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[Translate to English:] © Jürgen Huhn​/​TU Dortmund
International Exchange on Higher Education and Disability

Delegation from Taiwan Visits TU Dortmund University

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Foto: Es ist eine große Gruppe von Meneschen aus Deutschland und Taiwan zu sehen, die ein Schild hochhalten. Auf dem Schild steht Chung Shan Medical University. © David Nils Müller​/​TU Dortmund
A delegation from Taiwan was introduced to the work at DoBuS as a leading institution for “Higher Education and Disability.”
At the initiative of Taiwan’s Ministry of Education, a delegation of around 20 people visited TU Dortmund University to learn about higher education and disability at DoBuS. Professors and staff members from various Taiwanese universities as well as representatives of the Ministry of Education got to know DoBuS, the Division of Disability and Studies at the Center for Higher Education (zhb), as a leading institution in this field and exchanged views on experiences and possible collaborations.

TU Dortmund University can now look back on almost five decades of supporting students with disabilities and regularly shares its expertise and experience with interested universities from around the world. The Ruhr University of Education (Pädagogische Hochschule Ruhr), which was integrated in 1980 into what was then the University of Dortmund, became the first higher education institution in Germany to begin systematically supporting students with disabilities, as early as the 1970s.

Since then, DoBuS has developed the so-called “Dortmund Working Approach,” which DoBuS head Dr. Carsten Bender explained to the international guests. At its core is the question of how a university can gradually move closer to the goal of inclusion. The concept addresses both the personal study situation of individual students with disabilities and the the university as a system. “Our perspective goes beyond developing solutions for individual cases and ensures that accessible structures are also established or further developed at TU Dortmund University,” Bender said.

Removing barriers and improving accessibility

Bender also presented specific projects to the guests. These included, among others, the peer mentoring program, which pairs students with impairments with experienced mentors who support them as they begin their studies and throughout the rest of their degree. In addition, the Competence Center for Digital Accessibility, led by DoBuS, supports universities in North Rhine-Westphalia in removing existing barriers and improving the accessibility of studying and teaching.

The visit also provided an opportunity to deepen international contacts and experiences from different higher education systems. “International encounters like this one open up new perspectives and make it possible to learn from one another. Especially when it comes to inclusion, sharing experiences and networking with universities in other countries can provide important impetus for the further development of our own work,” said Prof. Maximiliane Wilkesmann, Vice President International Affairs and Diversity at TU Dortmund University, at the reception for the delegation from Taiwan.

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