What is the AStA?
The constituted student body (VS) represents the interests of students at Universität Hamburg. It elects the parliamentarians of the Student Parliament (StuPa) once a year (winter semester) in free, equal and secret elections. The General Students' Committee (AStA) is appointed by the parliament to implement the debates, motions and directives of the StuPa.
The AStA is the mouthpiece and direct point of contact for the 43,000 students vis-à-vis politicians, the administration, the public and the city. We also support all students with problems in everyday university life and offer a comprehensive range of counselling services on student matters. For example, we negotiate the conditions for the HVV semester ticket, campaign politically for an improvement in study conditions and support student initiatives, bands and cultural events.
We work together with student groups, student councils and other activists and organise cultural courses and other political education programmes for students. The AStA has around one million euros per year at its disposal to realise all projects. Every student contributes to this with their semester fee.
Why university politics?
University politics offers us students the opportunity to incorporate the student perspective into the committees of academic self-administration, because we students often have a different view of things than the professors and academic staff. Since university committees decide on things such as the study structure, admission restrictions and examination regulations, university policy work is a direct opportunity to influence your own study conditions and help decide what studying at the University of Hamburg should look like.
What opportunities are there to become active
There are opportunities to get involved at all organisational levels of the university: Within your own subject, you can get involved in the Student Representative Council (FSR) and thus have a say not only in issues that affect your own subject. The next higher level of academic self-administration is the departmental level, with large subjects forming their own department. Here it is possible to run for a seat on the faculty council by joining an existing list or setting up your own. Several departments together form a faculty, very large subjects such as business studies, law and medicine even form their own faculty. Decisions that affect the entire faculty are made in the Faculty Council (FakRat). Here, too, students can stand for election as lists. Finally, the highest body of academic self-government is the Academic Senate (AS), which makes decisions for the entire university. Lists also stand for election here. There are three student representatives.
Many changes, such as the abolition of tuition fees, are the result of student involvement. It is therefore definitely worth becoming active and getting involved.
The student council
The student council (FSR) is the representative body for all students of a subject, which is elected once or twice a year at a student general assembly. The FSR is usually the first point of contact if there are questions about the organisation of studies or other problems, e.g. with lecturers, when registering for courses, in case of problems with the Office of Student Affairs or the Examination Board. The FSR also represents students in subject-related committees such as the curriculum committee, appointment committees, the examination board and the institute conference. The FSR often also takes care of the planning and implementation of the OU and thus ensures that all newcomers find their way around their subject and that their introduction to the university is as relaxed as possible. In addition, many FSRs also organise subject-related events such as reading and discussion evenings or student council parties, or get involved politically outside the university, for example by mobilising for demonstrations, inviting people to political events or supporting initiatives.
How can I get involved in the FSR?
You can get involved in FSR work at any time by simply coming to the meetings and joining in! However, to become an officially elected FSR member, you have to wait for the next plenary meeting. At this meeting, everyone has the opportunity to stand for election and be elected to the FSR. In many FSRs, there is only one open list in which anyone can participate, so that participation in the student council is open to everyone without major hurdles. However, if you are very dissatisfied with the work of your FSR, there is always the option of drawing up an opposing list.
How can I contact my FSR?
Each FSR has an e-mail address to which enquiries can be sent. Most FSRs also have an office, a website and office hours. In addition, the FSR meets regularly and can be contacted via the meetings, which are of course open to the public. The exact details can be found on the homepage of the respective institute.