University policy system of the university

Due to its complexity, the university policy system is probably only of secondary importance to many members of the University of Göttingen. The numerous underlying regulations alone can be daunting. Nevertheless, university politics has a special significance, especially with regard to decision-making: it is the place for having a say. For change. For improvements! Much of this happens behind closed doors, in the committees of the faculties or university. Committees can be divided into two areas: student self-administration and academic self-administration.

Student self-administration deals exclusively with the concerns of the student body. The bodies assigned here are staffed exclusively by students and are intended to represent student interests within the university. At faculty level, student self-administration includes the Student Representative Council (FSP), which elects and controls the Student Representative Council (FSR), the Subject Group (FG), which elects the respective Subject Group Spokesperson (FGS), the Student Parliament (StuPa), which elects and controls the General Student Committee (AStA), and the Student Representative Council Assembly (FSRV), which is the networking body for all Student Representative Councils. Budgets are also decided in the parliaments and old student councils and student representatives are discharged.

 In academic self-administration, the committees are made up of all status groups. In this area, professors, technical and administrative staff (MTV), academic staff and students sit around the same table. Even though the professors have the sole majority in most committees, this is where the greatest changes can be initiated for studies and the university - including by students! Academic self-administration includes the Senate, the highest decision-making body at university level, and the Faculty Council (FR), the highest body at the faculty. Of particular importance for student representatives in this area are the faculty-wide Study Commission (StuKo), the Central Commission for Teaching and Studies (zKLS) and the Study Quality Commission (SQK), in which the student body is represented with half of the seats.

But we also have a say in the other commissions and can put forward our interests!

Both self-governing bodies are re-formed on the student side after the university elections, i.e. every year. You can find out which committees there are and which topics they deal with in the committee work section.

For all those for whom this is not enough, the following graphic illustrates the university political system.