An ongoing partnership between Arkansas Tech University, Technische Hochschule Mittelhessen (THM) University of Applied Sciences in Germany and Kajaani University of Applied Sciences in Finland has yielded the 2025 Hessian University Prize for Excellence in Teaching.
Dr. Benjamin Löhr, Heike Siebert and Alexandra Hofmann from the THM University of Applied Sciences Department of Economics received the honor, which is awarded for outstanding and innovative achievements in teaching, examination supervision and mentorship at universities in the German state of Hessen.
The award-winning program provides students at ATU, THM University of Applied Sciences and Kajaani with the opportunity to partner on a blended international business simulation project. Some of the work is performed through video conferencing. The initiative also provides chances for in-person collaboration.
“I think the main skill that this simulation sharpens is communication,” said Grant Tinney, an ATU mechanical engineering major from Hot Springs, after traveling to Germany in summer 2025. “Since there were three groups from three different countries, I had to adapt the way I conveyed a message. I needed to be more precise with the words I used and not use as many slang words and terms. What was familiar to me was not familiar to them and vice versa. This is something that applies among people in the same country, too, as not everyone knows the same terminology for certain things, even if you speak the same language.”
Arkansas Tech and THM University of Applied Sciences have been partner institutions since 2018. The partnership expanded in 2022 to include student travel. In the years since, there have been visits to Germany for ATU students and visits to the United States for THM University of Applied Sciences students.
“There truly is nothing like the enlightenment of immersing oneself in a new culture,” said Morgan Blamey, an ATU business management major from Scranton. “Dr. Benjamin Löhr, Heike Siebert and Alexandra Hofmann are the wonderful THM faculty that delivered excellent moderation and guidance throughout the simulation. It’s eye opening to hear other university students’ ideas, thoughts and questions coming from another culture.”
The student travel aspect of the ATU-THM partnership is made possible by an Erasmus+ grant, which is awarded by the European Union to support study abroad programs and includes considerations for minority, lower income and first-generation students.
Since the most recent study abroad group returned from THM University of Applied Sciences in summer 2025, Arkansas Tech has received notification that the Erasmus+ grant that makes the ATU-THM partnership possible has been renewed, meaning that more students from both universities will experience the benefits of working and learning together in the years to come.
Learn more about the ATU Office of International Education at www.atu.edu/internationaled.
