Student Government

Funding for Events

The Student Body uses funds contributed by all students to support events that benefit the entire student body.

Who Can Apply for Funding?

Everyone has the right to submit applications to the Student Body. Student organizations, for example, can apply for funding for cultural events, but individual students may also apply for support if they need funds to implement a good idea.

What can be applied for?

Funding can be requested in two different forms—as partial cost coverage and as a funding commitment.

Partial Cost Funding

This is the most commonly used option. Expenses must be documented with receipts. Revenue is not taken into account. This means the funds are paid out even if the event generates a profit. The funding can be paid out in advance.

Funding Commitment

This option is suitable for events where revenue can offset expenses. If your revenue is lower than expected, a financial loss can be avoided with a funding commitment. However, to receive payment, all expenses must be documented with receipts, and an overview of revenue must be submitted. Payment prior to the event is therefore not possible.

If you’re not entirely sure which type of financial support would be best for you, please contact the AStA’s Chief Financial Officer by email. He will definitely be able to assist you promptly.

Where can I submit applications?

Within the student body, the AStA, the Student Parliament, the student councils, and the International Student Council have financial resources at their disposal.

Student Parliament

The Student Parliament is responsible for large sums of money. Funding applications for major cultural events, concerts, festivals, and the like—costing more than 500 €—should be submitted to the StuPa. It’s always important to include a clear budget breakdown and a description of why your event deserves support.

Email address for applications: stupa@tu-clausthal.de

AStA

The AStA can approve applications for amounts up to 1,000 €. Just as with the Student Parliament, you must provide a convincing explanation of why your event enriches the lives of the Clausthal student body.

Email address for applications: asta@tu-clausthal.de

Student Councils

Each department student council has a certain budget allocated for department-specific matters. If your proposal concerns only one academic discipline, you should submit it to the relevant department student council. The AStA and the StuPa tend to support proposals that are intended for all students.

International Student Council

The International Student Council has a specific budget allocated for matters that particularly affect international students or that promote communication between German and international students.

Email address for proposals: auslaenderrat@tu-clausthal.de

Regional Council of the Studentenwerk OstNiedersachsen

The Regional Council of the Studentenwerk has an annual fund available to support local events. The Regional Council is particularly eager to support events by covering the rental fee for the cafeteria. This, of course, requires that the event take place in the cafeteria. You can also apply to the Regional Council for other items (e.g., supplies). However, the Regional Council rarely covers the full cost of an event.

Please contact the AStA if you’d like to submit a request to the Regional Council. We’ll handle the application process for you.

Not allowed: Duplicate applications

You cannot apply for funding from both the AStA and the StuPa for the same event. It must be either the AStA or the StuPa. An additional application to the Regional Council, the student council, and the International Students’ Council is permitted at any time.

When can applications be submitted?

It’s best to always submit applications in time for a meeting. There are different deadlines for this. If you’d like to submit your application to the AStA, you should do so 48 hours before a meeting. Otherwise, the AStA must first be convinced of the urgency of your application. Different deadlines apply to the Student Parliament. Funding requests for events exceeding €500 must be received via email at stupa@tu-clausthal.de no later than seven days before the meeting.

As a general rule: Submit your request early! Events generally cannot be funded retroactively. Therefore, if your application cannot be considered at a meeting due to a procedural error and no further meeting takes place before your event, that event cannot be funded.

Forms

The information sheet “Documenting Expenses” explains what you need to keep in mind when spending money.

For reimbursement of travel expenses, please use the “Travel Expense Reimbursement” form. To fill it out digitally, you must first save the form to your computer.

We also have a sample application as a Word file and a sample budget as an Excel file, complete with a fictional example application.

Event Organizer Liability Insurance

For events—such as those held in the cafeteria—event organizer liability insurance is required so that the organizer is not personally liable for any costs in the event of an incident.

To avoid having every organizer take out their own policy, the AStA offers its insurance coverage to you. To take advantage of this, the Event Organizer Liability Insurance form must be completed one week before the event. Once the AStA has approved it, the organizer may register the event with our insurance provider. It is important that this be done before the event takes place.

