Vice Rectorate for Academic Affairs

Barbara Strack-Hanisch is professor of saxophone at the mdw and as of 1 October 2023 Vice Rector of Academic Affairs. She has headed the Leonard Bernstein Department of Wind and Percussion Instruments since 2015, was chairwoman of the studies commission for instrumental majors, and from 2017 to 2022 was a member of the Senate.

Barbara Strack-Hanisch began her studies of both saxophone and flute at the mdw in 1994, received the Appreciation Award in 2004, and in 2007 was awarded a doctorate at the mdw. The focus of her artistic work is on one hand her orchestral performing, such as with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Vienna Symphony, and on the other her very active career in chamber music, in particular her work with the Danubia Saxophon Quartett Wien.

As an artist as well as an educator, Barbara Strack-Hanisch maintains a busy concert schedule, gives frequent masterclasses, and is a sought-after juror at music competitions in Austria and abroad. In 2012, she qualified as a professor of saxophone at the mdw, and many of the students she has mentored since that time can now point to success at international competitions and hold important positions in saxophone pedagogy. Barbara Strack-Hanisch is also the author of the multivolume saxophone method book “magic sax”, published by Universal Edition Vienna.

Areas of Responsibility

The area of responsibility of the Vice Rector for Academic Affairs encompasses in particular:

• Organisational matters relevant to teaching (studies-relevant university operations)
• Strategic development of instructional offerings
• Matters relating to doctoral studies including admissions
• Matters relating to entrustment in teaching in coordination with the Vice Rector for Organisational Development and Diversity 
• Advancement and promotion of students and alumni, especially via the Career Center
• Awarding of scholarships
• Preparatory programmes for the highly gifted
• Matters relating to barrier-free studying
• Strategic further development of didactics in higher education
• Course evaluations in coordination with the Office of the Vice Rector for Organisational Development and Diversity
• Matters relating to the university’s orchestras and choirs
• Matters relating to the care of instruments
• Conclusion of target agreements with the heads of the organisational units in her portfolio as per the University’s organisational chart

Organisational chart - Vice Rector for Academic Affairs