Dear fellow students, Until February 15, 2021, the postal election for the Academic Senate (AS) will take place (the letters need to arrive at the election office at Mittelweg 177 by 2 p.m.). As CampusGrün, we are running as List 2 in order to campaign as student representatives in this highest elected body for a university that we want to turn from head to toe.

This is easier said than done: the Academic Senate, with its absolute majority of professors, is not a democratic body. As a counter-reaction to the student movement for democratic universities, the dominance of the profs in all self-governing bodies of this university was established by the courts in 1973. Due to the absolute majority, decisions in the Academic Senate are determined less by argumentative discussions than by professors informally among themselves. For this reason, professorships are a structural problem. We think: Science is not made by professors anyway but by the precarious academic mid-level staff, exploited doctoral students, student employees, as well as unpaid master's and bachelor's students - in the administrative language, assistants are called "material resources" and students are called "public traffic". Accordingly, we want to turn the structure of this university upside down with you!

What is happening/has happened in the current legislature

Introduce the solidarity semester!

SARS-CoV-2 has also dominated the legislature of the Academic Senate. In spring, the presidium of the UHH tried to stop all committee work without further ado and to replace it with an autocratic crisis circle. With alliance partners from all member groups, we were able to fight for the return to the elected bodies after only a few weeks. In other ways, too, the main issue this year was to defend against the negative consequences of the city and university measures against the pandemic:
While the president of this university philosophizes about how to make life sweeter in the home office, many of us students have suffered the social and psychological consequences of job loss and loneliness. In the Academic Senate, we have submitted numerous proposals with social demands which included an unbureaucratic emergency aid for students in the amount of 900€ per month, the refund of the semester fee and the treatment of the summer semester as a "non-semester" to increase the standard period of study. These proposals (for links regarding public university documents you need to login with using your stine account) were accepted by a large majority but little has happened because the willingness to protest in the AS was low: Above all, the presidium and the professors seemed to use the resolutions for pure symbolic politics. Effective, on the other hand, was the extra-parliamentary movement, as in the Solidarity Semester Alliance Hamburg, to push through at least minimal demands at the city level: Extension of BAföG, extension of the little Corona aid and reopening of libraries and student cantines.
The debate about the solidarity semester will certainly accompany us into the summer semester of 2021.

Overcoming the worsening underfunding

Other disputes also have to do with effects of the pandemic: For example, the Hamburg Senate wants to reduce (university public, see above) previously pledged funding for universities in the upcoming budget due to lower tax revenues. Consequences are already becoming apparent. For example, nearly all positions at the University College will be eliminated and a hiring freeze will be imposed. Here, the focus on the so-called "excellence strategy" is taking its revenge. The UHH preferred to fund lighthouse projects rather than address the underfunding of the entire university. The AS has adopted a comprehensive statement (university public link, see above) on this.

Against any tuition fees

The Corona crisis also makes clear that the red-green senate opportunistically throws overboard the tuition-free tuition stipulated in the coalition agreement, depending on the situation. For example, due to lower tax revenues, fees of up to 100 Euro are now to be introduced for the first time for entrance tests in medicine, which will further increase the social selectivity of this degree. Among others, we have done public relations work on this issues and have demanded and enforced a statement from the AS (university public link, see above), which makes the rejection of the fees clear.

What about in-class teaching?

Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have repeatedly dealt with the question of face-to-face teaching and have developed a differentiated position: Face-to-face teaching should not take place at all costs and is not necessary in mass lectures, for example. At the same time, study results have recently shown that many of us have poor learning conditions in our shared rooms and that at least the infrastructure (Internet access, equipment, libraries, learning and exchange rooms) must continue to be provided by the university. We reject the fact that the libraries were also closed recently. We stay tuned and want to have certain forms of in-class teaching including the hygiene concept back after the lockdown at the latest.

A new president for the UHH

As the largest student group, CampusGrün provides the student representative of the search committee for Dieter Lenzen's successor. Dieter who? Yes, that's right: The current president is not exactly known for his presence on campus and his closeness to research and teaching. That's why we are also campaigning for a successor for whom, instead of competition for excellence, the first priority is learning and working conditions on campus, as well as social responsibility and democratization in everyday university life. This already applies to the process of finding a successor, for which we demand at least a public hearing of the candidates.

Autonomy for free spaces instead of banner removal by the university

A short side note at this point: In the AS, we were concerned this year that the university administration removed several political banners from Café Knallhart which included a call for a memorial demonstration for the victims of the racist terror of Hanau. The president and the chancellor did not comment on the content of the banners but bureaucratically, they argued that the hanging of the banners was not authorized (university public link, see above). So here is a call to all of you to consider how the campus can be improved in the future without bureaucracy!

Our principles, the entire election program and current publications can be found on our Homepage.

Also find us on twitter, facebook and
Instagram

General information about the election at: https://www.uni-hamburg.de/uhh/organisation/stabsstellen/recht/wahlen.html

Dates of the Academic Senate as well as protocols and resolutions can be found at:
https://www.uni-hamburg.de/uhh/organisation/gremien/akademischer-senat.html)

Another hint: the student group "AG Arbeitsunsinn" is currently collecting reports about the partial meaninglessness of activities in studies & jobs at the university, please support them with your reports! More info here

We hope to meet again on campus and in events as soon as possible!

Organize university from below! - CampusGrün: Vote for list 2!