German Jordanian University
What do we mean by Work-Integrated Dual Studies?
“Dual Studies” is a global educational concept that aims to integrate the theoretical knowledge with the practical implementation in close cooperation with industrial partners. After the successful implementation of a pilot program, the German Jordanian University (GJU) launched its first Dual Studies track in 2018 with the support of the German government implemented through giz.
Which benefits students will get from joining the Work-Integrated Dual Studies track?
By linking the academic part with a real work environment, students will have an enhanced learning experience, and better understanding of theoretical concepts.
Students are integrated into the organizational structure, work methods, projects planning, and implementation process at the company, during different phases of their studies. In addition to the practical experience they will gain through the extended practical phases at the company, students will acquire communication, interpersonal, and social skills.
After graduating, students will have a valuable work experience reflecting their academic specialization. In other words, Dual Studies experience will add much value to the students’ bachelor degree.
Work-Integrated Dual Study track students will have excellent career prospects after graduating. Often they will have the opportunity to directly get a related job at the same partner company.
According to a contract between the partner company and the student, the company will offer the student a monthly allowance to cover some basic expenses during practical phases.
Which benefits will the partner companies get from participating in the Work-Integrated Dual Studies track?
By joining the Work-Integrated Dual Studies program, the company will ultimately benefit from our highly motivated, focused, and performance oriented students.
In addition, the recruitment process will be easier and straightforward for well-qualified graduates who are already familiar with the company’s business due to the extended practical phases they spent in the company.
The Work-Integrated Dual Studies students will bring in fresh ideas and new perspectives to the work processes by directly implementing what is taught at the university. They will work on the company’s challenges and potentially provide solutions, which opens research opportunities in cooperation with GJU’s professors. This will be reflected on the company’s overall performance.
Joining Work-Integrated Dual Studies will increase the company’s reputation as an innovative and dedicated employer and business partner, as well as expressing a true intuition to open up toward developing and enriching the educational process.
With giz (the German Development Cooperation), a strong partner is supporting the Work-Integrated Dual Studies projects, on different educational and vocational levels. The GJU is one of the pioneer higher educational institutions in the region that aspires to put a unique mark in Dual Studies based upon the local needs. Dual Studies have been proved to be very effective in responding to shortage of skilled labor, as well as reducing youth employment.
The Jordanian companies consulted by GJU voiced for a clear demand for employees with a sound combination of practical and theoretical skills.
The German Success Story of “Work-Integrated” Dual Studies
Dual Studies have been initiated by major companies in Germany over 40 years ago. By now, Dual Studies are the fastest growing sector at the German higher education system by operating 1,600 Dual Study Bachelor Programs across the country as follows: 38% of Dual Studies offered in Engineering, 34% in Economics & Business Administration, 12% in Computer Science, 10% in Social Care and Education and Health. The majority of the Dual Studies graduates (around 90%) are directly employed by their partner organizations considering that 73% of them are still working at the same organization after 3 to 5 years.
At GJU, we are looking forward to create a similar success story adapted to the Jordanian requirements and jointly implemented by students, professors and our partner companies.
LET’S START THE JOURNEY!
Q. What requirements does a company have to fulfill to participate in a Work-Integrated Dual Study program?
- The company should be willing to provide well-guided quality training.
- It should therefore engage in a discussion with GJU how to harmonize the vocational and the academic parts of the program for the highest possible degree of employability of the student.
- There must be a company training plan (can eventually be developed with support, which presents the training content in the enterprise, in terms of time and materials / resources, and relates to the academic content.
- The company has to provide a qualified supervisor / mentor for each accepted student. In addition, it has to nominate a person (Liaison Officer) in charge of maintaining continuous contact with a respective counterpart at GJU.
- The Company has to sign a “Company-University Contract on collaboration in the Dual Study program n.n. of GJU”. This contract includes duties, rights, timelines and dates of all partners. It should be as much uniform as possible for all, but leave room for flexibility, as participating companies have different needs and strategies. The Company-University Contract ensures that the students can complete their studies even if unexpected changes in the cooperation between the company and university arise.
Q. Which formal requirements do applicants (student trainees) have to fulfill to be accepted in a Work-Integrated Dual BA program?
- Candidates must meet the regular entrance and admission requirements of GJU and of the Company.
- Particularly high-motivated and goal-oriented candidates should be selected, as the program is very demanding and time-intensive.)
Q. What’s the nature of the training the Company has to offer?
- The professional scope of the training in the companies should not aim exclusively at a specific activity in the sponsoring company, but should prepare for various possible fields of employment.
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The qualification objectives of the Dual programs are clearly presented in the outline of the program and in the curriculum. They must be agreed between all cooperation partners directly involved in the implementation of the Dual program.
Q. How are the applicants (student trainees) selected?
- Students hand in their application to the program at GJU.
- Each student accepted by GJU in principal then names three of the partner companies engaged in the Dual Study program, in prioritized order, where he/she wants to undergo training in the program’s practical phases.
- The Company decides which student trainee(s) it wants to accept. It can use its own evaluation criteria for this end.
- Companies convene for final distribution of the students.
- Student must sign a training contract with the company (Company-Student contract draft available at GJU’s Office for Industrial Links).
Q. Which timelines do apply in the selection of student trainees for the Work-Integrated Dual program? Candidates are chosen in a joint process between GJU and the partner companies.
