President’s Office Takes Over  []

Our President, Prof. Dr. Stephan Dabbert, has had to suspend his duties for the time being due to serious illness. What does this mean for the management of our university? The Chancellor and the four Vice Presidents discuss the change.

The President’s Office is almost all here for this interview – only Mr. Dabbert is missing. What happened?

Julia Fritz-Steuber: Last week, we all met at short notice at the request of Mr. Dabbert.

Andreas Pyka: He explained to us that he is currently unable to perform his duties as president due to a serious illness and ongoing treatment.

Caroline Ruiner: It was a shock for all of us. We saw that this step was very difficult for him.

Sebastian Hess: Mr. Dabbert has formulated a clear mandate for the Chancellor and us Vice Presidents: We are all to immediately draw up and implement comprehensive regulations for who will take over which duties.

Katrin Scheffer: At this point, he had already spoken to the Chair of the University Council and asked her to start the process for the election of a new president.


It will be several months before new elections are held. What does this mean for the coming period?

Ruiner: For those of us in the President’s Office, the absence of Mr. Dabbert as a person and as a leader is very painful. But what was also very important to the president himself: We want things to continue in the best possible way for the university, and he has given us his full confidence in this.

Hess: This mission is very important to all of us. We will continue all ongoing processes, projects, and events. We will make all the necessary decisions. And we will also set the course for the future. It helps that we are a very well-rehearsed team and have already resolved situations with absences constructively and efficiently in the past.

Scheffer: From a legal perspective, Mr. Dabbert will remain in office until further notice. However, he will withdraw completely from day-to-day business and will no longer read emails. That is new. Whether he was ill or on vacation, he was always available for us.


And who do I turn to if I need a management decision?

Scheffer: Today we published a “Kurz gemeldet” that describes the responsibilities in more detail. The vice presidents are already responsible for certain topics and the chancellor for administration. We will coordinate and decide together on all important decisions, so we will be meeting more often than before.

Pyka: In future, each member of the President’s Office will take on the president’s topics that are closest to their area of responsibility. We have divided up the rest. We will take anything that is not clear to our meetings and determine responsibility there.


Do you have an example?

Fritz-Steuber: Vice President Hess already took over the management of the Senate meetings today. He will also welcome the new students in mid-October. Vice President Ruiner will oversee the long-awaited web relaunch.

Scheffer: Vice President Fritz-Steuber is responsible for everything to do with our applications for the “GreenRobust” Cluster of Excellence with the Universities of Heidelberg and Tübingen and TERRA with the University of Tübingen. As the longest-serving vice president, Mr. Pyka will represent the University of Hohenheim at the German Rectors’ Conference and the State Rectors’ Conference.

Pyka: Chancellor Scheffer will have our backs on administrative matters. She will also play an important role in the upcoming negotiations on university funding with the Ministry of Science.

Hess: Since Mr. Dabbert is still our president, the president’s email will continue to exist. The emails will continue to be sifted through on a daily basis and the topics distributed amongst us.


That sounds like it will be very challenging for all of you. Let’s talk about the planned new elections. When will we have a new president?

Ruiner: You’re right that unfortunately, this will take months: The State Higher Education Act prescribes a rather complex procedure for the elections.

Scheffer: First, the Senate and the University Council must appoint a joint search committee. This committee then writes the job advertisement, followed by applications, interviews, and presentations to both committees, which ultimately have to agree on the same person.

Hess: The Senate will elect its members for the search committee on 2 October and the University Council on 11 October. Four months for the whole election process would be considered a sensation, six months is very fast, and even eight months would not be a slow process.


We wish you and us good luck and success for this time.

Fritz-Steuber: Mr. Dabbert said goodbye last week with these words: “I know that the University of Hohenheim is in good hands with you, even in this difficult situation.” This certainly refers not only to the members of the President’s Office, but to the entire university community.

Pyka: We have all made great progress at the University of Hohenheim under the leadership of Mr. Dabbert in recent years. We see his vote of confidence as an obligation to keep the University of Hohenheim on its successful course in a united and constructive manner. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the entire university community for its cooperation.

Scheffer: The hardest task of all of us has definitely fallen to Mr. Dabbert: His job is to get well again. We all wish him a lot of strength and all the best!

As do we!

Interview: Klebs