Demonstration against budget cuts on 19.6.2021 at 3 p.m. at the Audimax

Save our language centre!

On 19 June 2021 at 15:00 there will be a demonstration in front of the Audimax, supported by the student council together with the GEW-Studis FAU.

The context is that many jobs financed by the study grants have become significantly more expensive – while the budget has remained the same state-wide since 2014 – without compensating for inflation and rising student numbers.

This means that now, after the discontinuation of QuiS 2 and many associated posts, the diversity of languages and the number of places for language courses are at risk.

If this financial gap will not be filled, only 6,500 language course places will be offered per semester instead of 11,500 – whether this even meets basic needs is questionable.

Also language diversity is in danger: At the moment, more than two dozens of languages are offered, including not only widely spoken languages such as English, Chinese and Spanish, but also more selective languages like Icelandic, Korean or Swahili. Offering such a wide range of languages might not be maintained under the impending budgetary constraints.

At the demonstration, we oppose the constant tightening of funding for such programmes – and in this context, we call on the Bavarian state government to refrain from intensifying these problems in the new Higher Education Act and to focus more on proper funding for the quality of studies.

So let’s unite in opposing the trend of cuts and forced austerity and let’s show clearly that we will not simply remain silent when our range of studies is threatened! Come to the Audimax on Saturday!

Ref LuSt update on exams and studies

Dear students,

at the beginning of the summer semester 2021 some regulations concerning exams and studies have changed again due to the Corona situation, which we would like to inform you about.

 
A pleasant news from the Ministry is that the standard period of study and the examination deadlines have been adjusted again in the last days of the winter semester. Thereby, the regulations for the last winter semester AND also for the current summer semester were adjusted together. After the corresponding change in the law, this has also already been adjusted on the enrollment certificates. This means that you can now also submit your Bafög application retroactively.
 
Furthermore, the University Library was able to reopen as of March 10. This applies to the central locations as well as the law branch library. As a result, the workstations can also be used again after pre-registration and seat reservation. It is important to note that in contrast to examinations, for example, FFP2 masks are mandatory throughout the entire stay. [1]
And also from our side again the reference to the valid measures with examinations. From now on, a “simple” mouth-nose covering (e.g. community mask) is NOT sufficient. Minimum requirement is now a surgical mask. Further information especially regarding the behavior during exams and the handling of darfichrein.de can be found here [2].
 
We will continue to keep you up to date as best we can. If you have any questions and/or suggestions, please feel free to contact us at stuve-lust@fau.de. Also, after long and many discussions, we have finally achieved partial success regarding a free shot rule. As already explained in the email from the president, it is now possible to apply for a cancellation of a failed attempt from WS20/21, should this be the reason for a final failure of an exam. This is also possible retroactively in later semesters. When applying, it should be clear that the reasons for the final failure are due to circumstances of any kind that occurred during the Corona pandemic. You will find more information about this soon on the page of the examination office or already now in the current Corona statutes under §5 Abs. 3 [3]. Good luck with your further exams and stay healthy! We know that this is not relevant for all students and that for many it is not the solution they had wished for. Nonetheless, we were able to achieve partial success here and protect individuals who were or will be facing direct de-registration. Many thanks to all who have contributed here!
 
The new summer semester begins next week. It still applies that the events are planned in such a way that “studying without attendance” is possible. Individual events in small groups, can be planned as attendance events with conditions and will then be carried out or converted depending on the infection situation. If you come across information here that still leaves questions unanswered, please feel free to contact your lecturers. Dialogue may reveal weaknesses in planning and communication that can be addressed in time for the semester to begin. You are also welcome to contact us with such concerns at any time at stuve-lust@fau.de.Außerdem. We hope that you all participated diligently in the evaluations for the winter semester. The results are an important basis for the work of the student council.
If you remember a course or a teacher from the last semester in a particularly *positive* way, because the support was particularly good or the tools used were particularly helpful, then we would be happy to receive feedback in this form [4]. As inspiration for all teachers, we would like to conduct and publish short video interviews with these “best practice examples”. The project is titled “5-Minute-Good-Teaching” (“5-Minuten-gute-Lehre”) and we look forward to your feedback.
 
