The first course aims at introducing important new concepts in higher education management. Participants are sensitized for new ideas and issues, for the forces of change, and the answers found in Germany, other European countries, and around the world. At the end of the first meeting in Germany, participants are requested to identify an issue which they work on in the following months in the framework of a specific project called “personal action plan” (PAP). By identifying such a project, participants are applying the new skills to their own work environment. This approach allows for a more active application of the ideas, concepts and theories which are introduced during the course and reduce the typical distance or split between the seminar context and professional reality. The progress on the personal action plans is then shared with other participants throughout the period of the International Deans’ Course.