Election program StuPa election 2023

NAWI – Student politics since 2009

Thanks to your support, NAWI has been actively shaping student life on campus since 2009. Together with our sister lists, we work closely with student councils and student initiatives to promote your interests on campus. Although we have achieved a lot, there is still a lot to do! Our principle is pragmatism. We ensure that your social contribution of over one million euros is not spent on projects outside the university. Instead, we make a difference where all students can benefit – on campus. We are an independent university group that stands outside the political spectrum. This means that we are committed to making sure that university politics is not used as a career springboard by mainstream 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 semester ticket for students

Due to legal uncertainties, the semester ticket had to be canceled. We want a fair semester ticket for ALL students. Since the introduction of the Deutschlandticket (€49 ticket), there has been much discussion about the future of the semester ticket. Together with other universities in the VRR area, we have negotiated several times with the VRR about adjusting the contract or reducing the price of the semester ticket. Unfortunately, no agreement could be reached with the VRR on an adjustment. Some other universities, such as TU Dortmund University, have already decided to terminate their contracts with VRR regarding the semester ticket.

The AStA of Ruhr University has also decided to terminate the semester ticket with effect from September 2024. The reason for the termination was that the solidarity model on which the semester ticket is based is no longer legally secure with the introduction of the Deutschlandticket in its current pricing structure. A legal opinion was also drawn up in this regard. The termination is intended to avert potential financial losses for the student body, i.e. all of us, which could arise from legal action against the semester ticket. As a result of the termination, there will no longer be a semester ticket from winter semester 2024/25. However, this should not remain the case in the long term!

We at NAWI will continue to campaign for a discount and a nationwide Deutschlandticket for students. This nationwide semester ticket with financial support from the federal government should be introduced as soon as possible, exist in the long term and cost €129 per semester. Should a nationwide solution not be found in the near future, we demand that the price for the entire semester ticket (VRR semester ticket incl. NRW extension) must fall by at least €100/semester. At least the same area of validity and the regulations on passenger and bicycle transport should be retained. We believe that the VRR and politicians at state and federal level have a duty to make the student body a reasonable offer.

Mobile and flexible – sustainable mobility for students

Back in 2013, we initiated the cooperation with the bike rental provider nextbike, whose services have been enjoying increasing popularity ever since. In recent years, we have seen a steady increase in the number of registrations. With the metropolradruhr bike rental system, students throughout the Ruhr region can rent bikes flexibly and use them free of charge for 60 minutes. The network of rental stations is constantly being expanded and we are campaigning for new stations, especially in Bochum and the surrounding area. At times, nextbike unfortunately provided too few bikes in Bochum. We were able to prove this and save the student body money. There are now 600 brand new bikes in Bochum. Unfortunately, like many other companies, nextbike is also feeling the effects of inflation and there is to be a price increase. A fair price-performance ratio that the student body agrees with is important to us. For this reason, a ballot will be held at this year’s StuPa election in which you can vote on the price increase. Negotiations will continue on the basis of this opinion. Regardless of the future course of the cooperation with nextbike, it is important for us to continue to have a bike rental system on campus and in Bochum.

The rental bikes are not sufficient for transporting crates of drinks and large purchases. Our solution: e-cargo bikes. The planning for this is almost complete and the bikes can hopefully be rented by students in the near future and used for transportation on and around campus.

Cycling students in particular have mastered the art of navigating the campus without stairs. One solution to this could be a bike loop on campus. We support this idea of the university administration, which ensures barrier-free access to mobility.

We are also evaluating the feasibility of introducing e-scooters in order to create a wide range of sustainable mobility options for students.

AStA Repair Café 2.0 & bicycle workshop – Together for sustainability and mobility

Since the successful founding of the AStA Repair Café and the AStA bicycle workshop by NAWI members in 2020, the glass building (“Glaskasten”) next to the Ruhr-Universität library has developed into a center for sustainability, repair culture and mobility. Here, we not only offer the opportunity to repair defective electronic devices and bicycles free of charge under supervision, but also the chance to donate decommissioned computers, laptops and bicycles. After a general overhaul, these are then made available to those in need.

If you don’t have your own bike or are financially limited, you can assemble your own bike from recycled parts in our bike workshop. On-site operations are buzzing, whether through repairs, donations or the sustainability flea market, which is set to take place again next year.

Since 2020, we have steadily expanded the service and established it permanently on campus. In the coming year, we would like to further improve the offer, extend the opening hours and hire additional staff to ensure optimal support. Together with Ruhr-Universität Bochum, we are planning another Sustainability Week for 2024, which will be another highlight of our efforts, with talks and workshops on the topics of sustainability and repair culture planned in the Glaskasten, as well as a stall market that will take place in front of the Repair Café.

Find out more on those website:

• AStA Repair Café: www.asta-bochum.de/repaircafe
• AStA bicycle workshop: www.asta-bochum.de/fahrradwerkstatt

Together we are committed to sustainability and mobility on campus!

Green campus and sustainability – shaping a sustainable future

In this day and age, a green campus means not only literally making it greener, but also promoting sustainable action on it. We start with a focus on the buildings that offer the potential to install mobile photovoltaic systems or even photovoltaic bricks on their roofs. The latter could offer an architecturally appealing solution. In our inquiries, it was often argued that the ceiling load is not sufficient. We wonder why this factor has not been taken into account in extensive renovations and new builds and call for this to become standard in the future. The university has now also seen this point, which we have been demanding for years, and is planning to equip at least the new buildings with solar cells in future – a start!

