University of Cologne, Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences
Loading the current phase, the actions taken and what is next.
If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria'.
From: Baptiste Ceresa · Subject: A fifth-Palme review for consideration
Attach: nothing. Offer the criteria; do not invent current deadlines, selection or committee decisions.
Answer any specific question first, then use the matching reply below. These are replies to engagement, not additional unsolicited opening emails. Use the name of the person who actually replied and retain the existing contact route.
Owner: Baptiste Ceresa. Free examples: approved, with no conditions.
Upgrade outlook: 80-100%, corporate estimate for this school. He wrote: "regarding the preselection, it is more a % of chance to be upgraded".
Does payment determine the level? The level of Palmes is determined independently by the International Scientific Committee based on academic and international recognition criteria; the membership fee is simply calculated afterwards according to the level of Palmes awarded.
Eduniversal's licensing price list, sent by Cyrille on October 5, 2026: For a school holding 4 Palmes, Silver is EUR 5,990 per year and Gold is EUR 9,990 per year, excluding taxes, over a three-year license. Platinum is EUR 9,990 per year plus a program promotion pack. All three tiers include the certification widget. Platinum promotion packs: up to 5 programs EUR 13,345; up to 10 EUR 23,290; unlimited EUR 59,800. The pack billing period is not specified; use the formal quotation for that detail.
NYMM's guidance to sellers, membership plan: share only exceptionally, when really required. Do not attach it to routine first messages or free-example notes.
NYMM's guidance to sellers, recognition conversation: If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria', with the fee and independent decision stated clearly. Keep the recognition text in reserve. Do not describe the school as formally preselected on the basis of this estimate. Keep the estimate in seller guidance; do not present it as an awarded or guaranteed level. The prepared recognition text states a one-time EUR 2,990 priority evaluation fee, separately from membership. That fee is not listed in the licensing price list supplied here.
WiSo is a first contact. There is no earlier exchange with this faculty on your records. Nothing on this page treats any change of level as promised.
The contact on your list, Gerold Gnau, is not the dean. The faculty lists him as Geschäftsführer / Verwaltungsleiter: its managing director and head of administration. The dean is Prof. Ulrich Thonemann, in the post since April 2019. On December 21, 2022 the faculty announced that he had been re-elected for another four years. We did not find an end date for that term in the pages collected on September 17, 2026.
The existing accreditations do not establish whether recognition will interest the faculty. The faculty holds EQUIS, renewed on May 3, 2023 for the maximum five years, and publishes its own Financial Times and WirtschaftsWoche results. It is also a public university. A unit of the university may buy on its own only up to 1,000 euros net, and above that the purchasing rules, as a rule, require a formal award procedure, unless the order can be placed under an existing contract that was itself awarded through a procedure. Your own records show two approaches to German public universities made in late February 2026 and declined in March 2026, one citing a 10 percent budget cut and no tuition income, the other after the contact had discussed the options with the dean. Those are two cases from your records, not evidence about WiSo. The free AI examples are the first email. Keep the recognition text in reserve. We found no mention of anything like it in the faculty pages collected on September 17, 2026. Whether the faculty already tracks this itself is not known.
The free-example message is addressed to him. Keep the recipient and copy rules on this page for message 1 under What to send. We found nothing published on how the faculty handles approaches like this one. A reply from the office counts as a reply.
Our reading, not a published rule: as dean, the decision would be his. The faculty's managing board page lists him with four vice deans, and no discussion route for this request is published. We found no published rule on who approves a purchase of this kind or who would handle it. No contact with him is on your records. We did not find an end date for his term.
What the university's purchasing pages show: a unit of the university may buy on its own only up to 1,000 euros net, before VAT. Above that, the purchasing rules, as a rule, require an award procedure, unless the order can be placed under an existing contract that was itself awarded through a procedure. What they do not show: which budget would pay, and who approves a purchase of this kind. A yes from the dean is not yet an order.
Free AI examples first. These instructions apply to message 1 under What to send, its note and its timing. Send that first email only. If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria'.
Free AI examples first. These instructions apply to message 1 under What to send, its note and its timing. Send that first email only. If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria'.
Free AI examples first. These instructions apply to message 1 under What to send, its note and its timing. Send that first email only. If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria'.
