Election-program-2024

Thanks to your support, we at NAWI have been actively shaping student life on campus since 2009. Together with our sister lists, we work closely with the student councils and student initiatives torepresent your interests on campus. Although we have already achieved a lot, there is still a lot to do! Our principle is pragmatism. We ensure that your social contribution, which totals over one million euros, makes a difference where all students benefit from it – on campus. We are an independent university group that does not position itself within the political spectrum. This means that we are committed to ensuring that university politics is not used as a career springboard by general political parties, but that decisions are made in the student parliament that move the campus and improve it for the better. Our opinion on various topics adapts to new findings and is open to innovation. Our motto “by students for students” is always at the heart of our work.

For a fair semesterticket for all students

Already in 2013, we initiated a partnership with the bike rental provider nextbike, whose services have since gained increasing popularity. Over the past years, we have observed a steady rise in registration numbers. With the metropolradruhr bike rental system, students across the Ruhr area can flexibly rent bikes and use them for 60 minutes free of charge. The network of rental stations is continuously being expanded, and we are advocating for new stations, especially in Bochum and its surroundings. At times, nextbike unfortunately provided too few bikes in Bochum. We were able to prove this and save money for the student body as a result. Currently, there are 600 brand-new bikes in Bochum.

The project is now up for a new tender, which means the costs for all students will be re-evaluated. A potential increase from €1.50 to €2 per semester is under discussion. For us at NAWI, it is clear that such an increase can only be justified if it includes free one-hour rentals and an expansion of the station network in southern and northern Bochum. We are committed to ensuring a fair price-performance ratio that students agree with. For this reason, this year’s StuPa election will include a referendum where you can vote on the price increase. Based on this feedback, negotiations will continue. Regardless of the future direction of the cooperation with metropolradruhr, it is important to us to maintain a bike rental system on campus and in Bochum.

For transporting beverage crates and large purchases, the rental bikes are not sufficient. Our solution: e-cargo bikes. Thanks to our efforts, these were financed by ASTA this year and will soon be available for students to rent and use for transportation on campus and in the surrounding area.

Mastering the art of navigating the campus without stairs is something primarily achieved by biking students. A possible solution for this could be a bike loop on campus. We support this idea from the university administration, which would ensure barrier-free access to mobility.

We are also evaluating the feasibility of introducing e-scooters to provide students with a diverse range of sustainable mobility options.

AStA Repair Café 3.0 & Bicycle Workshop – Together for Sustainability and Mobility

Since the successful establishment of the AStA Repair Café and the AStA Bicycle Workshop by NAWI members in 2020, the „Glaskasten“ next to the library of Ruhr University has developed into a

center for sustainability, repair culture, and mobility. Here, we not only offer the opportunity to repair defective electronic devices free of charge under guidance and to fix bicycles, but also the chance to donate discarded computers, laptops, and bicycles. After a complete refurbishment, these are made available to those in need.

If you do not own a bicycle or are financially restricted, you can build your own bike in our bicycle workshop using recycled parts. The operation on-site is bustling, whether through repairs, donations, or the sustainability flea market, which is also set to take place again next year.

Since 2020, we have continuously expanded the offerings and permanently established them on campus. In the coming year, we want to further improve the services, extend opening hours, and hire additional staff to ensure optimal support. Together with Ruhr University Bochum, we are planning a Sustainability Week for 2024, which will represent another highlight of our efforts. For this, lectures and workshops on sustainability and repair culture are planned in the Glaskasten, as well as a marketplace that will take place in front of the Repair Café.

Find out more on the AStA website:

– AStA Repair Café
– AStA Bicycle Workshop

Together, we are committed to sustainability and mobility on campus!

Green Campus and Sustainability – Shaping a Sustainable Future

Today, creating a green campus means not only making it literally greener but also promoting sustainable practices across its spaces. We are starting with a focus on campus buildings, which have the potential to host mobile photovoltaic systems or even photovoltaic tiles on their roofs. The latter could offer an architecturally appealing solution. In response to our inquiries, it is often argued that the ceiling load is insufficient. We question why this factor has not been accounted for during extensive renovations and new constructions and demand that this consideration becomes standard practice in the future. The university has now acknowledged this issue, which we have been advocating for years, and plans to equip at least new buildings with solar panels – a start!

Another key focus is on the exterior surfaces of the buildings. For example, in IA, black panels could be replaced with unobtrusive photovoltaic panels that align both visually and architecturally with heritage preservation standards. We are not arguing against monument protection but instead aim to find innovative ways to combine sustainability with preserving architectural heritage.

