Studying outside of the traditional Bachelor's, Master's or State Examination degree programmes - even without a university entrance qualification: Since 1983, the University of Oldenburg's guest student programme at the Centre for Lifelong Learning (C3L) has been offering this opportunity. The university has now celebrated the 40th anniversary of the so-called "Studium generale" with lecturers, guest students and other guests at a ceremony in the Alte Fleiwa. Lower Saxony's Science Minister Falko Mohrs was the guest of honour.
"The introduction of the guest lecture programme, which began as 'Studium Generale' in 1983, was visionary and still reflects the University of Oldenburg's motto today: 'Open for new paths'. Opening up the universities in Lower Saxony to society strengthens lifelong learning and promotes exchange and participation in a vibrant democracy," said Mohrs at the start of the ceremony, praising the Oldenburg guest lecture programme.
University President Prof. Dr Ralph Bruder emphasised in particular the bridging function that the guest lecture programme has. "It connects our university with people from the city and region who might not have found their way to us at all or only later without this programme," he said, referring to the different personal backgrounds of the guest students. Pupils use the "Studium generale" to get a taste of courses before deciding on a regular degree programme. Other guest students try out whether a part-time degree programme might suit them. Still others want to further their personal education or stay mentally fit. "What all guest students have in common is their thirst for knowledge, which makes our university the right place for them," says Bruder.
Those interested can quench this thirst in numerous courses that are open to guest students. Whether practical philosophy, quantitative evaluation methods in sport, intercultural communication, Old Testament Hebrew, stochastics or neurobiology - the guest auditor programme offers insights into a wide range of subjects at the university. The scope of the programme has increased massively over the past 40 years: In 1983, the year the programme was founded, only 60 events were open to the 144 participants at the time. Today, there are more than 600 seminars, lectures and excursions. In the current semester, around 500 guest students are taking advantage of the programme.
One of the biggest challenges for guest students was the reform of the study structure with the switch to Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in 2004. Although guest students are not enrolled on undergraduate or postgraduate degree programmes, the reform also had an impact on them: The seat quotas in seminars and other courses were fully utilised by regular students, especially in popular subjects such as History and German Studies. The university went to great lengths to create at least a limited quota for guest students in many of these courses and expanded the "C3L semester-accompanying course programme", which is also open to guest students, to include seminars that deal with particularly popular topics.
Between 2016 and 2021, the guest lecture programme was also a key element of the "Orientation Year for Refugees", a continuing education programme with which the university has enabled more than 100 refugees to gain access to a German university.
Dr Christiane Brokmann-Nooren, an expert in adult education, played a key role in shaping the programme for decades. She was responsible for the guest lecture programme from the early 1990s until 2021, initially as a member of staff at the former Centre for Advanced Scientific Training and then from 2006 at the newly founded C3L. Her participation in the ceremony shows just how close the topic is to her heart, even after her retirement. She not only gave the keynote speech, but also took part in a panel discussion with President Bruder, Matthias Welp, Head of the Office for Schools and Education of the City of Oldenburg, and other guests on the topic of "Guest Auditor Studies - the most open route into university".
Among other things, the last survey of guest students revealed that Around half of the survey participants at the time had a university degree. 73 per cent live within a 25-kilometre radius of the university. On average, guest students study for eight semesters - the record was even 41 semesters. On average, guest students attended three courses and spent six hours a week on campus. Courses in the subjects of Philosophy, Protestant Theology and Religious Education as well as History were particularly popular.
