free association of student bodies
| free association of student bodies (fzs) |
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|---|---|
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| purpose | nationwide student representation |
| Chair: | Amanda Steinmaus Jacob Bühler Leonie Ackermann Sebastian Zachrau |
| Establishment date: | 1993 |
| Number of members: | 81 student bodies |
| Seat : | Berlin |
| Website: | http://www.fzs.de/ |
The free association of student bodies e. V. (fzs) is an umbrella association of student bodies and similar student bodies in Germany . At federal level, it represents the (university) political, social and economic interests of around 730,000 students at 73 universities - i.e. H. around a quarter of the 2.9 million students in Germany. In addition, there are 8 supporting members with around 70,000 students.
history
In 1990 the United German Student Unions (VDS) collapsed due to internal disputes. Since there was no longer an umbrella organization for nationwide lobbying, the fzs was founded in 1993 in Hürth after several unsuccessful attempts . The West German FH student association FKS (Free Conference of Student Associations at Universities of Applied Sciences), which emerged from the former VDS “University of Applied Sciences project area”, played a decisive role in the re-establishment. From him, the fzs initially also adopted the rule “one university = one vote”. This principle resulted in the accession of numerous smaller universities, while the representatives of larger universities in particular criticized this as undemocratic and initially refused to join. After years of discussion, several internal reforms finally came about in 2001 in the fzs. Among other things, a moderate staggering of votes was introduced, making membership more attractive for representatives of some larger universities.
structure
The fzs is a registered association , which has been certified by the tax office for corporations as being non-profit within the meaning of the tax code . Members are individual written and non-written student bodies. As a rule, they are represented by their respective AStA , UStA , StuRa , etc.
The highest body in the fzs is the general assembly (MV), which elects the board and the committees and determines the specific goals of the association. A general meeting usually takes place once per semester and lasts for several days. The discussion takes place in the plenary and in thematic forums.
Each MV elects between eight and ten student bodies in the Student Union Committee (AS) for the next six months. The AS is the highest decision-making body of the FC between the MVs and usually meets monthly.
Since May 2003 the General Assembly has also occupied committees. Its members implement the work program of their main focus and are accountable to the General Assembly for this. In addition, working groups can be set up.
The association board of two to six people implements the resolutions of the general meeting and represents the association externally.
Contributions
For members with an established student body and more than 10,000 students, an annual contribution of 80 cents per student is payable, which is financed by the fzs. For member student bodies with less than 10,000 students, the following formula applies: Contribution = 1 euro · x - 2000 euros (where x represents the number of enrolled students). Members with student numbers below 2,000 therefore only pay one symbolic euro per year.
The almost 20 unaffiliated student councils in Bavaria are exempt from paying contributions. There is also an item in the fz's budget called “Bayern Soli” to support the Bavarian student body on their way to becoming a student body.
Politics and association work
Topics of the fzs include university and educational policy , educational disadvantage (among other things, he speaks out against tuition fees and supports the action alliance against tuition fees also materially), social policy , freedom of expression for student bodies through a general political mandate , the European and international higher education area, anti-fascism, student Connections , university funding, women and gender politics, anti-racism.
At the national level, the fzs represents the student perspective in official bodies, for example in the German Qualifications Framework Working Group and in the maternity protection committee provided for in the Maternity Protection Act.
The fzs advocates a fundamental reform of the Federal Training Assistance Act . For example, BAföG funding is to be granted as a full grant regardless of age, parents and standard period of study. The fzs also represents this position in the parliamentary hearing process and gives it a hearing through its work in the BAföG alliance supported by Campusgrün , Juso-Hochschulgruppen , Die Linke.SDS , DGB-Jugend , ver.di , GEW and IG Metall . The fzs is also one of the supporting organizations of the student accreditation pool , the administration of which is also part of the fzs.
The association is an international member of:
In the representations of the member student bodies, in addition to politically independent student representatives, there are also members of the Juso university groups , the green university groups or from the environment of the left , as well as independent left groups. In June 2019, the fzs, together with the Jewish Student Union Germany and the Young Forum of the German-Israeli Society , drafted a joint resolution against anti-Semitism and the BDS campaign , which in addition to Juso university groups and campus green, the RCDS and the Federal Association of Liberal University Groups were the first to sign .
In a legal dispute about the exercise of a general political mandate by student bodies, the Berlin Higher Administrative Court complained, among other things, of membership in the fzs, as this "for its part is indisputably regularly involved in general political activities". In the opinion of the court, the defendant student body was involved in an impermissible general political activity with the support of initiatives, congresses, magazines and demonstrations. The judgment relates to the legal situation in the area of application of the Berlin University Act and an assessment of the fzs e. V. from 2003/2004.
