University of Erfurt awarded as a family-friendly university for the seventh time

The University of Erfurt has been awarded the "family-friendly university" certificate for the seventh time for its commitment to improving the compatibility of work and family life. The certificate awarded by berufundfamilie gGmbH, an initiative of the non-profit Hertie Foundation, which serves as a strategic management tool for the sustainable improvement of a family-conscious personnel policy, was reconfirmed on 15 March. The award ceremony will take place on 18 June 2024 in Berlin.

The University of Erfurt had previously successfully completed the so-called dialogue procedure for the audit, which is open to employers who have been pursuing a strategic family and life-phase-conscious HR policy for at least nine years. The university was first awarded the certificate in 2005, which was valid for three years. The re-audits have now been followed by the third dialogue process, which has reconfirmed the permanent nature of the certificate.

"For many years, our university has been committed to a family-friendly personnel policy and family-friendly study conditions. Much has been achieved to date, as the renewed certification shows," says Dr Theresia Piszczan, Equal Opportunitiy and Family Affairs Officer at the University of Erfurt. The situation for students and employees with caring responsibilities has improved significantly, for example through the possibility of participating in hybrid events or through video conferencing.

The existing programmes and measures for a family-friendly university are continuously reviewed and developed further. For example, the counselling options on issues relating to care organisation, which have been intensified in recent years, will be further expanded in the future. With even closer cooperation between the Equal Opportunities Office, the International Office and the Willy Brandt School of Public Policy, international students with family responsibilities will also become an even greater focus of the family-friendly university. In addition, preventative and training services in the area of mental health are to be expanded.

"We will continue to fill the 'audit family-friendly university' seal with life in the future and keep a close eye on the needs of university members with family responsibilities," announces Dr Theresia Piszczan. "And as a university, we will continue to make great efforts to develop family friendliness as an integral part of a living campus culture."

The "audit berufundfamilie/ audit familiengerechte hochschule" is based on an initiative of the non-profit Hertie Foundation. As a strategic management tool, the audit supports employers in sustainably shaping family- and life-phase-conscious personnel policies and family-friendly research and study conditions. Certificates for the "audit berufundfamilie" were first awarded in 1999. The "audit familiengerechte hochschule" has been offered since 2002. It records the status quo of the family- and life-phase-conscious measures already offered, systematically develops the company's individual potential and ensures that family awareness is anchored in the corporate culture with binding target agreements. Once this process has been successfully completed, an independent board of trustees decides whether to award the audit certificate. The practical implementation is reviewed annually by berufundfamilie Service GmbH. After every three years, further personnel policy objectives can be agreed twice as part of re-audits. This is followed (for the first time after nine years) by the dialogue procedure. The employer may only retain the certificate if the dialogue procedure is successful. Since 1998, around 1,900 employers have been awarded the audit certificate. berufundfamilie Service GmbH holds the Europe-wide licence for the audit, which is recommended by the leading associations of the German economy - BDA, BDI, DIHK and ZDH. The patron of the audit is the Federal Minister for Family Affairs, Lisa Paus.