In addition, we advocate for efficient energy management on campus, which could also be implemented through the CampusApp, particularly with the „plant a seed“ feature. This is a reporting tool for unnecessary lighting on campus, with information forwarded to university administration for action.

Our vision includes saving energy within buildings and establishing a sustainable equipment rental program. Furthermore, we aim to introduce a module for Education for Sustainable Development (BNE), which would encompass courses at the Repair Café, elective areas, and an optional module section. Existing studies on campus sustainability can serve as a foundation for advancing our initiative and shaping a sustainable future for our campus.

Green Campus – Our progress and goals

For some time now, many of you have certainly been familiar with the “Q-West” restaurant. The Q-West gets its name from the area on which it stands – the Querforum West, between the western rows of university buildings, often referred to as the “G-Wiese”.

Less well known, but still of great importance, is the Querforum Ost, which connects the N and I rows. Unfortunately, Q-East has suffered greatly in recent years and is now characterized by a neglected pond, switched-off water features and garbage. Many of you may have walked through the Q-East many times without paying much attention to it. But in order to restore the former beauty of the Q-Ost, it urgently needs to be renovated.

In recent years, the Sustainability Office has assumed responsibility for the refurbishment of Q-Ost. Unfortunately, the willingness to cooperate from outside was limited in the first few years, so we had to resort to independent events. These included various clean-up campaigns, in which you supported us in large numbers! We are still in direct contact here to implement your ideas and wishes in cooperative projects. We are planning to promote green strips with regional seeds and to enhance both Q-West and Q-East by planting flower bulbs. Fortunately, the Sustainability Office implemented the latter during Sustainability Week. Our aim is to create an ecologically pleasant place for local recreation on warm days that we can all enjoy. We will continue to work on this!

We always look forward to your suggestions and collaboration to make our campus greener and more liveable.

Campus App

Everyone knows the problem: you’ve just enrolled on a new course and are given a cryptic room number that you can’t do anything with.

For this reason, we, the NAWI, together with our coalition partners, have designed the “Campus App by AStA” with an interactive room finder.

The Campus App can not only help you find a room, but is also open source and can be viewed on GitHub, so that everyone can actively participate in the further development of many cool features.

The following features are already available in the app:

A clearly laid out canteen menu in which the dishes on offer can be filtered according to allergies and can be selected between different profiles (vegan, vegetarian, halal, etc.).

Furthermore, if the cell phone supports NFC, the app can be used to read the Mensa credit on a student ID card.

In the app there is a central newsfeed with current information about what is happening on campus, news from the respective FSR and from the AStA.

A shared event calendar, which records all campus activities and will send reminders to users‘ cell phones in the future, is also one of the app’s features.

We are planning for the future:

– A section for coupons and discounts, where students can always see where they can save money on campus and where there are free offers.
– Surveys in the app on current topics
– An option to use the app to pay in the canteen and cafeterias.
– Integration of timetables and the course catalog.

Our aim is to continuously improve the “Campus App by AStA” and adapt it to the needs of students in order to create a useful and versatile tool for campus life.

Sustainability and Digitization Center

In the long term, we would like to establish a sustainability and digitization center on campus as a list of natural scientists and engineers, which, in addition to an open repair hall, offers a place to exchange second-hand goods – and creates a platform for all interested parties to hold and attend events in the field of sustainability. The focus will be on supporting and promoting people who want to get involved in the field of sustainability. This is to be done by providing workspaces, but also by providing direct help with start-ups (e.g. initiatives and associations). The provision of a media room will also enable these people to present their visions and ideas to the public and thus attract additional committed people to their ideas.

BIB DER DINGE/ASTA der Dinge – The flat rate

We would like to implement the “AStA of Things” project in the coming year:

Tools & painting materials, event equipment and other items of (non-)daily use should be available for all students to borrow “free of charge” and pick up directly on campus.

The “Bib der Dinge” works like a lending library – except that no books are borrowed, but things that should not be left at home. For example: Camping equipment, painting tables, cordless screwdrivers, 3D printers, projectors and other tools. Membership costs 50 euros per year for students. Members of the BIB der Dinge Bochum can borrow items from the inventory. The equipment can be reserved online and there is a pick-up station in the AStA Repair Café, for example. But what if all students could borrow items without a membership?

We are also professionalizing the equipment rental service for student councils with an online booking system. The student councils could then borrow things like large music systems, but also smaller sound boxes / microphones etc. for their events. In addition, student councils should be supplied with electricity by us at their events, for which large (rollable) power banks and power cubes could be borrowed. The event furniture should also be expanded and adapted to suit requirements.