Open Letters

Here you will find letters previously published by the StuPa on current issues affecting the student body

Statement to the FZR Regarding the Open Letter on the Internationalization Strategy

(Sent to the Central Student Council on January 25, 2023)

On July 28, 2022, the StuPa adopted an open letter criticizing the internationalization strategy of the Clausthal University of Technology’s Executive Board.

While there was a great deal of positive feedback regarding the content—which reinforces our assessment—some people felt uncomfortable, particularly due to the choice of language.

We would like to address the criticism directed at us here.

The StuPa’s goal was and remains to express itself as clearly as possible and not to dilute its intent with overly vague wording. Unfortunately, this approach has led to other misunderstandings.

Among other things, the open letter stated: “As a result, the proportion of international students is expected to rise sharply once again. If we extrapolate this trend of involvement in activities unrelated to studies, we can expect a complete collapse of social and cultural life at the university.” In no way was it our intention to disparage the commitment of international students who volunteer their time. Regardless of their background, there are students who are deeply involved. Events such as the international cooking club contribute to enriching student life in Clausthal. We are grateful for every form of engagement.

As the StuPa, we stand for a cosmopolitan university where anyone who wishes to can get involved.

Open Letter from the StuPa Regarding the Internationalization Strategy of Clausthal University of Technology

(Adopted on July 28, 2022, at the 4th regular meeting)

Dear Executive Board of Clausthal University of Technology,

The internationalization strategy was discussed at length in the Clausthal University Student Parliament. This strategy is a source of great concern to the democratic and parliamentary representation of all students at the university. We do not consider this course of action to be effective. We view the internationalization strategy—which aims to offer all master’s programs (exclusively) in English and to also conduct bachelor’s programs in English in the later semesters—with great skepticism.

This places the wrong emphasis, one that fails to take into account the profile of Clausthal University of Technology and its sociocultural and geographic structure. While the university’s prestige and opportunities for in-depth study do attract international students, the situation has shifted to the point where easy admission is often the primary draw. The university’s locational advantage has often been reduced to nothing more than the availability of a student visa.

Already, the proportion of international students at Clausthal University of Technology exceeds 50%. The classes of 2014–2017, which still reflect different circumstances, will soon be graduating. As a result, the proportion of international students is expected to rise sharply once again. If we extrapolate this trend of students engaging in activities unrelated to their studies, we can expect a complete collapse of social and cultural life at the university. The prestigious student council for mathematics and computer science could not be staffed for the current fiscal year because no (!) applicants came forward. The student parliament currently has only 13 of its 17 seats filled.

The Green-Voltage Racing team has disbanded. The two student pubs, which are run as clubs, are having massive problems recruiting members. Many other student clubs are on the verge of disbanding or have already disbanded. A strategy that attracts international students at the expense of domestic students would therefore deal a severe blow to student life and likely spell the end for many institutions here.

If the university wants to establish itself as an “international” university in a small town without a train station, we must also ask what locational advantages exist here that could lead this endeavor to success. The university’s transportation connections are limited. Even a semester pass wouldn’t change that. Clausthal-Zellerfeld is located in a low mountain range surrounded by forest. Even the surrounding small towns do not significantly enhance the cultural offerings. The nearby major cities can be reached in about two hours by public transportation. This means that the average student is forced to rely on what the small town of Clausthal-Zellerfeld has to offer.

There are other locations in Germany that offer programs taught in English, where international students can navigate much more easily. Contrary to popular belief, studying in English—or partially in English—is not a locational advantage for domestic students. Today’s average high school graduate is exposed to the English language to a much greater extent than was the case 20 years ago.

Any more of this is likely to lead to a defensive reaction. While it is clear that there is no way around the lingua franca of the 21st century in academic life, this proficiency is already implicitly assumed. Demanding even more than necessary is not exactly well-received by Generation Z. Especially since the range of programs offered in English in Germany’s higher education landscape has already expanded massively, and Clausthal offers no locational advantage for this demographic compared to those universities.

