Student self-administration at the universities

At all Bochum universities the students finance the student self-administration via the social insurance contribution. The fee for the student self-administration is 12,- € at the Ruhr-University, 16,- € at the University of Applied Sciences, 4,18 € at the Evangelic University of Applied Sciences and 25,- € at the Technological University of Applied Sciences.
In its dormitories the AKAFÖ is making a fund available for shared activities.

The decision about how much money of this fund is being spent for what is made by the student parliament of the university and the plenary meeting (respectively the dorm-council) at the dormitories.

Student parliament

The student parliament (short SP or StuPa) is voted annually by all enrolled students of an university. The student parliament votes and controls the student union (AStA), adopts the budget and can practically engage with all affairs of the student body. The meetings are public.

On the basis of the budget that was adopted by the student parliament, the AStA passes grants to the student bodies, the self-administration at the dormitories and to student associations.

AStA (Student union)

The student union (Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss - AStA) equals the "government" of the students. It’s elected annually by the student parliament. At the AStA there are different departments (so called committees) e.g. for finance, university policy or for culture and sports. Next to their political work the student unions also offer consulting and social benefits.
For foreign students there mostly is an own department where they can turn to in case of problems.

The foreign committee department at the student union of the Ruhr-University is self-governed. That means it is, to a large extent, independent. It is not being voted when the election of the student parliament takes place but has its own voting. That way it is assured that the interests of the foreign students are represented independently by the party prospects.

There are also autonomous committees for women/lesbians and gay people, they are being voted on own plenary meeting.

Plenary meeting

For important topics there can be convened a plenary meeting of the students. It’s mainly important for current decisions that are about to be made on a wide range basis. The decisions made at the plenary meeting have a high liability to the student union.

Strike vote

At a strike vote all students are called to vote likewise. The procedure is similar to the voting of the student parliament. The results are obligatory to the student union and the student parliament.
Strike votes are being held on a rare basis – mostly when there are very important questions to be answered. For example, the implementation of the semester ticket at the Ruhr-University was decided by a strike vote.

Student body councils

All students of a subject are called the student body of a faculty. At a student body plenary meeting they can vote a student body council, who represents their interests within the faculty.
Student body councils often have their own office and offer support for students. They can mainly help when problems with studies or lecturers occur.

Student bodies are often involved in the organization of tutor programs for study beginners or offer own events, where you easily can get to know other people.