Reintroduce the summer festival

The summer festival was a highlight of studying at RUB for many students. Once a year, all the student councils, initiatives and, above all, students came together on the university’s main square to have a great time. Unfortunately, the Ruhr-Universität administration has decided not to revive the summer festival after the forced break due to coronavirus.

We find that fatal!

The reasons that allegedly make a summer festival impossible are that it would not be financially worthwhile and that the parking garage and thus the foundation for the forum square is dilapidated.

But we at NAWI don’t want to put up with that. With us in the AStA, there will be another summer party. Because even if the Forumplatz is dilapidated, there are plenty of other places where the party of the year could take place.

To ensure that a summer party can finally take place again, we continue to strive for strong cooperation with the student councils. This year, we have already been able to organize the I-Koop summer party in a decentralized manner with the student councils of the I and N series. For the coming legislature, we plan to expand the cooperation to all student councils on campus and thus offer even more events for all studies. University doesn’t just mean partying, but partying is damn well part of it!

The winter market is an example of this cross-campus cooperation. The winter market takes place on 12.12. Wintermarkt. We were able to inspire students from all faculties for this idea and are looking forward to a cozy winter evening with you!

Gaming

Gaming at RUB? With NAWI, that’s possible too! During the remote period, we transformed the remaining free space in the glass box into a gaming hub. Whether you are a casual gamer or an e-sports veteran, everyone is welcome in the Gaming Hub. This offers you the opportunity to play your favorite games on the latest consoles and gaming PCs between or instead of your events. You can come here during the week to play, chill and chat. We look forward to seeing you!

We also offer you the opportunity to compete with your fellow students and show off your skills. In addition to highlights such as CS:2 and League of Legends tournaments, we offer spontaneous league games, relaxed Hearthstone Fireside Gatherings and other TCGs such as Final Fantasy, Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh! There are great prizes to be won. Remember: NAWI is your starting point for everything to do with e-sports on the de_campus_rub.map.

At our closed meeting, we realized once again that gaming is still a hot topic. We are planning to expand our cooperation with student councils in order to organize bigger and even more exciting events. We have also added trading card game tournaments to the program to offer even more variety and excitement. Stay tuned and let’s dive into the exciting world of gaming together!

Professional Gaming

We bring e-sports to RUB!

Are you passionate about playing video games and want to take things a little more professionally as part of a team? Whether it’s OW2, CS:2, LoL, Valorant, Rocket League or Rainbow Six, the e-sports initiative at RUB makes it possible. In the Uniliga, we compete at the highest level in Germany against other universities. Recently, we were able to move up to the top league with some teams and prove ourselves there. We support this initiative significantly and have been able to use it to launch projects such as the Gaming Hub and e-sports events at RUB in recent semesters.

Restore library opening hours

Our aim is to improve library opening hours and learning conditions at our university. The library is the heart of our academic life, the place where knowledge and research come together. We believe that access should be as easy as possible. We therefore advocate the following measures:

1. expansion of general places and opening hours for learning:
1. more study spaces: The university library should expand its range of study spaces to accommodate the increasing number of students. We call for additional rooms and spaces to be created for independent study.
2. longer opening hours: The library should be open at times to suit the different needs of students. We will advocate the introduction of longer opening hours in the evenings and at weekends to allow for more flexible learning.
2. adapting the library opening hours to the building opening hours:

Library opening hours should be aligned with the University’s general building opening hours so that students can access resources and places outside of lecture times.

KulturCafé

The KulturCafé is getting on in years! It’s time for new furniture, a food and technology upgrade.
With the new equipment, the café should shine in new splendor and appear brighter. The food on offer is also no longer up to date. A smaller menu with fresh specialties such as delicious salads, crispy paninis and fruity smoothies should make your taste buds blossom. The introduction of EC card payment would also be desirable.

Overall, communication between the student body and the KulturCafé team should be a priority in the future. A new usage concept has been developed for this purpose, which will be tailored to the needs of the student body together with the student councils. In terms of technology, new ventilation will allow more guests to attend the legendary RUB parties in future. True to the motto: The bass has to fuck, new speakers should ensure better sound at parties. Clear advertising must be created for the events taking place there. We have already installed customer stoppers near the KulturCafé to increase our presence.

Getting ahead digitally

The past pandemic has shown us how important a well-equipped digital infrastructure is at the university. We are calling for an improvement and expansion of the Wi-Fi network across the entire campus. A reliable internet connection is essential to meet the demands of modern higher education. In order to achieve this goal, Wi-Fi expansion must be driven forward everywhere on campus, but especially in the G-row. However, a digital university also requires reliability and accessibility. The university does not want to continue the lifelong @rub.de email and only guarantee students an email for the duration of their studies. On the one hand, this breaks the promise of lifelong e-mail. On the other hand, the new @edu mail brings with it numerous problems. From Sciebo to publications made with the old email, which will soon no longer be available. That’s why we’re calling for a lifelong rub@.de mail and an expansion of WLAN across the board.

