New dean's office for the winter semester

Professor Dr. Anja Klimsa is the new Dean of the Faculty of Social Work, Health and Nursing. The Faculty Council elected the new management body back in June. Professor Dr. Annika Valentin will take on the role of Vice Dean. Professor Dr. Hendrik Reißmann will continue in the role of Dean of Studies. The new Dean's Office will begin its work at the start of the winter semester on September 1.

"We would like to focus our work on re-establishing more collaborative formats. We are still feeling the after-effects of the pandemic," says Anja Klimsa. Examples of this include holding all Faculty Council meetings or collegial meetings in person, a jour fixe of the Dean's Office with all heads of degree programs or simply "rediscovering the corridor discussion".

Annika Valentin adds that it is important for them to work cooperatively on the issues of the future. "With a culture of communication that values the diversity of our faculty and the different specialist cultures, we are also attractive to young colleagues," says the new Vice Dean. This goes hand in hand with good induction and integration of new professors as well as supporting and shaping a generational change.

"You have to accept the responsibility"

"We represent the common interests of our faculty to the university. And we convey the view of the entire university to the faculty. We communicate in both directions," says Anja Klimsa. "The university's management program showed me that it's fun to work with other managers at RWU. That's another reason why I took on the position that legitimizes me to play this mediating role."

Anja Klimsa would like to thank the current Dean's Office with Professor Dr. Jörg Wendorff, Professor Dr. Jan-Marc Hodek and Professor Dr. Hendrik Reißmann: "We are looking forward to taking on this task and, for example, continuing the good cooperation between the Dean's Office and our student body."

Anja Klimsa has been a professor at RWU since 2009. In previous deanships, she already held the positions of Vice Dean and Dean of Studies. She was head of the Social Work degree program, Equal Opportunities Officer and a member of the RWU Senate for twelve years. Annika Valentin has been a professor of social work with children and young people at RWU since May 2023. She specializes in sex education, sexual education, gender, diversity and diverse lifestyles. Both say: "You can't just demand that there should be more women in management positions. You also have to accept the responsibility."