New marketing expert in the University Board of Executives

The Senate of Furtwangen University has elected, by a large majority, a new member of the Board of Executives. With Prof. Martin Aichele as “Chief Marketing Officer”, an expert in location development and marketing has been added to the university management.

Professor Aichele was appointed professor back in 1990 when he taught at HFU on the Computer Science in Media programme,  the only one of its kind in Europe at the time. After carrying out research  at San Francisco State University, he was elected Dean of the new Faculty of Digital Media in 1996, only to switch sides again for five years and become managing director of two communications agencies for companies such as Siemens, Volkswagen, Bosch and others, as well as the worldwide EXPO. After his return, he built up the “Media Design” course and became its Dean of Studies and Vice Dean of Academics. He was also heavily involved in the groundbreaking HFU system accreditation process. In 2014, he was once again elected Dean and since then has led the Faculty of Digital Media at the Furtwangen Campus.  

In presenting his ideas for the new office, Prof. Aichele emphasised that marketing is also a requirement for state universities today, especially for an regional university like HFU. He sees declining application numbers and changing teaching/learning scenarios as a particular challenge. The current transformation process at HFU is a step in the right direction. According to Aichele, the current transformation process at HFU is a major step forward, and now it is important to communicate this new “spirit” boldly to the outside world.

To this end, he would like to develop a new marketing organisation, but at the same time sees himself as a service provider for the faculties and facilities at the university. According to Aichele, his particular focus will be on online media, particularly social media. “We have to reach young people where they like to be − in the media and in their free time!”

Prof. Martin Aichele would particularly like to attract more students from the Freiburg region. Accessibility by public transport plays a major role here − so new ideas for location development are needed. In addition, the university should work together with the cities to develop new ideas to make the HFU locations more attractive for young people. According to Aichele, the best advisors for this are the students themselves, with whom he would like to maintain a close dialogue in the future.

Prof. Martin Aichele now completes the HFU Board of Executives as a part-time member. In addition to President Dr. Alexandra Bormann and Head of Administration, Andrea Linke, the board also includes Vice-President Prof. Dr. Christoph Reich (Research and Sustainability), Vice-President Prof. Dr.-Ing. Hans-Georg Enkler (Academics and Diversity) and Vice-President Prof. Dr. Ulrike Salat (Partnership and Society). “We are a strong team and are very much looking forward to working together to make HFU even stronger for the future,” said HFU President Dr. Alexandra Bormann, who warmly congratulated Prof. Aichele on his election. Prof. Aichele will hold the post for the next three years and will take up his new post immediately.