Contact: Representative for Equal Opportunities
The Equal Opportunities Team looks after the concerns of administrative and technical staff at Ulm University of Applied Sciences. This includes, for example, employees working in administrative or secretarial roles, in laboratories, or in Technical Services.
Advice services
The Equal Opportunities Team is happy to advise and support you! You will find all the relevant contact people and their details under Contacts.
For example, we can offer you advice on:
- Combining career and family life
- Equal opportunities in your career
- all questions regarding gender-related discrimination, sexualized harassment, or violence
Disabled Employees
The Disabled Employees’ Representative at Ulm University of Applied Sciences is responsible for employees with disabilities. This representative is Franz Roth. You can reach him at Franz.Roth@thu.de or on 0731-96537572. He is our Occupational Safety Specialist, Disabled Employees’ Representative, and Fire Protection Officer.
The role of the Disabled Employees’ Representative is to
- help enable people with severe disabilities to take part in working life, and to provide them with support and advice.
- offer opportunities for discussions, to get involved when difficulties arise, and to represent the interests of severely disabled people and people treated as such, regarding measures planned by the University of Applied Sciences.
To facilitate this, Disabled Employees’ Representatives get to know people with severe disabilities and their workplaces. This enables them to recognize potential problems early on, and to keep an overview of the challenges.
There are also many support centers in Ulm:
- Ulm City Council has compiled an overview of them (machine translation available, toggle language in top-right corner).
- The Ministry of Science has a legal counsel (Vertrauensanwältin, website in German) who can provide legal advice for free. She is available for questions concerning discrimination, sexualized harassment, and violence. Legal Counsel Michaela Spandau presents herself briefly in this video.
- Violence against women: In addition to the free Helpline 08000 116 016 there are other regional and national services.
- Weisser Ring: People who are the victim of a crime can get support from numerous Weisser Ring (in German) offices throughout the country. The offer is free and can be used anonymously. Weisser Ring also has an office in Ulm.
A family friendly University of Applied Sciences
Ulm University of Applied Sciences has been officially rated as a “Family-focused organization” (website in German). The following offers for families are currently available:
Family rooms/rooms for breastfeeding
There is a family room at both THU campuses. These are rooms where students or employees with children can go if, for example, they were unable to find childcare for that day. All rooms have desks and child-friendly facilities. There is also a PC available in the Prittwitzstrasse.
The family rooms are located
• in the Albert-Einstein-Allee: Q211
• in the Prittwitzstrasse: F011
Staff can have access to the family room added to their personal electronic key. Just contact Technical Services and they will set it up for you.
You can also borrow the key from the relevant library during its opening times. The Terms of Use for the Library of Things apply. The Terms of Use for the Family Room (internal document, in German) are available on the Intranet.
Maternity leave
The legal provisions of the Maternity Protection Act (Mutterschutzgesetz) apply to employees. You must officially inform Ulm University of Applied Sciences about your pregnancy. You can find more information in the Intranet at Maternity and parental leave (Mutterschutz und Elternzeit) (internal document, in German).
Parental leave
The THU guideline on this is also in Maternity and parental leave (Mutterschutz und Elternzeit) (internal document, in German). You can find more general information about parental leave at the Federal Ministry for Education, Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Familienportal) website (in German, some information available in English).
Advice services
The Equal Opportunities Team is happy to advise you about parental leave and combining your career with family life. You can also contact the Equality Unit. Just get in touch – here are our contact details.
Baby pack (Baby-Päckle)
Are you a student or an employee at THU, and have become a parent? Then let us know – because the University will send a “Baby pack” (information in German) when the baby arrives. However, you must contact us at gleichstellungsteam@thu.de because, due to data protection rules, the Human Resources Department cannot pass the information on to us
Discrimination, sexualized harassment, and violence
Ulm University of Applied Sciences will absolutely not tolerate sexualized discrimination, harassment, or violence in any form. THU has issued a guideline on this (internal document, in German), which is available on the Intranet.
The following people are available to talk to for anyone who has suffered sexualized discrimination, harassment or even violence at our university of applied sciences – or for those who wish to highlight deficits/risks in this area:
• Barbara Streppel: barbara.streppel@thu.de
• Tim Pietzcker: tim.pietzcker@thu.de
All conversations take place in the strictest confidence, and further action will only be taken with the express permission of the affected person. You can find other support centers and contacts (regional and national) under the “Advice services” tab.
Furthermore, THU is currently working on a protection plan. For example, a protection plan defines measures to better protect people from sexualized harassment, specifies prevention programs, and establishes processes.
Gender-inclusive and non-discriminatory language
THU is currently working on the following guideline (in German) to stay abreast of the latest changes in the German language.
Why is gender-inclusive language important?
Language has the potential to discriminate against and exclude people. At the same time, it also offers the opportunity to create visibility and, in the long-term, to change the situation.
Example: People should choose their career according to their interests. But in German, if only the male form of the role is commonly used (“Ingenieur, Techniker”), it sounds as if only men can work in these professions. Of course this is not the case – but, for example, for schoolgirls, it can have a significant, yet subconscious, effect upon whether they can imagine themselves in such careers, or if they exclude them right from the start.
How do I use gender-inclusive language correctly when writing in German?
When writing in German, THU recommends using an asterisk (also called the “gender star”). It is a placeholder which allows non-binary people to be visible alongside women and men.
There are also gender-neutral forms for many terms in German, which encompass all genders. For example, words such as “Studierende” (instead of “Studentinnen und Studenten”) or “Mitarbeitende” (instead of “Mitarbeiterinnen und Mitarbeiter”). You can find an overview of gender-neutral alternatives in the Geschickt gendern dictionary.
Whichever forms you choose to use, make sure you use them as consistently as possible throughout the entire document, email, or website.
Further offers for administrative and technical staff
Ulm University’s Sport Program (in German) offers regular courses to help with self-defense. This also includes offers concerning violence prevention and self-assertion, which are specifically aimed at women. THU staff and students are also entitled to attend these courses.