Another focus is on the exterior surfaces of the buildings. In the IA, for example, black panels could be replaced by inconspicuous photovoltaic panels that are in keeping with the color and architecture of the listed building. We don’t want to argue against monument protection, but rather find innovative ways to combine sustainability and preservation of the architectural heritage.

We are also committed to efficient energy management on campus, which can also be implemented via the CampusApp, in particular with the „plant a seed“ feature. This is a defect detector for unnecessary lighting on campus, whose information we then pass on to the university administration.

Our vision is to save energy in the buildings and establish a sustainable equipment rental program. We also want to introduce a module on education for sustainable development (BNE, German: Bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung), which includes courses in the RepairCafé, elective modules and optional modules. There are already studies on sustainability on campus that we can use to drive our initiative forward and shape a sustainable future for our campus.

Green Campus – Our progress and goals

For some time now, I’m sure many of you have been familiar with the fabled „Q-West“ restaurant, also known as the G-Row. But why is this of interest to us in the N and I rows? The Q-West takes 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-Ost 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 had taken responsibility for the redevelopment of the 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 with you 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 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“ (LINK: https://app.asta-bochum.de/) 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 mensa 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 your cell phone supports NFC, the app can be used to read the Mensa credit on a student ID/meal card.

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

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

What 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
The option to use the app to pay in the mensa
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 – as a list of natural scientists and engineers – would like to establish a sustainability and digitization center on campus, which, in addition to an open repair hall, offers a place to exchange second-hand goods – and provides 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. for initiatives and associations). The provision of a media room should also enable these people to present their visions and ideas to the public and thus attract additional committed people to their ideas.

BIB OF THINGS/ASTA of things – The flat rate

The „Bib der Dinge“ (Engl.: “Library of Things”) works like a lending library – except that it doesn’t lend books, but things that shouldn’t 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 would like to implement the „AStA of Things“ project in the coming year:

Tools & painting materials, event equipment and other items for (non-)daily use should be able to be borrowed „free of charge“ by all students and picked up directly on campus.

In addition, we are professionalizing equipment rental 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.

Reintroducing the campus 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 party 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 festival. Because even if the Forumplatz is dilapidated, there are plenty of other places where the party of the year could take place.

In order for a summer festival to finally take place again, we are striving for strong cooperation with the student councils. This way, the summer festival could be decentralized to the individual student councils instead of taking place in one place. This way, the summer festival can once again offer a diverse range of activities for all students. If the Ruhr University administration still considers it impossible for the summer festival to take place on our campus, we plan to organize a joint XXL summer party in cooperation with the AStA of Bochum University of Applied Sciences. University is not just about partying, but partying is damn well part of it!

Gaming

Back to the retro world! Who doesn’t remember the days of pixelated graphics, long cables and tube screens that became redundant in the gym? If you don’t just want to reminisce and see what gaming was like on the Super Nintendo, Playstation or Gamecube, you’ve come to the right place. We have always been committed to offering retro gaming events. During the remote period, we have transformed the remaining free space in the glass building into a gaming hub. 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 internal meeting, we realized once again that retro gaming is still a hot topic. We are planning to expand our cooperation with student councils in order to organize larger and even more exciting events. We will also be adding 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 (university league), 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.

Restoring 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 learning.
   2. Longer opening hours: The library should be open at longer times to suit the different needs of students. We will advocate for 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 and 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 bang, new speakers should ensure better sound at parties. Clear advertising must be created for the events taking place there. A customer stopper is to be installed near the KulturCafé to increase its presence

Moving forward 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 addresses and only guarantee students an email address for the duration of their studies. On the one hand, this breaks the promise of lifelong e-mail adresses. On the other hand, the new @edu mail address brings numerous problems with it. From Sciebo to publications that were made with the old email address, where you will soon no longer be reachable. That is why we are calling for a lifelong @rub.de mail address and the expansion of Wi-Fi 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 so, naturally, also 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 = €12.00, SHK(RUB)=€12.10, 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 tasks conscientiously. We attend the parliamentary sessions! Creating something together and not just talking about it is our focus!

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 approved 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 the heart and soul 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 ballot 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 MA. However, our long-term goal is to abolish ballot box voting and introduce a central (digital) electoral register. 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 electoral 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).

Supporting the dormitories

Residence halls are one of the hubs for networking among students. Since we want to promote student life all around, we would like to do our best for the part that takes place in dormitories.

In this regard, we advocate for better communication between students and the AKAFÖ. In addition, we would like to make sure that you get faster repairs in case of damages in your shared flats etc.. Not to forget is of course the promotion of more events, be it internally in the dorms or together with other dorms! The facilities in the halls of residence, be it communal kitchens or common rooms, should of course not be forgotten either.

Sports

We would like to continue offering you the opportunity to participate in various sports 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 continue to do so.

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 telephone support service (Heimwegtelefon e.V.: 030 12074182) or the security on call to accompany you on your way.

In addition, we 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 clubs at university

Making pragmatic policy means responding to changing legal situations. Our current federal government plans to decriminalize the use and sale of cannabis. In order for this change to take place on campus, NAWI plans to support non-commercial student cannabis clubs to be established on or near campus, as soon as the legal situation allows.

By establishing cannabis clubs, students would be able to make informed lifestyle choices while protecting their health and safety.

The AStA could also host information-sharing as well as – of course – prevention events. Education is the key to minimizing risk! But naturally, cannabis clubs would also provide a place for fellowship, sharing, and bonding, which increases every member’s well-being.