Dr. Florian Aubke, new Dean of the Undergraduate School

MODUL University is pleased to introduce the new Dean of the Undergraduate School, Dr. Florian Aubke.  He is Senior Lecturer/Assistant Professor at the Department of Tourism and Service Management, and will spearhead MU’s bachelor programs for the upcoming three years.

In his home country of Germany, Florian began his career in the hospitality industry in a management traineeship at Kempinski Hotels. After a few years in the industry he moved to Australia to pursue Bachelor and Master degrees in Tourism and Hospitality Management from Victoria University in Melbourne. In 2007 he returned to Europe, joining MODUL University as a Researcher and Lecturer to welcome the first cohort of students that same year. Alongside his position at MU, he completed his doctorate studies with distinction at the Vienna University of Economics and Business in 2012.

Being Dean brings with it a wide range of administrative responsibilities for the organization of the bachelor programs, such as assigning teaching to internal and external faculty members and lecturers, maintaining the quality assurance of the program and teaching, looking at course evaluations, and communicating with lecturers and student representatives and listening to their concerns. He also acts as the linking pin between faculty and administration for all matters related to the undergraduate study programs, maintaining a close connection with the marketing and recruitment team and serving on the admissions committee. Once the admissions office has completed the official check of the application documents, he must approve final admission for every student who enters one of the undergraduate programs.

His other tasks include future development of the programs and making sure that they remain relevant and in line with the university’s strategic goals.

At the top of his priority list is the students’ learning experience. To this end, he has created the Certificate for Teaching Excellence to honor the lecturer with the best student evaluations each semester . Supporting the teaching faculty in their pedagogical development is another example of this focus, as well as extending the study support for students, as is the case with the newly established MU Learning Center..

‘’The improvement of the student experience in the class is really at the top of my agenda,’’ says Florian.  ‘’The quality of teaching can be enhanced by such measures as the integration of new media and setting out the options for implementing teaching technologies to make our teaching more relevant and attractive.’’

‘’The second aspect of my agenda for the next three years is to drive the internationalization of our programs. We are already international in terms of the way we deliver our courses, recruit our students, and with the international student body. I would also like to intensify the relationships with partners with whom we have exchange agreement, and to see where it makes sense to be able to offer joint-degree programs and international programs.’’

The faculty and staff of MODUL University Vienna are looking forward to Florian’s personal touch on our already excellent undergraduate programs  and wish him success in his new position!