HSG is 2019 “CEMS School of the Year”

2 December 2019. “Our academic and administrative services have been ranked as the best among our worldwide partners. This is a great honour for us,” says Dr Andreas Wittmer, Academic Director of the CEMS Programme at the University of St. Gallen. Those achievements earned the HSG the CEMS title of 2019 “School of the Year”. “We were awarded six out of a maximum of seven points. In other words, we fulfil student expectations and the values of the CEMS alliance to a high degree.”

This marks the third time the University of St. Gallen has been honoured as “CEMS School of the Year”, the first two being in 2009 and 2013. This distinction is awarded to those who are rated highest by students for their academic and administrative offering and who can convincingly demonstrate how the values of CEMS are applied and implemented.

“Our CEMS students are excellently trained, eminently supervised and benefit from a broad framework programme,” he adds. “What’s more, we at the University of St. Gallen maintain very good relations with the corporate partners of CEMS.” The CEMS Master’s Programme is more than just global training; it’s also an international network, “a cross-border union for life”, says Wittmer.

Master’s degree for 1,200 students

CEMS is a global alliance of 32 business schools and around 70 corporate partners that have jointly offered an international master’s programme in management since 1988. One of the core tasks of CEMS is to promote a “global citizenship” based on ethics, respect for cultural diversity and social responsibility. The University of St. Gallen has belonged to CEMS since 1990. At this year’s Annual Events, organised by the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), 1,197 students received their master’s degree, including 37 from St. Gallen.

Award-winning course on climate change

In addition to the “School of the Year” award, CEMS also honoured the university in other categories. The award is designed to spur the universities on to outstanding achievements. Each award-winning project must accord with the CEMS vision and pursue a global approach. This year’s award recipients included the CEMS Business Project of the HSG. Under the leadership of Dr. Peter Lindström, Director of External Relations at the University of St.Gallen, students developed a new hybrid marketing strategy for Bayer Women's HealthCare Switzerland.

There was also a prize for the course on climate change and the model UN climate negotiations (modelunfccc.org), which is based on an initiative from Prof. Dr. Rolf Wüstenhagen, Professor of Renewable Energies at the HSG, and is conducted in cooperation with eight other CEMS universities. Not only does the course explore a highly relevant topic, but it ends with “climate negotiations”, which are re-enacted as in real life, and CEMS students are required to present a compromise or “Climate Report” at the end.

CEMS Student Club and alumni honoured

In addition, the CEMS Club St.Gallen was named the best student club for the second term of 2019. The club is exceptionally active and organises an interesting framework programme for the semester. The students are highly involved and make an important contribution to the CEMS experience in St.Gallen. A prize was also awarded to St.Galler HSG/CEMS alumna Rebekka Grun von Jolk, who was named “Senior Alumni of the Year”. showing that not only CEMS managers and faculty at the HSG, but also students and alumni contribute excellent services to this global network.

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