Certain degree programs at the TU are very popular among international students. Mining and petroleum engineering are particularly in demand. In other words, the traditional core competencies of the former Mining Academy are still explicitly sought after.

Studying German mining in German is still highly valued. But aside from that, there is no longer any explicit locational advantage. What does the TU offer that one couldn’t also study in Braunschweig, Hanover, Hamburg, Berlin, Aachen, Dresden, or Munich? Only that one doesn’t “have to” study in Clausthal to do so!

Furthermore, universities in Germany are only so popular in other EU countries because no tuition fees are charged here. In times of tight budgets, however, this may change in the long term. In Baden-Württemberg, tuition fees for non-German EU students were introduced under a Green state government. In Saxony, universities have the discretion to set their own policies. In Bavaria, this is currently being planned. Should this also happen in Lower Saxony, then certainly not as many non-German EU students would be interested in studying at Clausthal University of Technology.

But even if the internationalization strategy were to succeed, the state of Lower Saxony would be funding a location whose skilled workers would only indirectly benefit the Federal Republic of Germany. And these students are more inclined to leave the country, partly because their education is conducted in English. In particular, the need to learn German plays a major role in the integration of foreign students. After all, having knowledge of the German language by the end of their studies increases their interest in staying in Germany. Many EU nationals are interested in the development of their home countries. And who could deny them that? The structural problems facing Clausthal as a university location—which the State Court of Auditors has already noted on several occasions—would only be exacerbated.

There is also the question of how the bachelor’s degree programs would become more attractive to international students through the gradual transition from German to English in later semesters. After all, there would still be a need to learn German in order to follow the courses in the first semesters. A similar problem arises for German students: those who want to study in English do not want to first spend four semesters studying in German, and those who want to study in German are deterred by the English-language semesters in the bachelor’s program. The internationalization strategy is therefore bound to fail, as it has lost sight of the existing sociocultural and geographical factors.

We see the location’s weakness as a potential advantage. The university has, in essence, much in common with an American college town. This could be leveraged as an advantage. Small-town life with a focus on student life can also be very appealing. There is a clientele and a niche for this in the German-speaking world. This could be nurtured and cultivated. This would also require further collaboration with student organizations. A guaranteed residence hall spot, similar to that offered by a “Kolleg,” would be one idea. The Clausthal location has potential, but not as a German-style “International University (Mini)-Dublin” in the Harz Mountains.

To achieve this, small-town and rural high schools in particular would need to be targeted. The necessary program has already been set in motion. We welcome this wholeheartedly. Various student government bodies have been and remain willing to support the effort both financially and with personnel. However, this kind of networking takes time. And that is precisely where not much has happened in recent years. Clausthal University of Technology has no presence even in the next small town over. The damage caused by inaction will take many years to repair—time that the university may no longer have.

We—the Student Parliament of Clausthal University of Technology, the democratic and parliamentary voice of all Clausthal University of Technology students—therefore ask once again that the university’s internationalization strategy be reconsidered.
 

Best regards and Clausthal “GlückAuf!”

Presidium of the Student Parliament

Jan H. Schwede Philipp A. Schütze Amir Sahari

Open Letter from the Student Parliament Regarding the Mask Mandate to the Executive Board of Clausthal University of Technology

(Published on May 10, 2022)

Dear Executive Board of Clausthal University of Technology, As representatives of the student body, we ask that you refrain from imposing mandatory mask-wearing and social distancing requirements. Given the current infection situation, we see no reason to enact regulations that go beyond the legal minimum. After two years of the pandemic, normalcy should finally return—and that includes being able to see our fellow students’ faces again. FFP2 masks also provide significant personal protection, allowing anyone who wishes to do so to protect themselves. We therefore believe it is appropriate to follow the federal government’s initiative calling for greater personal responsibility. Furthermore, we are critical of restricting access to public buildings through regulations such as a mask mandate. Instead, we would welcome a request to wear a mask at the entrances to these buildings. We hope that you will grant our request in the best interests of the students. The Executive Board of the Student Parliament