The work of the fzs consists of press and public relations work, lobbying - towards members of the Bundestag and other interest groups relevant to university policy in legislative processes and committees - educational work in the form of numerous weekend seminars and workshops, supporting student representatives in their work, supporting educational policy alliances and providing Networking and positioning platforms for student bodies.
criticism
The fzs has been exposed to criticism since it was founded. In particular, the Ring of Christian Democratic Students (RCDS) and the Federal Association of Liberal University Groups (LHG) see a basic left-wing ideological orientation in fzs and largely reject cooperation. Nevertheless, student bodies with student representatives with the participation of the RCDS are also members of the umbrella organization. The general political mandate demanded and claimed by the fzs prevents some student bodies from working together. The fzs is mainly concerned with itself, its debates are empty of content.
Other student bodies, especially those from East Germany, complained that the StuRa structure was not adequately represented in the fzs. The structure of the StuRä is rather designed as a council principle for organized collectives and is critical of politics shaped by party-political university groups .
Between 2012 and the end of 2013, the AStA of the TU Berlin , the TU Braunschweig and 12 other student bodies joined. At the end of 2013, the resignation of the wealthy student bodies of the University of Bremen and the University of Cologne , disputes about the direction of the association and internal conflicts led to a dispute over the direction in the fzs in spring 2014, as a result of which the TU Kaiserslautern , TU Braunschweig , TU Munich , the Bielefeld University and the University of Göttingen in spring 2015 . Student bodies with a tendency towards left-wing orientation demanded positioning as a “left-wing emancipatory directional association”, while others sought a restriction to representing the interests of the students in the narrower sense. There is also criticism of wasted money and ineffectiveness. In her resignation letter, a former functionary criticized the system of "cousins and bases and clubbing".
At times the fzs had a high fluctuation of members with often prominent resignations and public criticism, although the number of members largely stagnated. A slump in membership was observed from 2013 onwards, as the introduction of the student body in Baden-Württemberg meant that many of the fzs members initially automatically left this state, but the representations there often did not immediately achieve the capacity to act that was necessary for re-entry would. Since 2014, the fzs has recorded increasing membership numbers. For example, the student bodies of the Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen , the Technical University of Darmstadt , the University of Osnabrück , the University of Erfurt , the HAW Hamburg and the Mannheim University of Applied Sciences joined, as well as the student bodies of smaller art and music universities as well as universities of teacher education.
Members
As of February 8, 2018, the association represents:
- 397,255 through normal membership with fees paid by the student bodies
- 136,041 through sponsoring memberships, whereby the student bodies themselves determine a contribution
- 226,941 through memberships without contributions in federal states without constituted student body (Bavaria)
- 760,237 total (approx. 27.59% of all 2,755,432 students in Germany)
Web links
- Website of the association
- Website for the general assembly including motions and readers up to the 61st general meeting
Individual evidence
- ↑ fzs.de (accessed on July 1, 2019).
- ↑ winter semester 2018/19, cf. Federal Statistical Office: Total students by federal state and more detailed information , accessed on June 13, 2019.
- ↑ Members - fzs. Retrieved June 6, 2019 (German).
- ^ German qualifications framework - DQR working group. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
- ^ Committee for Maternity Protection (Office): Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks: List of the members of the Committee for Maternity Protection. Retrieved June 26, 2019 .
- ↑ Statement of BAföG reform - fzs. Accessed June 12, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Statement of the fzs on the Bundestag hearing. In: German Bundestag. German Bundestag, April 30, 2018, accessed on June 13, 2019 .
- ↑ BAföG alliance - fzs. Accessed June 12, 2019 (German).
- ↑ BAföG alliance demands advance payments for study entry costs - fzs. Accessed June 12, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Frederik Schindler: Universities: Broad alliance against anti-Semitic BDS campaign . June 13, 2019 ( welt.de [accessed June 18, 2019]).
- ↑ OVG Berlin, decision of January 15, 2004 - 8 S 133/03, NVwZ-RR 2004, 348 berlin.de
- ↑ Press - fzs. Retrieved June 6, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Upcoming events - fzs. Retrieved June 6, 2019 (German).
- ↑ heise.de
- ↑ Application "roll up fzs from the left": Reader of the 48th General Assembly (p. 95) ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ “Reforming fzs” proposal for the 50th general meeting ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Tagesspiegel: Student direction dispute: The umbrella organization fzs defends itself against criticism
- ^ FZS dispute after dropping out letter - RCDS wants to abolish representation. Items. Spiegel, 2013, accessed May 14, 2014 .
- ↑ fzs - link list - free association of student bodies. October 5, 2015, accessed July 1, 2019 .
- ↑ fzs - link list - free association of student bodies. July 3, 2017, accessed July 1, 2019 .
- ↑ Members - fzs. Accessed July 1, 2019 (German).
- ↑ Number of students at universities in Germany from the winter semester 2002/2003 to 2015/2016 , last accessed on August 8, 2016.