Subject: What AI assistants tell an applicant about WiSo
Attach: nothing. The examples are sent only after a yes
When: only once the sender checks are complete with the free, unconditional offer confirmed by Cyrille on October 5. Then between October 20 and November 6, 2026, so that a follow-up fifteen working days later still falls by November 27. If the sender checks are not complete by November 6, send between January 7 and January 15, 2027. If they are not complete by January 15, do not send before April 5, 2027. A free-example message sent after October 18, 2026 needs the questions asked again first. Never send before the sender checks are complete.
When: after fifteen working days without a reply, and not between November 28, 2026 and January 6, 2027, or between February 6 and March 31, 2027, or on May 1, 6, 17 to 21 and 27, 2027. These dates are marked Avoid in the dates table below. If the fifteenth working day falls on an Avoid date, send on the first working day after it
After this: If there is no reply to the follow-up, stop. Do not write to anyone else at the school.
4. One page for the Dean's OfficePrepared · sender checksOpen
| Person | Part in the decision | What to know | Contact so far |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prof. Ulrich Thonemann, Ph.D.Dean (Dekan) since April 2019. Re-election for another four years announced on December 21, 2022 | Our reading: the decision would be his. The free-example message is addressed to him. | Our reading of his 2019 interviews: he consults first and works to a written plan. See the section on how the dean decides, above. The re-election announcement describes him as “Previously Vice Dean for Internationalisation”. We did not find an end date for his term. | No contact on file |
| Eva Peters, M.A.Stv. Leitung Dekanatsbüro, Internationale Akkreditierungen (deputy head of the Dean's Office, international accreditations). Also listed as “Responsible for the implementation of the SDP 2030” | In copy. | Listed both for international accreditations and for implementing the 2030 plan. Her post is listed in the faculty's central administration. A question to be ready for from her: what is measured, and how? | No contact on file |
| Frederike Freund, M.Sc.Rankings & internationale Akkreditierungen (rankings and international accreditations), on the faculty's central administration page | May be handed the free-example message. | Her published role is listed here. We found no start date for her. | No contact on file |
| Daniel ScheuLeitung Marketing, Corporate Connections & Alumni Management (head of marketing, corporate connections and alumni management) | Not in copy. His published title covers marketing, not rankings or ratings. Continue with him if the office introduces him. | His unit's published remit includes helping to shape and carry out a faculty-wide marketing strategy. Its press work is coordinated with the university's communications department. We found no separately titled head of student recruitment in the pages collected on September 17, 2026. | No contact on file |
| Gerold GnauGeschäftsführer / Verwaltungsleiter (managing director and head of administration) | The contact on your list. | Not the dean and not the first address. Our judgment: his desk matters once money is discussed. Above 1,000 euros net a unit cannot buy on its own, and the university's purchasing rules apply. | No contact on file |
| Prof. Dr. Martina FuchsErste Prodekanin (Vice Dean) | Managing board. | Oversees equal opportunities, anti-discrimination and sustainability within the managing board, as reported in the Dean's Newsletter of April 2026. | No contact on file |
| Three further vice deansProf. Michael Krause, Ph.D. (Vice Dean of Research) · Prof. Dr. Marita Jacob (Vice Dean of Academic Career) · Prof. Dr. Michael Overesch (Vice Dean of Studies) | Managing board. | We found no separate vice dean for graduate or international programs in the pages collected on September 17, 2026. | No contact on file |
- EduniversalBaptiste Ceresa
- Write to · decides · no contact yetProf. Ulrich ThonemannDean
- Copy · no contact yetEva PetersStv. Leitung Dekanatsbüro, Internationale Akkreditierungen
- Not in copy · no contact yetDaniel ScheuLeitung Marketing, Corporate Connections & Alumni Management
- Pays · a yes still needs thisUniversity purchasingAbove 1,000 euros net, as a rule an award procedure, unless an existing awarded contract covers the order.
- Not yet involvedFrederike FreundRankings & internationale Akkreditierungen
- On your list · not the deanGerold GnauGeschäftsführer / Verwaltungsleiter
Introductions. No one in your network has yet been matched to Dean Thonemann. Your own records show several past wins that came through a personal introduction. Share the deans of your member schools, and each will be checked against his career, his boards and his co-authors. Any match appears on this map. Keep members of your committee out of the sales conversation.
