Last updated 5. March 2025 | Sprecherinnen

Dear fellow students,

As representatives of the student body, we raised 13 issues at the beginning of the semester, as you may already know, supported by our survey(https://taz.de/Asta-Umfrage-an-der-Uni-Lueneburg/!5688803/ ). The opportunity to exchange ideas in the crisis team enabled us to draw the attention of those responsible to these issues, and we were able to get some of them implemented in this way. The demands on the Federal Ministry of Science and Culture remain despite the barely effective emergency aid funds; many students are still in an emergency situation, whether financial, psychological or otherwise. We therefore continue to believe that a solidarity semester is needed(www.solidarsemester.de ). In the email from the Presidential Board dated 09.06.2020, it became clear that not only was our proposal to involve students in the decision to take exams in person or online rejected by the Senate, but also that with the current usable room capacity of approx. 10%-30%, it must be assumed that most of the winter semester will take place online. It is clear that we will not be able to avoid the distancing regulations and the obligation to wear masks. As far as face-to-face examinations are concerned, we are also concerned about the return of many students from different regions of Germany and the resulting contact between people from different affected areas.
With regard to the debate in the working group on curriculum planning for the winter semester (a working group in which various student representatives from the FGV, Senate and AStA, as well as various university employees, sit), we are looking forward to the plans for hybrid events. We are in favor of the combination option, as it allows us to meet the needs of students who face challenges due to their health situation as well as those who are dependent on the university’s resources to participate in teaching.

For example, it is currently being planned that the coming semester will take place in a hybrid solution. This was voted on by the Senate on July 15 and the following different course types were introduced into the framework examination regulations:

a) Online events

b) Hybrid events

c) Classroom courses

d) Mixed forms from a) – c)

Unfortunately, the university is still suffering from the restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic. However, despite everything, we students should be given planning security. Of course, there may be changes here too, depending on the corona situation, but the four models mentioned above are the aim for the time being. At this point, it should be said that the teaching staff and the Executive Board have also spoken out in favor of in-person studies. In hybrid courses, it will be possible to record both the teacher and the students present in the classroom using a camera and a directional microphone and to transmit this audio-visually via a video conferencing system to those participants in the course who are not present and are connected to the course from another location. This still needs to be checked from a data protection perspective.

This is still being worked on at the university:

• With the MIZ, we have already been able to open seminar rooms in C.9 and also in C.14 as learning spaces and printing facilities. We are planning to open the library, but unfortunately the ventilation system has broken down in the last few weeks. A new one has already been installed, but it still needs to be put into operation before the library and many workstations can reopen.

What still needs to be tackled:

• The reference collection in the library cannot currently be borrowed.

• The workload in the seminars has increased immensely, feedback from the university’s student advisory service, the psychological counseling center and many submissions from desperate students indicate this.

• Meeting places are missing: Group work should soon be able to take place in presence again – preferably outside. There are seats at C.9., at the canteen and at HS 5, but unfortunately there are far too few. We lack the space to exchange ideas with fellow students.

• Seminars that take place exclusively via moodle or mystudy are not seminars. An exchange space for questions and cooperative collaboration is missing in these “seminars”. No completely remote seminars, create regular exchange spaces for university life.

On the whole, we would like to see better communication from the university when it comes to planning things at the university. In our opinion, it would be necessary to communicate the planning in a way that shows perspectives and awakens hope and the desire to start the next semester. This also includes communicating things that have not yet been finally decided or that still require a decision from a committee – this should of course also be clearly indicated.