Dr. John Whiteoak: International Business at RheinAhrCampus

There was a range of activities that were required. This included getting the correct approvals: Forms requiring completion included the Erasmus Mobility report (outlining objectives, added value and courses to deliver). This needed to be signed by the Dean of the School in Australia and the receiving institution. The Koblenz administration team were extremely supportive and helpful during this period. This was not an overly arduous process. The allocated student interns were also extremely helpful with questions.

A relatively brief weekly course overview and outline for each module was developed.

My courses were embedded in Module B25 (International Competence):

• Working Internationally: International Business: 6 x 4-hour sessions (6 students)

• Asia/Pacific: International Studies I: 6 x 4-hour sessions (16 students)

• Embracing Cultural Diversity (Intensive Weekend Seminar in November)

It was also useful to speak to colleagues who had previously completed a Mobility at RheinAhrCampus and receive their feedback.

Researching and finding the correct accommodation in Remagen was a critical activity. There were several recommendations provided by Sprachen/Internationales. The general amount per night is between about 45 and 70 Euro. This can vary depending on the time of year as well. It was required to send a deposit to the owner prior to arriving. In my case it was 1000 Euro. 

Flights to Frankfurt Airport were also booked and paid for prior to arrival. Staying a couple of nights in Frankfurt prior to arriving in Remagen I found beneficial. The train to Remagen from Frankfurt is about 2.5 hours.

Arrival

On arrival I spent two days in Frankfurt. I found this helpful to acclimatise and manage jetlag. The jetlag from Australia is quite notable.

One of the first things to organise on arrival (or can be done prior) is to organise the Deutsch Bahn (DB) navigator and mobil.nrw app in the English language and purchase the monthly “Deutschland-Ticket” for regional transport. The interns were very helpful in setting this up for me and I did this a couple of days after arrival. I purchased a ticket from Frankfurt Main Central Station (known as the HBF) to Remagen online when I arrived in Frankfurt.

The team of Sprachen/Internationales were very helpful during the arrival stage.

 Teaching Delivery

   3-day (3-5 November) attendance and 40-minute key-note presentation (high performance teams) at international seminar involving approximately 50 participants. 
   Two x 4-hour classes per week (Monday and Wednesday 4:00 to 7:15).
   Attendance at appropriate social and academic functions

Course Content delivered:

Module 1: Managing Across Cultures

• Characteristics and behaviours of effective leaders and supervisors
• Employee engagement, job satisfaction and performance

Module 2: Team Effectiveness Skills

• Personal style and effectiveness
• Working cohesively with different personalities

Module 3: Cross-Cultural Communication

• Developing emotional and cultural Intelligence
• Communication skills & managing conflict

Module 4: Team Development Skills

• Team values for high performance
• Improving team morale & motivation

Module 5: Performance Management and Coaching Skills

• Managing performance
• Giving difficult feedback

The actual content was modified once I started working with the different groups and reduced to only 5 modules across the sessions. While the content areas were similar across courses, the depth and amount of the content delivered varied due to student ability.

The students in both programs were highly engaged and responded well to the content delivered. Feedback from students was very positive relating to the materials delivered. Several comments were noted indicating the students found the content practical and would be very useful in their careers as future leaders and working in an international context.  During classes, it was important to use activity-based workshop style teaching to keep the student participation as high as possible.

Other Activity:

• Guest lecturer in 3 additional classes (approximately 6 hours) and information sessions on studying in Australia
• Involvement and attendance at Student & Faculty social activities
• Marking (10 hours) of student assignments (approximately 22 in total)
• Meeting with RheinAhrCampus faculty to discuss international student study pathways
• Support development of local newspaper article on student activities
• Developed 30-second short video clip for student Christmas event 

It was possible to take several trips during the 2-month mobility. This included longer (4-day return) trips to Berlin and Munich (including a snowy Garmisch getaway). Weekend trips to Dusseldorf and Frankfurt. Many local days trips to places including, Cologne, Bonn, Aachen, Koblenz, and Linz. Finally, Remagen has some nice areas (and restaurants) to explore as well. The walk to campus was flat and easy but there are buses, and I had access to a bicycle. The Rhine provides a nice running or walking track that goes both ways and there is a local gym that was well equipped. I found enough to explore in Germany, but other international colleagues also travelled to cities outside of Germany in other countries that included Paris, Luxemburg and Amsterdam.