How to create a new degree program: The Tricon Master

See chapter "Programs" (p. 26) in our anniversary magazine for more information on KLU's programs and students.

Three continents, three cultures, three university systems, a wealth of ideas – and the desire to create a new joint degree program: those were the key factors at the very beginning of the Master’s program in global Supply Chain Management – affectionately abbreviated TriCon for short.

As Head of the International Office at the time, I was involved in the liaison work for TriCon from an early phase. My daily work concerning our students’ semesters abroad, coordinated with more than 50 partner universities, provided me with expertise on the organizational issues that such a study program can present for students. The content of the course was – on KLU’s part – designed by members of the faculty, with valuable support from KLU Program Management.

I dug deep in my emails and saw that the idea of creating such a study program had already been floating around in the summer of 2014. Before the first students could start their TriCon studies on the KLU Campus, it would take another three years full of discussions, paperwork and setbacks, but also full of moments when we could feel that we were pursuing something truly good for our students.

I remember very well our first visit to the UTK Campus in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA, in early 2015. We – Prof. Alan McKinnon as a representative of the KLU Faculty, Dr. Helga Beste as Head of Program Management, and I – were not only able to discuss numerous questions about the planned curriculum with our counterparts from UTK during these days. We also talked a lot about the organizational challenges that the structure of the TriCon would bring with it: How can achievements and grades be recognized in the respective university system? Can visas be applied for in time, even though you’re on a different continent every six months? What does the student housing at the local partner look like? How great will the culture shock be, and how do you turn 30 students with major cultural differences into a class with a sense of community?  

It was an intensive time for all three partners, KLU, UTK and Tongji University, and the three years passed quickly: in summer 2017, preparations for the first group of brand-new TriCons were in full swing. We were proud that each partner had successfully applied for the new study program and that so many students had chosen TriCon. Among KLU’s TriCon students there were some who had just completed their Bachelor’s and were now convinced that they wanted to continue their academic career at TriCon.

I had the wonderful task of supervising this first group very personally, always in close cooperation with many other KLU departments. At the beginning of the semester I accompanied our TriCon students from abroad to the Hamburg Welcome Center to help them with the entry formalities. Together with the KLU students I went to apply for the Chinese visa. But there were also the Welcome Dinner at the Landungsbrücken and the Farewell Meeting at the end of the first semester with KLU President Prof. Thomas Strothotte, which I not only organized, but also used as opportunities for personal conversations with the students.

My parental leave ended my time with TriCon, so I couldn’t accompany “my” first TriCons through graduation, but I knew they were in good hands with my colleagues. Now three years have passed again, and subsequent TriCon groups have successfully completed the program. And it still makes my heart beat faster when I think that I got to be a small piece of the puzzle in this great study program.