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Press release
Prof. Dr. Franziska Geib is the new Anti-Discrimination Officer at FH Potsdam
At the start of the summer semester, Prof. Dr. Franziska Geib, Professor of Inclusive Work with People with Disabilities and Diversity, also took up the post of Anti-Discrimination Officer at the beginning of her teaching career at the Faculty of Social and Educational Sciences. She introduced herself and her goals for the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam at the Senate meeting on the 5th of June 2024.
As an anti-discrimination officer, Prof. Dr. Franziska Geib works independently to prevent or eliminate discrimination on the basis of ethnic origin, gender, religion or belief, disability, age, social status or origin, sexual identity or on racial grounds. It is involved in protective measures and measures to eliminate discrimination and can make its own proposals. It also offers counselling and prevention and acts as a point of contact for all members and affiliates of the university.
Prof. Dr. Franziska Geib: "As an inclusion researcher, issues of justice and equal opportunities as well as respectful and communal coexistence are close to my heart. I am delighted to be able to make a concrete contribution as an anti-discrimination officer to ensuring that everyone at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam feels comfortable and can develop freely. With the mission statement for teaching and the position paper 'Diversity and Tolerance', the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam has already taken some major steps and set itself a framework. Now it's a matter of carrying these positions into everyday university life and consolidating an inclusive culture."
Personal details
Prof. Dr. Franziska Geib completed her Master's degree in Social Work at the University of Applied Sciences Esslingen in 2013 and then worked as a social worker at the IKEROS youth office in Stuttgart Ostfildern until 2014. Until July 2021, she worked as an integration counsellor for hearing-impaired people in Berlin. In November 2019, she completed basic training as a systemic counsellor. She completed her doctorate at the University of Paderborn in December 2019 with a scholarship from the Heinz and Heide Dürr Foundation. From September 2021 to March 2024, she was a professor at Kempten University of Applied Sciences, where she also spent two years as Women's Representative for the Faculty of Social Affairs and Health. She has been a professor at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam since April 2024.
Anti-discrimination at the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam
In its teaching guideline, the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam commits to "Democracy and pluralism. Teachers and students treat each other with respect and openness in an inclusive and familiar atmosphere. [...] Respectful interaction and appreciation, even in the case of conflicting views, are seen at the FHP as a sign of quality and a guarantee for open, cooperative and responsible cooperation. With all openness towards discourse and acceptance of diversity of opinion, the FHP opposes exclusionary behaviour and offers protection and support to all those affected by exclusion." (Teaching mission statement, 2020)
At the end of 2023, the Senate of the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam adopted the position paper "Diversity and Tolerance. Discrimination-sensitive university", which emphasises both the understanding of diversity and variety as well as the attitude towards discrimination and especially anti-democratic movements.
Further information on the topic of anti-discrimination at the FHP
