More professorships, more funding approvals, more projects: as its success grows, the University of Oldenburg is reaching its spatial limits. Jörg Stahlmann, Vice-President for Administration, discusses state regulations – and solutions on the campus.
QUESTION: Mr Stahlmann, the university is short of around 9,000 square metres of space – that’s what your analysis has shown. Will academics soon have to hold their lectures outdoors?
STAHLMANN: No, it won’t come to that. But the space shortage is certainly considerable. The cut-off date for our assessment was 31 December 2013. And since then, further funding approvals have been granted. So the problem hasn’t got any smaller.
QUESTION: Why has such a significant space problem arisen?
STAHLMANN: It is due to our growing success in securing third-party funding, additional professorships – for example in biology and physics – and the approval of the cluster of excellence. But also due to the sharp rise in student numbers – just three factors that demonstrate how successfully the university has developed in recent years. When projects are approved, this usually also means that staff are recruited. And that, in turn, means that jobs need to be created. Take, for example, the new junior research groups, the new doctoral programmes at the university, or special educational needs. As part of the expansion of special educational needs provision, nine new professorships will be added over the next three years, starting from the winter semester. And at our Wechloy science campus, the space shortage is not going to ease either – despite the new research buildings such as NeSSy or Windlab, which were planned years ago.
QUESTION: Could these successes not have been anticipated in terms of long-term space and building planning?
STAHLMANN: As a state-run organisation, we find ourselves in something of a dilemma here. This is because we do not own the buildings. Proactive acquisition of land and premises, as well as forward-looking planning, construction and even leasing, is made very difficult by state-level legal requirements. After all, you essentially have to be successful first in order to draw up concrete space allocation plans – only then do you even have the chance to submit a construction project for the budget or to have a lease approved.
QUESTION: So that means the people who need offices are actually already there before there is a new building plan?
STAHLMANN: Correct. The university does have a medium-term construction plan. In this, we set out to the state what the space requirements are likely to be in the future. But the state only takes action once the actual need can be demonstrated. This is only possible once, for example, third-party funding has actually been secured. And the process that then begins is slow: from identifying the need to the completion of a building – taking into account the entire budget planning process, the construction work and right through to commissioning – it takes at least five to six years. Furthermore, the state is currently prioritising necessary refurbishment work to maintain the structural integrity of university buildings. As a result, funding for new buildings is very limited.
QUESTION: Can the university also finance construction projects itself – independently of specific allocations from the state?
STAHLMANN: That is a possibility, and we make use of it wherever we can: the extension of a building wing in Wechloy or the laboratory containers for the medical school, for example, were funded by the university. However, the procedure described applies to such self-financed projects as well – just as it does for all construction projects.
QUESTION: What other solutions do you think are available?
STAHLMANN: We are currently managing a great deal through additional leases. In principle, however, it is important to us to streamline the formal procedures relating to construction and leasing so that we can truly plan for the long term and, above all, act more quickly. This is precisely what we are discussing with the other universities in Lower Saxony that are in a similar situation – with the exception of the foundation universities, which, from a purely legal standpoint, are permitted to act as building contractors themselves. A certain degree of mutual solidarity on the campus is now essential: perhaps there are premises that are currently unused and which could be made available – on a temporary basis? For example, the university library is making some of its rooms in Wechloy available to accommodate biology lecturers.
QUESTION: The Division of Building Management has its work cut out for it …
STAHLMANN: Exactly. Head of Division Meik Möllers is holding discussions with all schools regarding further space planning – where will space become available, and which areas should be allocated to which schools? It’s a highly complex jigsaw puzzle. But the whole team in the Division is doing an excellent job. And Meik Möllers has a very strong network; his personal contacts within the State Building Management Authority and the Ministry in particular are worth their weight in gold when it comes to sorting out many issues without any hassle.
