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A cascade of reforms for the HSG’s curricula In August 2022, HSG will be running more than 21 Bachelor’s and Master’s programmes, and two of these programmes did not even exist in July 2021. Seven of t hese 21 programmes are being subjected to fundamental reforms between 2021 and 2022. By HSG standards, these figures are historic. One overriding objective of these reforms is to prepare graduates optimally for their future.
Hardly an issue is currently occupying the Vice-President’s Board for Studies & Academic Affairs as strongly as curricular reforms, particularly the fundamental ones whereby the curriculum is radically revised. This is especially the case if students will not necessarily be able to graduate from the new curriculum with the work done in the old one. If, for instance, a new compulsory subject is introduced, students will be unable to graduate even though they have successfully completed all the coursework in the old curriculum. As a consequence of the reform, they lack a compulsory subject. As a rule, curricular reforms are initiated for strategic reasons: the curriculum is out of date, it no longer appeals to the desired target group, or graduates’ positions in the labour market fail to come up to expectations. Curricular reforms are complex in terms of decision-making and implementation, they are labour-intensive and require interdisciplinary cooperation between programme directors, various units of the Vice-President’s Board for
Studies & Academic Affairs, the Brand Department and IT.
New computer science programmes thanks to the IT education offensive Two programmes will be newly introduced: a Master’s and Bachelor’s programme in Computer Science (in AS 2021 and AS 2022, respectively). This became possible thanks to the voting public of the Canton of St.Gallen approving the so-called IT education offensive. Here, HSG is entering uncharted territory: it will offer a Bachelor’s and a Master’s programme beyond the economic, social and legal sciences under its own steam for the first time. For this purpose, a new School of Computer Science was established, which will provide jobs for a total of 27 full, associate and assistant professors. It is expected that approx. 50 to 70 Master's students and 100 Bachelor’s students will start their computer science studies at HSG. The faculty and students of the School of Computer Science will
pursue new approaches on the campus which will take effect in the whole region.
Extensive reconceptualisation of the legal curricula All five law programmes will be reformed. The two majors in Law (BLaw) and Law and Economics (BLE) are being fundamentally reconceptualised for Autumn Semester 2021, with the BLE programme undergoing the furthest-reaching reform in its history. The revised Bachelor’s programmes will be characterised by a reinforcement of the core subjects and a more concise structure. Also, students will have to write a Bachelor’s thesis as in the other majors. In addition, the BLE programme will be supplemented by a legally oriented teaching programme. The Master’s programmes in Law (MLaw) and Law and Economics ( MLE) will also be radically reformed (implementation by Autumn Semester 2022), with the MLE programme duly being shortened by a
