Wirtschaftsenglisch (Bachelor und Master)

Bachelor level

Module: Wirtschaftsenglisch 2

• Course: Business English II: Finance    
• Course: Business English IV: Organisational Behaviour

Master level

Module: Wirtschaftsenglisch 4

• Course: Business English VI: Public Speaking
• Course: Business English VIII: Managerial Issues

Check the Modulhandbuch des Sprachenzentrums for more details.

Erstis: Do you really need to take a Business English course in your first semester?

• Consider your priorities carefully before making any selections.
• Remember, your degree programme may mean that you will spend one or more semesters abroad.

In SS23, all Business English courses start teaching in the second week of the semester—the week beginning Mon 24^th April 2023 (calendar week 17):

• This may mean that you need to make course selections before you arrive at the university.
• Lecturers cannot register you for courses via email and such requests will not be processed.

In SS23, Business English courses will be taught in presence—as always, a course VC will also be in use:

• Students use FlexNow to be allocated to Business English courses.
• Students will receive the password for the course VC from their lecturer during the first lesson.

The registration process for Business English courses begins by students making selections in FlexNow (step 1)—this opens on Monday, 20 March 2023 at 10:00, and will close on Wednesday, 12 April 2023 at 23:59. FlexNow is scheduled to allocate students to courses (step 2) on Thursday, 13 April 2023 during the early afternoon.

• Any students that FlexNow allocates to the waiting list should make use of the VC called "Business English FlexNow Waiting List (SS 2023)
• This waiting list VC will open on Thursday 13 April 2023 at 13:00.

Be aware:

• You are encouraged to make your FlexNow selections promptly and as early as possible.
• You are able to alter your FlexNow selections before registration closes.
• Changes sometimes have to be made at short notice to the schedule of Business English courses. Individual courses might be added or cancelled.
• Students are advised to refer to the latest online version of the UnivIS timetable for Business English courses. Do not rely on a downloaded or printed copy.

Carefully read the more detailed description of the whole FlexNow registration and allocation procedure.

You make registration selections through FlexNow—this applies to Erasmus students too:

• Opens: Monday, 20 March 2023 at 10:00
• Closes: Wednesday, 12 April 2023 at 23:59

For Business English courses, the FlexNow system requires you to make 3 selections from the parallel courses on offer.

• FlexNow will reject your request if you make one or two selections only.

When you have made your selections, check your FlexNow account to see that your selections have actually been recorded:

• The phrase "vorläufig angemeldet" means that you successfully made selections.
• (FlexNow no longer sends out an email confirming your selections).
• If you are concerned, reach out for assistance
• Also, do read the FlexNow guidelines

Make unique day/time selections

If you are taking more than one Business English course then avoid double-booking yourself when making your selection—FlexNow does not make any allowance for this issue. So, for example, when making selections for Business English II: Finance and Business English IV: Organisational Behaviour, you should make a total of six unique day/time selections (three for BEI: Finance and another three for BEIV: Organisational Behaviour).

• Selecting unique day/time combinations will reduce your chance of having to use the switching forum.

Select day/times that you know you could attend

When making your three selections per course, only choose those day/times that you know you have space for in your timetable.

• Selecting day/times that you know you could attend will reduce your chance of having to use the switching forum.

You are able to alter your FlexNow selections.

If, for example, your timetable changes, you are able to alter your FlexNow selections for Business English courses.

• Altering your selections will help you avoid the switching forum.
• You can alter your selections up until the close of FlexNow registration.

If you need to change the selections you have made,

Open up the relevant course in FlexNow:

• Delete all three selections you made. Save this deletion.
• Then, enter in the three selections you actually need. Save your updated selections.
• If you encounter difficulties, do reach out for assistance

Help! FlexNow isn't offering me any Business English course selections

If you want to take a Business English course, and your module handbook allows you to do so, but FlexNow is not offering you any course selections:

• get in touch with the Wirtschaftsenglisch department
• use wirtschaftsenglisch.sz AT uni-bamberg.de
• do so before FlexNow registration closes
• supply all relevant details as outlined below under “Contact details”
• be precise, the more information you give us, the easier it is for us to help you

Click the above link for a set of screenshots of Step 1 - FlexNow Registration Selections.

FlexNow allocates students to specifc courses based on the selections that they made. This allocation has been scheduled for Thursday afternoon, 13^th April 2023. Students will receive an allocation email from FlexNow which reads either:

a)      You received a Business English place. This email contains your details ...

OR

b)Your Business English selections were unsuccessful. Enrol to the VC Business English FlexNow Waiting List SS 23 ...

Just after FlexNow sends out the allocation emails, it removes the selections that students made in FlexNow and replaces them with the allocation details.

• The phrase "fest angemeldet" next to a specific course indicates successful allocation to that course.

Messages alerting students to the progress of FlexNow allocations are posted in the newsticker on this webpage.

OK, it happens. We help all students who end up on the waiting list to find a place in a suitable course. Do this:

Enrol to the VC called Business English FlexNow Waiting List SS 23

• use the password supplied in the “unsuccessful allocation” email from FlexNow
• the VC is only made visible between Thursday 13 April 2023, 13:00 and Monday 17 April 2023, 10.30.

Once in the VC, you will see instructions, telling you to:

Click on the Check-in forum

Start a new discussion, giving the titles of any Business English courses that you are on the FlexNow waiting list for.

• No messages, no explanations, no requests, just the titles.

