Baden-Württemberg exchange students 'amazed' at York

by Cathy Carlyle

From left to right, Jan Braeckow, Alex Stefanidis and Markus Hoeffgen, students in the O/B-W program from Germany, studying at York.

It was the delight in the voices of exchange students that spoke loudly at a special reception at Glendon in September. At a reaffirmation ceremony of the Ontario/Baden-Württemberg (O/B-W) University Student Exchange Program, students and delegates from both areas gathered in honour of the program that has been in effect for 10 years.

Although officials from Germany and Canada were there formally to extol the virtues of the program, participants also volunteered their praise. Prior to the ceremony, several students from Ontario and Baden-Württemberg, waiting for the more serious speeches to begin, were eager to say something themselves.

Jan Braeckow, a Heidelberg student studying chemistry at York this year, said he was amazed by the informality at the University. "On my first day one of my professors took me on a tour of the building. I couldn't believe that he would take me! It is very different in Germany." He was attracted to York because he wanted to revisit Toronto and because he was impressed with the reputation of York's faculty.

His views were echoed by two other York students, Alex Stefanidis in political science and Markus Hoeffgen, in economics. Both said that one of their reasons for choosing York was the high calibre of faculty, and they agreed that the friendly contact with professors was a plus. They talked about the heavy reading assignments at York compared to their Baden-Württemberg universities, and the heavier emphasis placed on class participation. "Here, there is more discussion in class, and students are more active. I like that," said Hoeffgen. Stefanidis added, "It's not only a nice experience being here but also being able to study abroad, particularly at York, is very good - very different to being in Germany."

Vice-President Academic Affairs Michael Stevenson, Chair of the O/B-W University Student Exchange Program Committee, talked of the ceremony "marking another threshold in deepening relations between the university programs in both countries." He was pleased with the support for the program shown by the number of delegates from the German state, including rectors from several Baden-Württemberg universities.

Rudolf Böhmler, Baden-Württemberg's permanent secretary of state in the Ministry of Science, Research and Arts, said many changes are afoot which will bring higher education more in line with Anglo-Canadian standards. "Our system will be designed to bring more foreign students to our universities," he said. He added that Baden-Württemberg has a long history of collaborative arrangements with Canada from which it benefits, and said he hopes that Ontario will continue to gain from the program as well.