance as of 01/01/2016 was €1,140.53 and €1,077.85 on 31/12/2016.
The Secretary explained that the search for a bank account that does not charge account fees was unsuccessful. Every bank requires a minimum monthly account transaction of €1000, and the Alumni Club cannot achieve this.
TOP 4 and TOP 5 : Internal Auditor Report and Confirmation by the Chairperson
The internal auditors Ingeborg Mödden and Norbert Boese confirmed that the budget and books have been adequately managed and requested the approval of the chairperson; this was granted.
TOP 6: Report of the Rector of the HWK
Prof. Weiler excused himself due to conflicting appointments. Wolfgang Stenzel provided a report on the HWK in 2017 in his place.
In 2017, a total of 65 Fellows (including Associated Junior Fellows) from 18 countries (including South Africa, Australia, the USA, Mexico, and Chile) were guests at the HWK.
The most significant highlight of 2017 was the result of the evaluation by the Council of Science and Humanities. The Council gave the HWK top marks and described it as a 'lighthouse in the north-west region'. A more comprehensive description can be read in the HWK press release from 2 May 2017 (which can be found on the HWK home page under 'Press and Public') or on the Council of Science and Humanities website under 'Pressemitteulungen'.
There were once again numerous examples of cooperation with other scientific institutions and universities in the region, as well as non-scientific institutions such as the Oldenburger Staatstheater. A Writer in Residence, the dramatist Rebekka Kricheldorf, is currently working on a piece for the Staatstheater during her Fellowship at the HWK.
Another interesting example of collaboration took place in conjunction with the Museum für Natur und Mensch in Oldenburg. In June 2017, the exhibition 'Australia's Forgotten Rock Paintings' was held, including paintings and photos by Astrid Weiler and a corresponding scientific commentary by Reto Weiler. The exhibition can be seen until February 2018.
There are currently 10 Study Groups and five Focus Groups at the HWK. Speaking for the Study Group Stefan George: Poetry and Personhood in Modern Europe, Dr. Christophe Fricker introduced the book 'Krise und Gemeinschaft', the result of five years of interdisciplinary collaboration, in a recent public panel discussion.
As in previous years, the public lecture series dealing with current socio-political issues was quite popular in 2017, with between 60 and 100 visitors at each session.
A new office building is currently being constructed on the HWK campus in order to provide a flexible workplace for Fellows who arrive with their families.
A recruitment commission consisting of six people under Chairperson Prof. Dr. Kai-Uwe Hinrichs (also Chairperson of the Scientific Advisory Board of the HWK) has sought and found a successor for the retiring Rector, and recommended this person to the Foundation Board. According to the resolution of the meeting held on 1 December 2017, the Foundation Board will act on the recommendation of the recruitment commission.
TOP 7: Miscellaneous
The assembly once again discussed the possibility of creating an internal platform for HWK alumni, as well as the use of Twitter and Facebook as a portal. The general opinion, especially among the alumni present, was that these social networks would not be sufficiently popular among the scientists, and for this reason the Alumni Club will not continue to pursue this issue.
There was another inquiry regarding the Rector's report and what kind of recommendations the Council of Science and Humanities made. Wolfgang Stenzel named two examples: firstly, a recommendation that the individual scientific areas should be more made more interdisciplinary, and secondly, that there should also be interdisciplinary thematic areas around which groups of Fellows can be formed.
The meeting ended at 17:15.
Minutes: Heidi Müller-Henicz
Delmenhorst, 21/12/17