Use the following abbreviations:

• BEII
• BEIV
• BEVI
• BEVIII

The check-in forum opens on Thursday 13 April 2023 at 13:00. It closes on Monday 17 April 2023 at 10:30 in the morning.

On seeing your post in the check-in forum, the Wirtschaftsenglisch department will check you in to the relevant waiting list forums.

• Please be patient, there may be some delay in checking you in;
• Only students on the FlexNow waiting list will be checked in.

Once checked in, you can then make a waiting list request

Start a new message in the relevant waiting list forum

• Give at least three different day/time slots that you could attend.
• Refer only to the current Business English course schedule on UnivIS. Do not refer to a previously downloaded or printed copy.
• Do not include any information other than the day/time slots you are requesting to be put into.
• You must make your own request—third party requests can not be processed.

FlexNow waiting list requests will be processed on Friday, 14 April 2023 between 09:30am and 10:30am and again on Monday 17 April 2023 from 09:30am until 10:30am.

Monitor your university email account during these times

• Make sure that you have your timetable available
• Be ready to respond to any communication regarding your request
• Once you are in direct communication with a member of the department, you can supply any further information relevant to your request

The Wirtschaftsenglisch department understands and is responsive to this issue. We continue to offer a service to support students with sufficient grounds for switching the course FlexNow has allocated them to. Please do note though, that it is not always possible to meet such student requests.

A special VC has been set up to support any such students with legitimate reasons for needing to switch courses this semester:

• Enrol to the VC called Business English Switching Requests & Late Registration SS23 (no password necessary).
• The VC is made visible on Thursday 13 April 2023 at 13:00, but the forum for making switching requests first opens on Monday, 17 April 2023 at 10:45 in the morning. The switching forum closes on Thursday, 27 April 2023 at 20:00.

Once in the VC, follow the instructions:

• Use social media to find another student willing to switch courses.
• Also, try using the Find a Switching Partner forum.
• Once a switching partner has been found, post a request in the Paired Switching Request forum, clearly stating all details as requested.
• The second student involved in the switch then replies to the post, giving their consent to the switch.

Once the second student has consented to the paired switching request, you might still be contacted via MS Teams in order to verify the details of the request

• Suitable evidence in support of your switching request should be made available during this contact
• There may be some delay in your paired switching request being processed

Previously successful requests to switch Business English courses have included:

• students who received the time and day of an obligatory degree programme course only after closure of FlexNow registration for Business English courses;
• students assigned to a student-workplace within the university of Bamberg occurring after FlexNow allocation of Business English courses.

To allow us to make best use of the department's resources, the following conditions apply to switching requests:

• Inappropriate or unclear requests will not be processed.
• Email or telephone requests will not be processed.
• Third party requests will not be processed.

Erasmus or overseas students who have difficulties with FlexNow should send an email to wirtschaftsenglisch.sz AT uni-bamberg.de:

• Clearly state that you are an Erasmus or overseas student
• Give the full titles of the courses you want to register for
• Await contact from the Wirtschaftsenglisch department
• We will help you to resolve the FlexNow registration issue

The department will only be able to assign late registration requests to one of the few Business English spaces remaining after the FlexNow waiting list has been cleared:

• Typically, there is little flexibility regarding student timetables.
• For some courses, it might not be possible to offer a place at all.

A special VC has been set up to support students whose FlexNow registration efforts somehow went astray:

• Enrol to the VC called Business English Switching Requests & Late Registration SS23  (no password necessary)
• The VC is made visible on Thursday 13 April 2023 at 13:00
• The forum for making late registration requests first opens on Friday, 14 April 2023 at 07:00 in the morning.
• The forum closes on Thursday, 27 April at 20:00.

Once in the VC, follow the instructions:

• Post a request in the Late Registration forum, clearly stating all details as outlined in the forum.

Monitor the forum to see if the request is granted or declined.

Erasmus or overseas students who have arrived after late registration has closed should send an email to the coordinator of Wirtschaftsenglisch.

• Clearly state that you are an Erasmus or overseas student
• Give the full titles of the courses you want to register for
• For each course, give three day/time slots when you would be able to attend the course.
• Use UnivIS for further information:
  • Business English II: Economics course schedule on UnivIS for SS23.
  • Business English IV: Management course schedule on UnivIS for SS23.
  • Business English VI: Cross-cultural Issues course schedule on UnivIS for SS23.
  • Business English VIII: Legal Issues courses on UnivIS for SS23.

Questions regarding registration to Business English courses should be sent to wirtschaftsenglisch.sz AT uni-bamberg.de (emails concerning registration issues sent to individual lecturers will not be responded to). In your email, remember to:

• state the full title of the course you are referring to (e.g. Business English I: Economics)
• give your full name (e.g. Maximilian Mustermann)
• give your seven digit matriculation number (not your ba number)
• state your degree programme (e.g. BWL, EES, IBWL, Erasmus, etc.) and level (bachelor or master)
• clearly state the nature of your inquiry - give full details of what you were trying to do and what happened or didn't happen
• supply a screengrab if helpful - this will often speed up the process of resolving your issue
• write in English—direct communication with the Wirtschaftsenglisch team, whether emailing or phoning, is expected to be in English

If a student is unable to attend the first lesson, they should email directly the lecturer of the teaching group involved, explaining the situation, requesting to be excused.

Any unexcused student failing to attend the first lesson of the Business English course they have been allocated to faces removal from the FlexNow list—the spot will be re-allocated to a student on the waiting list.