Dear students,

Monday, June 28, 2021 starts our election week and as always we hope that many of you will cast your vote.
This year there are some special features and therefore we want to explain briefly what you can vote and how you can vote.

 Faculty Council Elections and Senate Elections

When can I vote?

The Faculty Council and Senate Council elections will take place on 29.06.2021 from 09:00 to 16:00 in the Mechanical Engineering Building (10.23).

How can I vote?

 These elections actually take place in attendance. Anyone who has ever participated in elections will know how this works:

        You get a ballot.
        You go to the voting booth and fill out your ballot.
        You drop your ballot into the ballot box.
        It's that easy....

Why should I vote?

Faculty Council

The Faculty Council is the highest decision-making body of the faculty. It includes all professors, three to five academic staff members, one administrative and technical staff member, and five (CIW) or eight (MACH) student representatives. It should be noted that professors are members by virtue of their office and all other members are elected annually.

The topics of the Faculty Council include helping to shape the long-term development of the faculty with regard to research and teaching. For example, professorships are established and decisions are made about cooperation between individual institutes in future collaborative research centers. The development of teaching in recent years has been strongly influenced by the introduction of the new degree programs MEI (Mechanical Engineering International) and the development of the new study regulations for MACH, CIW and MIT.

In addition, the Faculty Council appoints professors and grants academic degrees. In general, the Faculty Council works closely with individual committees that focus more closely on specific subject areas.

You can use your vote to elect our student representatives to the Faculty Council so that we can represent you in the best possible way.

Senate

According to the KIT Law, the KIT Senate decides on decisive matters of research, teaching, studies, and further education. Among other things, it confirms the election of the presidium members and comments on the structure and development plan. In addition, it advises the Commission of Grantors, the Supervisory Board, and the Presidium on important scientific and technical issues.

The Senate is one of the highest bodies at KIT and with your vote you can also represent your opinion here via our student representatives.

 Student Council, Student Parliament and Strike Ballots

When can I vote?

These elections will be held the entire week of 06/28/2021 through 06/04/2021.

How can I vote?

The whole election week will take place online like last year. As soon as the online elections start you will find the link here.

Why should I vote?

Student Council

The student council - a cooperative, supportive and fun planning instance between the students and the institutions of study cannot stand on two feet without an elected student council board - let alone walk! The student representative of a student council takes over all kinds of organizational obligations, seeks contact and connections to other areas and instances on the KIT campus and is decisive in coordination and implementation of changes within the student council as well as in planned events for the students.

The first student council speaker is our student council leader and the other two divide the tasks of the committee speaker and the public spokesperson between them.

In the upcoming elections it is your task to give the student council a face that represents you, your wishes and your needs and also responsibly puts them into action.

You can find a list of our representatives in our WahlSchärferBitte 2021.

Student Parliament

The student parliament (StuPa) is the decision-making body of the student body. It consists of 25 members who belong to different political lists. Your votes decide who may enter the StuPa and. Thus how many votes are available to the respective lists.

The StuPa's tasks include the election of the AStA's speakers, changes to the statutes, decisions on the student body's budget and the appointment of official university-wide committees. Above all, however, it represents the opinion of the entire VS on certain topics and therefore benefits significantly from each individual vote, which legitimizes it in its function as a representative, e.g. vis-à-vis the KIT.

More detailed information about the individuals on the respective lists can be found in the election valve of the AStA

Strike Ballots

Ballots are important decisions that are made directly by the student body.
This year the following two questions will be decided by ballot:

1. Ballot on CAMPUSbike

Currently, a test phase for CAMPUSbike is running until the end of September. Now there is the possibility to extend the offer until September 2024. The ballot decides on the conclusion of such a contract.

You can read all information about the terms of the contract in this document. Do you think the conditions are reasonable or completely exaggerated? Cast your vote and become part of a democratic decision.

2. Ballot fzs

The fzs is currently the only general, party-independent, nationwide student association in Germany. It represents students at the federal level and ensures that student needs are taken into account in federal politics. Its members comprise about one third of the students in Germany. This makes the fzs the largest student association in Germany.

The discussion about the ballot on joining the fzs started a strongly polarizing debate in the student parliament.
Therefore, for a better overview, pro and con texts were written, which you can read in this document.

Due to the many different opinions, it is also important here that you can represent an opinion through your vote and that the majority can be represented by a clear decision.