Mayor Andreas Starke was elected as successor of former mayor Herbert Lauer as new president of the University Union. Herbert Lauer did not run again after more than 14 years in office. In addition Diplom-Kaufmann Birger Sotke, attorney and tax advisor Ulf Schmitt were confirmed as deputy president and secretary and/or as treasurer in their offices. Appointed as advisory board members were: Gunnar Grunke, District Administrator Johann Kalb, Heinrich Kemmer, Herbert Lauer, Martin Schultz and IHK President Sonja Weigand. Treasurer is again Konrad Gottschall, the former chairman of the board of Sparkasse Bamberg.
"Despite a very positive development in recent years, Otto Friedrich University will continue to need idealistic and financial support for its research and teaching activities from the city and the region in the future.", emphasized the outgoing president Herbert Lauer in his review. The University Association, which was founded in 1949 as a support association for the Bamberg University of Applied Sciences and currently has 337 members, is making this its task. According to Lauer, since October 2015, grants of over 146,000 euros have been awarded for projects of all kinds, including the participation of students in the international student meeting at the United Nations in New York, the doctoral academy, but also for various workshops, symposia, excursions and exhibitions. The grants from the university association are often a prerequisite for projects to be realized at all.
Lauer pointed out that the Otto-Friedrich University is an extremely important factor for the cultural and intellectual life of the city and region. No less important, in view of the student numbers and the more than 1,100 jobs as well as the construction measures of the university, is its economic significance. University President Prof. According to Godehard Ruppert, the current number of students in the winter semester is over 13,200.
Starke thanked Lauer for his commitment as president since 2003. The retiring advisory board members Werner Rupp and Peter Topfmeier, who have served since 1993 and. In 2003, the Mayor thanked the university for supporting the work of the University Alliance.