- First, GJU evaluates the student’s application to the Dual program. If the entrance and admission requirements of GJU are met, the application documents are forwarded to three companies which the student has preselected as preferred options for his/her practical phases.
- Second, each company evaluates the incoming applications and ranks the candidates internally. The company may use interviews or other forms of evaluation to substantiate its choice.
- Third, company representatives and the GJU coordinator for the Dual Study program convene for a joint selection meeting and decide in consensus which student will be offered to conduct the practical phases in which company.
If a company does not accept a student, GJU may offer him/her a place in a normal – i.e. not Dual – study program in the respective field at GJU. - Finally, Company and student sign a Company-Student contract, defining mutual rights and duties.
Q. What does a Company-Student contract in a Work-Integrated Dual Study program look like?
- Overall date of beginning and of end of contract.
- Content and duration of training
- Daily and weekly working time during practical phases
- Number of days of vacation
- Rights and duties of the company and the student
- Height of expenses allowance paid to the student
- Insurance matters
- Obligation of the student to work in the Company for a certain period of time after graduation, on the condition that the Company offers an appropriate position to the graduate. If he/she nevertheless chooses to leave the Company earlier he/she has to pay back the all expense allowances received during training.
Q. What about vacation?
- Dual Students are entitled to the same amount of paid vacation days like any other regular trainee with an apprenticeship contract at the same company.
- Leave is to be taken during the practical phases.
- Company should grant additional leave in case of academic exams (e.g. make-up exams) and other important academic obligations falling into the practical phases.
Q. How high are the monthly expense allowance of Work-Integrated Dual Students?
- The companies pay the expense allowance to all Dual Student trainees.
- This allowance is considered a voluntary compensation by the company for transportation costs, meals and additional burdens born by the student and related to the fact that he/she is working/studying at different, maybe remote locations.
- The height of the allowance should be 250 JOD per month, but not less than 200 JOD per month.
Q. Are Work-Integrated Dual Study students insured (health, liability)?
- (Yes.) During the practical phases, the company has to provide for adequate insurance.
- The University provides for continuous health insurance.
Q. What will be the costs a company has to bear per Work-Integrated Dual Student?
- Investment of the company includes the expense allowance of the student trainee and staff costs related to the training (guidance and supervision of the Dual Student, communication and coordination with GJU).
- A financial contribution for the services of GJU or for external experts provided by third partners through GJU is not required.
- Partners have to keep in mind that, due to high workload and reduced presence on campus, Dual Students need to be taken special care of.
Q. What will the relation between Company and GJU look like on working level?
- As one of the main challenges in the set-up of Dual Study programs is the matching of the content of vocational training and academic training, partners have to join forces and collaborate to their best possibilities to achieve this goal.
- As the academic content has to be adapted regularly to the changing necessities of the companies (curricula revision), company representatives are asked to engage in related discussions and meetings, to which they are frequently invited.
- Partners have to secure that training activities do not overlap and that contact persons can be reached at times comfortable to the students.
- The cooperation between GJU and the companies is reflected in the active cooperation of both sides, also in joint committees.
- It is important that companies and universities maintain close personal contacts and have regular meetings for discussion and exchange on both program and management level. Fixed contact points are needed, low turnover of staff is desirable to avoid loss of knowledge.
- Partners should convene regularly on high level to discuss progress and challenges. These meetings should deliver proposals for decisions, and may include other stakeholders.
- The university ensures the academic capabilities of the students. The scientific level of a Dual Bachelor’s degree program is comparable to the standards of a normal bachelor’s degree course in the same field. Both degrees allow access to master-level studies.
- It should be agreed between companies and GJU, which topics students may deal with in their projects and what students have to deliver in their bachelor thesis.
Q. Which are the added values GJU’s Work-Integrated Dual Study programs offer?
- Cooperation with GJU in a Dual Study programs pays off in many respects:
- Well-established, intensified contacts to institutions conduction applied research
- Access to innovation
- Solutions to actual challenges the Company faces (Dual Study programs include study projects, in which students work independently, though supported by supervisors from the University and from the Company, on a specific question or problem which was defined by the company, presenting a solution or a scenario as a result.)
Through GJUs intensive collaboration to more than 110 partner universities and a similar number of partner companies in Germany:- New contacts to German companies through the internship abroad included in the Dual program
- Fresh ideas and business opportunities with German companies
- Recruitment of tailor-made graduates with well-developed competences:
- Well-acquainted with the Company’s structures and processes from day one of employment
- Solid emotional ties to the Company
- Knowledge about workflows and processes in German internship partner companies
- Thinking in other, new structures
- Intercultural knowledge, tested in real life
- Fluency in German and English as foreign languages
- Strong soft skills
- Personality development in an international context
- Direct influence on the development of the Dual curricula (also on the academic parts)
- No costly past-graduate training / upgrading of Dual employees
- Especially for SMEs, which often cannot afford to hire specialists, it should be attractive to recruit Dual graduates, as they have more generalist skills.
For further information, please contact
Simone Strasburger
Work-Integrated Dual Studies Advisor, Office for Industrial Links
Building B, Office 113 (First Floor)
Phone: +962 6 429 4883
Fax: +962 6 430 0215
Email: Dual.studies@gju.edu.jo
