Managing the Digital Turn in Teaching and Learning - Recommendations for a responsible strategy development

The digital turn has currently become one of the most important paradigm shifts in Higher Education. At the same time it presents a challenge for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) because it requires a much more intense reflection on how this transformational process fueled by digitalisation can be managed at the individual institution. To support  German research universities and universities of applied science [Fachhochschulen] with this challenge, the Hochschulforum Digitalisierung has developed a Peer-to-Peer Counseling Program. From the experience of the pilot phase in 2017/18 the program managers  developed recommendations on how to manage the strategy process in regards to digitalisation. As a structure for these recommendations we propose the following five fields a sustainable strategy development process: 1) a (coherent) narrative framework for the digital turn, 2) setting strategic goals and guidelines, 3) defining decision and participation processes, 4) advancing structural development and 5) setting communication and incentive standards. The proposed paper aims to discuss these recommendations on the basis of existing literature on digital leadership and change management.