Your VS Contribution  [02.08.19]

Every semester, all students pay their semester fees to the university. Part of this fee also goes to the Student Body (VS). The Student Parliament (StuPa) has decided to increase the fee for the start of the current summer semester from €10 to €12.50. In a guest article, the student representatives explain what the money is used for.

Background: Students at the University of Hohenheim currently pay a total of € 184.90 per semester. The fee consists of three parts:

- The university charges € 70 for administrative costs.

- € 102.40 goes to the Studierendenwerk (e.g. for the Mensa, dormitories, counselling, and for the StudiTicket)

- € 12.50 is the contribution for the student body

 

Guest article from the Hohenheim AStA

The semester fees give VS the opportunity to implement projects and enrich your studies. We work according to the motto "From students for students", so your money should get back to you.

 

Cultural activities on campus

Even though Hohenheim is not located in the city center, there is no shortage of events on campus. Much of what is on the program is organized by students. On Tuesdays you can enjoy the varying program of the cultural group or watch a film in the university cinema on Thursdays. Both groups are AStA groups and are financially supported by the VS. You can go to the university cinema for only €1.00, and at the TMS you can buy drinks at student-friendly prices while following the program of the cultural group.

 

TMS

Since 2016, the TMS has been completely managed by VS itself. This gives us a lot of freedom in terms of use and design, but also means a lot of work. On the one hand there are the fixed costs such as water, heating, electricity, and cleaning, from which you all benefit when you drink a cup of coffee or tea in the café, for example. In addition, there are two student assistants who ensure that the TMS is opened on time every day and that everything is in order, so that there is always enough toilet paper or that the soap dispensers are filled. Of course, such consumables also incur costs, which are borne by VS.

In the long term, further renovation work is to be carried out at the TMS, such as the renewal of the toilet facilities. In addition, a certain financial buffer is needed to cushion spontaneous problems such as a burst pipe with water damage, broken windows, or similar issues.

The TMS should be open to all and that is why no entrance fees may be charged. In addition, student rents are extremely low compared to similar locations. The VS does not make a profit with the TMS, we only get a minimal profit margin from the sale of drinks so that the groups can pass the drinks on to you at a reasonable price.

However, the expenses for the TMS in the last semesters have increased more than expected because of vandalism and additional repair measures. For example, windows have often been damaged in the recent past. This causes additional work and costs that are not included in the budget. In the end you all pay for the stupidity of a few. Therefore we would like to ask you to be careful with the TMS and to keep your eyes open. If you see anything strange around TMS, please intervene.

 

Grants for Fachschaften and Student Groups

Fachschaften and student groups can apply for grants for their work as part of the VS. The majority of excursions and lectures are financed by VS funds. Travel costs to seminars and conferences are also usually covered. Due to the renovation and redesign of the former script office in the AStA hallway using student contributions, the groups now have an additional room at their disposal, which they can use for meetings, for example. In the future, it should become even more transparent for students how the semester fees are used, since all groups are encouraged to indicate when applying for their actions that they are financially supported by the VS.

AStA and StuPa

The AStA (Allgemeiner Studierendenausschuss) and the StuPa (Studierendenparlament) do not only decide on the use of your contributions, but also use a part of them themselves, e.g. to go to the LandesAstenKonferenzen (LAK) or to organize projects for you like workshops. We are also committed to sports: We have already been able to finance a pull-up bar and regularly ensure that current and new music is available for the sports courses.

 

Script office

50% of the printing costs for the scripts are subsidized by quality assurance funds, the remaining 50% are to be covered by the sales price. However, the student assistants in the script office are paid by VS. Our employees sell the scripts, are in contact with the lecturers, and make sure that everything is printed on time.  In the meantime, the script office has moved to new premises for 3 semesters, which provides more comfort and shortens waiting times, especially at the beginning of the semester.

 

Administrative tasks

The tasks and areas of work of the VS have increased considerably in recent years. Therefore an administrative office was created, since the workload could not be managed any longer by volunteer helpers. Currently, our 2 administrative employees take care of the TMS administration and invoicing, room booking applications, the arrangement of emergency accommodations, and many other tasks in day-to-day business. The administration office is also located in the script office. In addition to personnel costs, material costs also inevitably arise in all processes, be it printer paper, highlighters, or staples. These consumables are also needed on a regular basis and have to be purchased.

Text: AStA / Translation: Neudorfer