In May 2022, students of the dual study program International Business Administration and Information Technology (IBAIT), were able to gain experience abroad again, after it had to be cancelled for two years due to the pandemic. The joy of the students was great! The fourth semester is scheduled for study abroad, with an initial six weeks at HWG in Ludwigshafen followed by travel.
The IBAIT students spent eleven weeks at the University of West Florida in Pensacola (UWF) and is based on a long-standing partnership between UWF's College of Business and the Transatlantic Institute of the Ludwigshafen University of Applied Sciences (HWG). During their stay abroad, they attended lectures in the subjects "Supply-Chain Management", "E-Business", "Artificial Intelligence" and "Business Intelligence". Furthermore, there were additional program points, such as the visit of the "Center for Cybersecurity", "Andrews Institute for Orthopedics & Sports Medicine", "Event at the Pensacola Museum of Art", "Honorary Pensacola Citizen Ceremony", "Blue Wahoo's Baseball Game" and many more cultural impressions.
Typically, there were two days a week when students had lectures all day. Three days a week there was a program organized by the "University Staff" at UWF. This was, for example, a visit to various museums, a trip to the Rotary Club, a visit to a baseball game, or weekly exciting lectures on various topics on the UWF campus. After the excursions, homework or group work was worked on or free time was spent with fellow students/friends.
The many joint activities created a real "team feeling", which was also clearly perceptible to the lecturers and staff on site and intensified the experience of the trip.
Till Müller and Simona Aich achieved a special distinction during this study visit. Under the guidance of Prof. Dr. Burch (UWF), they submitted a scientific article to the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Journal and hope to publish it there.
Special thanks go to the IBAIT partner companies BASF SE, BASF Digital Solutions GmbH and SAP SE for funding the study visit during the semester abroad.
