Unclear future for students in Potsdam
We, the AStA of the TU Berlin, are dismayed by the news we have received about the AStA of the University of Potsdam. The current situation is such that at the beginning of the semester, all previous services for students at the University of Potsdam, as well as cultural services that were offered beyond for students, have been discontinued. Eleven of the previous employees have been dismissed without notice and formerly professional counseling services are to be covered by volunteers from one day to the next.
What has happened?
On October 15, 2024, eleven AStA employees were dismissed without notice. All previous advisory services were discontinued without alternative. In addition to essential advisory services such as legal, tenancy and BAföG advice and semester ticket processing, this also affects the staff of the student cultural center (KuZe). These drastic steps not only jeopardize support for students in precarious situations, but also important political and cultural projects such as the student archive for feminism and critical sciences (FemArchiv) and other open space projects.
The existing counseling services offered by the AStA of the University of Potsdam are aimed at all students. These are primarily, but not only, students living in precarious situations, whose lives are currently being made acutely difficult by the withdrawal of solid advice and who are dependent on such advice services for successful studies.
As we know from our own experience in advising students, a functioning and professional advisory service is particularly necessary so that students can defend themselves against legal violations at the university. In the past, thanks to the structures of the University of Potsdam, there have been groundbreaking decisions on administrative fees and other areas that directly affect students.
Questioning cultural offerings does not make studying any more attractive. On the contrary, cultural balance is important in order to educate oneself and network socially alongside the content of one’s studies. The measures taken by the chair of the AStA Potsdam directly counteract this by acutely endangering free spaces and student self-administration.
From our point of view, the procedure seems altogether ill-considered and irresponsible. In our view, the attempt to dismantle the structure of the AStA of the University of Potsdam is directly at the expense of the students and is primarily motivated by politics rather than substance. We call on all those involved to face up to the responsibility that a political office in the student body entails and to do what is best for all students.
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