Universities are self-governing to a certain extent. "Their members are therefore allowed to participate in autonomous decisions, albeit with different voting weights," summarises Klaus Poier, Head of the Centre of Higher Education Law. On the whole, this system of participation has proved its worth. "It's about working together to successfully live and further develop the university," emphasises the jurist. How well this works, of course, depends on the individuals involved.
Too much ideology or conflicting goals are usually a hindrance - if a student representative body complains about courses and examinations because the failure rate is too high, for example. "Nobody is happy about that. But simplifying the tests can reduce the quality of education and, as a result, job opportunities," explains Poier. As long as the culture of cooperation and constructive solutions continue to be worked on, he sees no great need for reform. "But it is important to make offers for exchange and broad participation to all university members ."
The researcher sees the compulsory membership of the Students' Union, which is always controversial, as its enormous strength. "It can claim to represent all students by law, which gives it more weight." The traditionally low voter participation is a downer, but easy to explain: "We have been observing a declining turnout in all ballots for decades." The sooner voters feel that the outcome of the election is very important to them, the more likely they are to get involved. "Student representation will continue in any case and will not change dramatically, regardless of who wins."