Election Info No. 1 in WiSe 22/23

Von /

– German version –

Dear all,

anyone who has lived in Heidelberg long enough and has the right passport may vote in Heidelberg’s OB elections today, Sunday, Nov. 6. In this election info, we will inform you about the upcoming elections in the winter semester of the „Verfasste Studierendenschaft“ (VS). Students are eligible to vote in these elections regardless of passport or place of residence. Your intented degree is also irrelevant – whether you are a bachelor’s or doctoral student, you are eligible to vote – though sometimes only in your subject(s), and there are also restrictions on short-term students in Fachschaft elections. We will also inform you about some things related to the work in the Fachchaften and committees.

We will give you more info in the following „Wahl-Infos“. However, you may always contact us if you have any questions, or you may come to our meetings (see info at the bottom).

Often, fellow students do not know that they could have run for office or that elections are taking place. Therefore, please at least skim this „Wahl-Info“ and pass on relevant information to your dorms, shared flats, courses, Fachschaften, groups and acquaintances so that even more people can make use of their right to stand for election and vote. The election team (AG Wahlen) expresses its sincere thanks to all who do so.

Overview:

  1. What elections are coming up?
  2. Nominations and candidacies
  3. Delegation (Entsendung) and substitution (Vertretung) in the StuRa
  4. Fachschaftsrat elections in the winter semester 2022/23
  5. Fachrat elections in the winter semester 2022/23
  6. Committee training (Gremienschulung)
  7. Resignation and engagement certificates
  8. Call for candidates for the election committee

1. What elections are coming up?

1.1 Elections in the StuRa (Officers, Committees, etc.)

Throughout the semester, you will find calls for candidates for positions in the student body (VS), for VS members in other committees, or for university committees on the StuRa page. As already mentioned in the introduction, all student are generally eligible to run for office, regardless of their subject or degree objective – be it a bachelor’s degree, a doctorate or a state examination. If there are any restrictions, they will be mentioned in the call for candidates. Elections are held at the meetings of the Student Council (StuRa).

In the winter semester, for example, the StuRa has to elect the student members of the representative assembly of the Studierendenwerk, the VS chairpersons, the members of the hardship commission, the QSM committee and the arbitration commission, officers and more.

1.2 Elections in the Fachschaften/subjects (Fachschaftsräte and Fachräte)

Elections for numerous Fachschaftsräte and for student members of Fachräte will be held January 16 – 24, 2023. You can find the list of affected Fachschaften and subjects in the election announcement. In some subjects, by-elections must be held; they are held at other times. As a rule, all students of the subjects/programs concerned can run for office – regardless of whether they are studying for a bachelor’s degree, a doctorate, a state examination, etc. Restrictions are listed in the election announcement.

2. Candidacies and running for office

2.1 See who is running

For elections in the StuRa, the candidates submit a short application text. The received candidatures will be published on the website of the VS. This way, StuRa members and interested students can inform themselves about the candidates.

The list of candidates for the elections to the Fachschaftsräte is published on the election page. In some Fachschaften, the candidates also introduce themselves in more detail within the subject.

2.2 Running for office yourself

The candidacy for the elections held in the StuRa is done via an online form. The candidatures are presented in a meeting in the StuRa, the candidates are interviewed there by the StuRa members (1st reading). The election takes place in another meeting (usually the following meeting: 2nd reading).

There are also online forms for candidacies for Fachschaftsräte and Fachräte. In some subjects, candidates introduce themselves in the subject on placards or in info sessions. Voting is done online by all students eligible to vote in the respective election.

3. Delegation (Entsendung) and substitution (Vertretung) in the StuRa

All student councils have at least 1 member in the StuRa. In 5 Fachschaften they are directly elected by all students of the Fachschaft, in the others they are delegated, some student councils also provide joint members. The term of office is one year. Withdrawal is possible. You can check the StuRa members list to see if a Fachschaft has elected or delegated members and if it is time for a Fachschaft to delegate new members. The StuRa chair (Präsidium) will be informed about delegations via the delegation form.

StuRa members – both from lists and from Fachschaften – can be substituted. The substitution is communicated via the substitution form. You can see from the StuRa members list who can substitute in which order.

4. Fachschaftsrat elections in the winter semester 2022/23

The members of many Fachschaftsräte (FSR) will be elected from January 16 – 24 for terms beginning April 1, 2023. The list of Fachschaften concerned can be found in the election announcement. The deadline for candidacy is 4 p.m. on Monday, January 9.

We ask all affected Fachschaften for an early registration of the elections. Why is that? Because by signing up, you’re signaling that have the elections in mind and we don’t need to check with you. Ideally, you will also already name the polling place committee. Its members are the contact persons for the central election committee and are responsible for advertising in the subject / Fachschaft. Members of the polling place committee are not allowed to run for the Fachschaftsrat – therefore you can change the members of the polling place committee (Wahlraumausschuss) until January.

In urgent cases, by-elections for current legislatures can also be held in the winter semester – by-elections must be held if so many regular members drop out that the affected FSR is no longer capable of acting. To register, use the same form as for the regular election and write „by-election“ in the comments field. It is also best to contact the election committee directly.

There are calls for candidates and election posters for all elections until the end of November. You can find the files on the publicity materials page, so you can advertise the elections online and offline. If you can’t print them yourself, we can send you printed posters on request. Please advertise and thus inform eligible voters that they can run or vote.

5. elections of the Fachräte in the winter semester 22/23

Elections for all student members of the Fachräte (FR) will also take place from January 16-24, again the deadline for candidacy is Monday, January 9, 16:00. Non-student members are also elected. Again, the AG Fachrat (election committee for the Fachräte) asks for a registration of the elections. Likewise, by-elections may be held and there are calls for candidates and election posters for these elections as well. (see the explanations under No. 4).

6. committee training (Gremienschulung)

There are committee training sessions for anyone who wants to prepare for or is interested in working on committees. It deals with topics such as finances of the Fachschaft, quality assurance funds (QSM) or work in the StuRa. Usually, the events take place on Thursdays between 18:15 and 20:00 – partly in the StuRa office, partly online.

7. End of office, resignation and engagement certificates

Sometimes the work becomes too much or you realize that you can’t contribute so well from abroad after all. In this case you can resign from your office. There is an online form for resignation.

If you change your subject, you can no longer be a member of the relevant Fachrat or Fachschaftsrat – but you can still be a financial officer or a member of an electoral committee. Anyone who is no longer enrolled at Heidelberg University can no longer be a member of a VS committee. However, since we don’t find out when someone graduates or changes subjects, we ask that you let us know. Send us an e-mail – or use the resignation form and indicate exmatriculation or change of subject in the comments field.

For your engagement in the Fachschaften, Fachräte, StuRa and other offices you can get a certificate of engagement – you apply for it via an online form.

8. Call for candidates for the election committee (Wahlausschuss)

The Elections Committee (Wahlausschuss) is also looking for new members. Info can be found in the follwing call:

Currently, we are short of a quorum and many of us are still active elsewhere – which means we still need new members! If you don’t want to run for office right away, you can just come to the meetings first.

In winter we meet on Fridays at 16:00 in the StuRa office – the meeting is hybrid, you can also join the meetings online in our virtual meeting room. Feel free to come and ask us questions or just sit down and get a taste of what we do! You can also reach us by e-mail: wahlen@stura.uni-heidelberg.de

Best,
Your Election team (AG Wahlen)

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