Free AI examples first. These instructions apply to message 1 under What to send, its note and its timing. Send that first email only. If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria'.
The Dean's Office agrees to receive the examples
We found nothing published on how quickly the faculty answers an approach like this, so this page gives no reply time. If the office asks what this is, answer from the free-example message: who is writing, what the examples are, and that they are free and come with no conditions. Do not send the one-page brief at this stage.
You send the three examples
Reply to whoever answered, keep in copy the people who were in copy on their reply, and send each example with its question as asked. Use the optional call invitation in the examples reply above. Keep rating criteria and paid-service offers separate unless requested. The examples are not an accreditation and not a rating.
A short exchange on what they show
Bring the three examples, with their questions. Ask one thing: who at the faculty would use this. Do not make budget, purchasing or supplier registration a condition of receiving the free examples. The one-page brief may be left only now, and only if the contact agrees.
No price in this exchange
Any later conversation about a paid service is a separate matter, opened using the confirmed terms below. April 5, 2027, when summer semester lectures start, is a suggested planning window, with June 1 to 26 as a fallback. These are calendar-based suggestions, not purchasing restrictions; an interested school may choose an earlier discussion once written terms are available.
The dean's decision
Our reading of the route, not a published rule: the dean decides, after discussion in the managing board, and the Dean's Office handles what follows. We found no published approval route for a purchase like this. Do not raise it. If the faculty itself asks what comes next, ask the Dean's Office how a decision like this is taken.
University purchasing
This is for the day the faculty itself asks what comes next. Do not raise it first. The university's purchasing pages (Einkauf) say that, as a public-law body, the university must run ordered award procedures. They do not say which office runs them. The values below are the ones the university says apply as a rule at present. Up to 1,000 euros, a direct purchase (Direktkauf) with no procedure, and 1,000 euros net before VAT is also the limit for what a unit of the university may buy on its own. Up to 100,000 euros, a negotiated award procedure (Verhandlungsvergabe). Up to 221,000 euros, a public tender (öffentliche Ausschreibung). Above that, an EU award procedure (EU-Vergabeverfahren). Every award from 25,000 euros before VAT must be published. An award procedure is required in every case where the order cannot be placed under an existing contract that was itself awarded through a procedure. Suppliers have to be shown to be suitable and reliable. Much of that proof can be given through pre-qualification in the official register of the chambers of industry and commerce, and the identification number can be quoted when the university asks for an offer. We found no open supplier registration portal and no faculty rule for a single-supplier purchase in the pages collected on September 17, 2026.
Order form and invoice
The university's budget year is, as a rule, the calendar year. That is the university's cycle, not a published cycle of the faculty. We did not find a published rule on which year's budget a purchase like this would fall in. No fee has been quoted to this school.
About these dates. They come from the University of Cologne's general semester calendar, which applies across the university. It is not a calendar of WiSo's own master's programs, and we found no published exam dates for this year.