Here are the most important tips for face-to-face meetings:
  • Keep your distance! In the lecture and examination rooms, the seats are marked with sufficient distance, but also remember before and after the appointment, if it is tempting to stand together and chat for a while.
  • Wear a mask! Even outside the building, if there are many people there and inside anyway. Wear the mask over your mouth AND nose, don’t finger it too often and make sure to change it after several uses. There is a general obligation to wear a mask on the entire university campus, even during exams and attendance events, which now prescribes medical masks (no FFP2 mask obligation) [5]. In the university library, however, FFP2 masks are mandatory [2].
  • Hand hygiene! Wash your hands, use disinfectants where available and otherwise refrain from eating and unnecessary touching of the face.
  • Use the darfichrein app! This is the only way that occupational safety can inform the people at risk in the vicinity in the event of a positive person.
  • Stay calm! This is an exceptional situation and no one wants to be infected, but panic will not help us. Stay calm, follow the rules, be nice and considerate, and it will be fine.
  • If you are sick, stay at home! Please, stick to it! Even if it’s just “a little cough”, stay home, don’t risk it!
  • Ask! If you are unsure about the rules or belong to a risk group for a severe course or are pregnant, please feel free to contact your examiners, the family service [6], the Corona-Info of the FAU (corona-info@fau.de) or us as student representatives (teaching and studies: stuve-lust@fau.de, speakers stuve-sprat@fau.de, StudOn-Forum [7], anonymous contact form here [8]. [9]
 
Specifically for exams, the following also applies:
  • Withdrawal from the exam is possible on the same day via meinCampus.  However, if you do not think about it, this is not a problem. A mere absence is also considered a withdrawal. You do not need a medical certificate for this. If you test positive, you have to stay at home! Actually, this is self-evident, but we want to emphasize again: you will not suffer any disadvantages due to study deadlines (GOP, etc.), these are suspended. Please stay at home and do not put your fellow students and examiners in danger!
 
Good luck in the new summer semester wishes you
 
Your Working Group on Teaching and Studies (Ref LuSt)
 
Last update on 7.4.2021 by Michael
 
 

Pressemitteilung “Freischussregelung jetzt”

Nachdem innerhalb der letzten Woche auch die Universitäten Passau und Regensburg noch die Freischussregelung beschlossen haben, haben wir eine erneute Pressemitteilung hierzu verfasst.
Es dürfen keine Studierende zurückgelassen werden und auch aus Gründen der Bildungsgerechtigkeit sollte diese Regel noch rückwirkend für alle Prüfungen des Wintersemesters gelten.

Auch der Minister appelliert in einem Brief, der uns Freitag zuging, an die Hochschulen und Universitäten, dass eine Freischussregelung erneut geprüft werden solle!

Liebe Universitätsleitung und Fakultätsleitungen, bitte ermöglichen Sie diese Regelung jetzt! Es werden so mehr Studierende einen Studienfortschritt erlangen, weniger Studierende ihr Studium abbrechen und auch weniger Studierende die Universität wechseln!

2. Stuve-Forum zu Studium und Lehre mit COVID-19

— English version below —

Das zweite Stuve-Forum Corona wird heute um 17:00 Uhr stattfinden!

Nachdem die Veranstaltung vor einer Woche war ein voller Erfolg, wollen wir es heute und am Mittwoch in einer Woche wiederholen. Ihr könnt auf unserer digitalen Sitzung gerne alle eure Fragen rund um Corona und Studium stellen. Antworten bekommt ihr entweder direkt auf der Sitzung oder im Nachgang der Veranstaltung.

Bei Interesse, reicht eine formlose Mail an stuve-sprat@fau.de. Den Link zur Sitzung bekommt ihr dann per Mail.Das Protokoll des letzten Stuve-Forum findet ihr hier: https://wiki.stuve.fau.de/uniweit:stuve-foren

The second Stuve-Forum Corona will take place today at 5pm!

After the success of last week’s event, we want to repeat it today and on Wednesday in one week. You are welcome to ask all your questions about Corona and studying at our digital session. You will get answers either directly at the session or after the event.

If you are interested, just send an informal mail to stuve-sprat@fau.de. You will receive the link to the session by mail.

The minutes of the last Stuve forum can be found here: https://wiki.stuve.fau.de/uniweit:stuve-foren

Kein Platz im Wunsch-Seminar?

Trotz Corona-Krise dürfen wir nicht vergessen uns mit den regulären Studi-Problemen zu beschäftigen. Das Folgende hat vermutlich schon jede*r einmal erlebt: Ein interessantes Praktikum oder Seminar wird angeboten, doch noch bevor man sich selbst anmelden kann ist der Kurs voll belegt.
Das ist nicht nur frustrierend sondern kann auch gravierende Folgen für die spätere akademische Laufbahn haben.

Um einen Überblick zu bekommen, in welchen Studiengängen und bei welchen Kursen es dieses Problem gibt brauchen wir eure Hilfe!
Nutzt das folgende Formular und berichtet von euren Erfahrungen.

Erst wenn viele Studis ihre Erfahrungen weitergeben und wir Problemschwerpunkte feststellen, können wir diese an die Verantwortlichen weitergeben und die Kapazitäten erhöhen. Helft uns das Studium an der FAU zu verbessern.