Collective agreement for student employees

Student assistants, also known as SHK or WHB, are pillars of research and teaching at universities and, of course, at RUB. They are deployed in various areas, for example as exercise group leaders, in the preparation of courses or in research when preparing and conducting experiments.

As a rule, these students receive a flat-rate payment for their work, which is now only slightly above the minimum wage (minimum wage = €12.41, SHK(RUB)=€13.25, WHB(RUB)=€14.00). Unlike most university employees, these student jobs are not covered by collective agreements!

We are campaigning for a collective agreement for student employees (TV Stud) and want to actively support the necessary action! Such a collective agreement would make it possible to guarantee transparent, appropriate remuneration and establish fair working conditions and vacation entitlements. It would give the SHK and WHB the right to co-determination!

Parliamentary work

We want an active and productive parliament that performs its duties conscientiously. We attend the parliamentary sessions! Creating something together and not just talking about it is at the heart of what we do! That’s why there were no empty seats in our ranks during the last parliamentary term. We were present at 100% of the meetings.

We want modern, comprehensible and secure foundations for the work of the student body and the student councils! Based on our motions, the student body’s statutes, election regulations and student council regulations were revised and unanimously adopted by parliament. In the coming year, we want to work together with the student councils on voluntarily applicable regulations that reflect the legal framework and incorporate sensible proposals.

Making democracy more accessible

Participation in elections to the student parliament has stagnated at 7-10% for years. General elections are at the heart of democracy, which is why we are keen to increase voter turnout. We are pursuing various approaches to achieve this.

We want to remove barriers to participation in the election! We have already achieved sensible polling locations for the degree programs, so that physics students can vote at the NC, sports science students at the health campus and computer science students at the MC. However, our long-term goal is to abolish the ballot box system and introduce a central (digital) electoral register. Thanks to our initiative, a digital register is available for this election. This will enable the electoral officer to remove the link to the ballot box for this election. So that all students can exercise their right to vote at every ballot box! We have already created the legal basis for this in the election regulations.

We want to make university politics more transparent and accessible! This includes the StuPa-Check, which we have organized and further developed and which is intended to serve students as an orientation aid for the election (similar to the Wahl-O-Mat). We also want to make documents relating to the work of the parliament available in a central, online archive (e.g. minutes, motions, statutes and regulations).

Support for the halls of residence

Halls of residence are one of the hubs for networking among students. As we want to promote student life all round, we also want to support the part of life that takes place in the halls of residence. We are committed to improving communication between students and AKAFÖ. We also want to ensure that you get faster repairs in the event of damage in your shared flats etc. Not to forget, of course, the promotion of more events, be it internally in the hall of residence or together with other halls of residence! The facilities in the halls of residence, be it communal kitchens or common rooms, should of course not be forgotten either.

Sport

We would like to continue to offer you sports opportunities by participating in various tournaments, from soccer and beach volleyball to chess and various trend sports. You have the opportunity to compete with friends and rivals alone or in a team and win great prizes. We want to make sport as fun as possible for you! Last year we were able to provide many different events and we want to keep it that way.

The campus as a safe space

Have you ever had a queasy feeling when going home or on campus and not known how to deal with it? We don’t want to leave you alone with this and want to show you that you need to behave differently to feel safe. To do this, we want to make the campus safer with familiar concepts (“is Luisa here?”) and better lighting. We would like to conduct a survey to record your areas of fear on campus so that we can tackle them directly. We also want to spread the word about existing services such as the Heimwegtelefon e.V. telephone helpline and the security service to accompany you on your way home.

We also want to give you the opportunity to learn how to behave in exceptional situations in order to help yourself or others. To this end, we want to offer free (gender-segregated) self-defense courses and free (online) first aid courses.

Cannabis club at the university

Making pragmatic policy means reacting to changing legal situations. Our current federal government has decriminalized the consumption and sale of cannabis. To ensure that this change also takes place on campus, NAWI has supported student non-commercial cultivation associations in setting up on or near campus as soon as the legal situation allows. As a result, the first cannabis club was recently founded on campus.

The introduction of cannabis clubs will allow students to make an informed decision about their lifestyle while protecting their health and safety.

The AStA could also continue to offer events to pass on information and, of course, prevention. Education is the key to minimizing risk!

But of course, cultivation associations would also provide space for community, exchange and cohesion, which would increase the well-being of everyone involved.