| Dates | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| Now to October 19 | Avoid | Start of the winter semester. Lectures begin on October 12, with the welcome for first-year students that morning. Our judgment, not the calendar: October 13 to 16 and October 19 are ordinary lecture days, and we still advise waiting until the first week of lectures is over. |
| October 20 to November 27 | Good | Send the free-example message by November 6, so that a follow-up fifteen working days later still falls by November 27. If the sender checks are not complete by November 6, send between January 7 and January 15, 2027. If they are not complete by January 15, do not send before April 5, 2027. A free-example message sent after October 18, 2026 needs the questions asked again first. Never send before the sender checks are complete. The window falls in the faculty's 125th anniversary year, which the dean's statement on the anniversary page calls “not only a moment to look back, but above all a step forward”. The university calendar lists no lectures on November 1. |
| November 16 to 20 | No invitation from you | Your Biarritz Convention, on your own dates. Sixth week of lectures in Cologne. Do not mention the convention in the free-example message or the follow-up. Any invitation is sent by Eduniversal separately, using the confirmed terms below. The follow-up may still go out in this week. A free-example message does not: see the January 7 fallback. |
| November 28 to December 22 | Avoid | Our judgment, not the calendar: these are ordinary lecture weeks, but too close to the December break to send a free-example message or a follow-up. Answer anything the faculty sends. |
| December 23 to January 6, 2027 | Avoid | No lectures from December 23 to January 6. |
| January 7 to February 5, 2027 | Good | Lecture weeks: the break ends on January 6 and lectures end on February 5. Our judgment: this is the fallback window for the free-example message. Send it by January 15, so that a follow-up fifteen working days later still falls by February 5. If the sender checks are not complete by January 15, do not send before April 5, when summer semester lectures start. A free-example message sent after October 18, 2026 needs the questions asked again first. We found no published exam dates for this year. |
| February 6 to March 31, 2027 | Avoid | Lectures end on February 5 and the winter semester ends on March 31, so there are no lectures between those dates. We found no published exam dates for this year. Our advice: send nothing new between those dates. Answer anything the faculty sends. |
| April 5 to 30, 2027 | Good | Summer semester lectures start on April 5. Any later conversation about a paid service is a separate matter, opened using the confirmed terms below. These are suggested planning dates; an interested school may choose an earlier discussion once written terms are available. |
| May 1, 6, 17 to 21 and 27, 2027 | Avoid | No lectures: public holidays and the Pentecost week. |
| June 1 to 26, 2027 | Good | Fallback for that later conversation. Lectures run to July 16. |
| January 1 to December 31 | For reference | The university's budget year is, as a rule, the calendar year. The state's draft budget is due before the state parliament by September 30 before the new budget year. Those are the university's and the state's cycles, not WiSo's own. We did not find WiSo's own budget planning months in the pages collected on September 17, 2026. Do not raise budget first. If the faculty itself raises a purchase, ask the Dean's Office when the faculty's own requests are set. |
Free AI examples first. These instructions apply to message 1 under What to send, its note and its timing. Send that first email only. If the school raises recognition, use the reply titled 'If they ask for recognition criteria'.
| Item | Why it matters here |
|---|---|
| Baptiste Ceresa's title and contact details for the signature, and whether he writes as a member of your staff or on your behalf | The drafts are signed with his name and Eduniversal only. A dean should be able to see who is writing. If he is not on your staff, the opening line becomes: I am writing on behalf of Eduniversal, which rates business schools. |
| Your confirmation of the sentence the seller uses if the faculty asks what Eduniversal is: Eduniversal rates business schools. The examples are free, and they come with no conditions | The seller says it in your name. |
| Whether you want any later commercial conversation with WiSo, in spring 2027 at the earliest | It would be a separate matter, opened using the confirmed terms below. |
| Confirmation of two items taken from your own records: WiSo's level today (4 Palmes on your priority list) and the convention dates (Biarritz, November 16 to 20, 2026) | Neither can be checked against the faculty's public pages. Both are yours to confirm before the page is used. |
| WiSo's history on your scale, and the German peers you compare it with | The faculty's own pages do not name its rivals, and they must not be guessed. Your data is the only source. |
| Whether you hold pre-qualification in the official register of the chambers of industry and commerce, and if so its identification number | The university says much of a supplier's proof can be given through pre-qualification, and that a supplier may quote the number when it asks for an offer. We did not find that pre-qualification is required. Nothing on this page offers it to the university yet. It matters if the faculty agrees to discuss a separate paid service. |
| Whether the free-example message should go in German, in English, or in both | The drafts are in English. The faculty publishes pages in both languages, and the 2019 interviews with the dean that we collected are in German. The published pages do not settle it. |
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Level today | 4 Palmes (from your own priority list) |
| Upgrade outlook | 80-100% (corporate estimate; not a formal preselection; no guarantee) |
| Owner at Eduniversal | Baptiste Ceresa |
| Write to | Prof. Ulrich Thonemann (copy as stated in the header of the free-example message) |
| Decides | Prof. Ulrich Thonemann, Dean (our reading; your list: Gerold Gnau, the managing director, not the dean) |
| Route | Dean's Office to the dean and managing board, then university purchasing (our reading; we found no published approval route) |
| Quoted so far | Nothing. No fee has been quoted to this school. |
| Status | Prepared, nothing sent |