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2025 Senate elections
Dear colleagues,
You have elected the University Senate representatives.
In the MTV status group, our colleague Markus Glötzel has been elected to the University Senate on the ver.di list. We were able to significantly improve on our result compared with the last University Senate election. Among research assistants, our ver.di colleague Nikolaj Schulte-Wörmann has secured a seat on the Senate for the Mittelbauinitiative list. We are also delighted that so many ver.di colleagues have been elected to the faculty councils.
The full election results have been published by the Elections Office. (Direct download)
We would like to thank you for your support and congratulate the elected members!
The new University Senate will be appointing new members to all commissions and committees. We are always looking for fellow campaigners to join us in this work. Please feel free to contact us directly by email at or the if you’re interested or have any questions.
A list of the commissions and committees can be viewed here.
With best regards,
The organising team of the ver.di works council
at the CvO University of Oldenburg
Meeting of 1 November 2023
The following has been reported:
Since 1 October 2023, there have been organisational changes to the Occupational Safety and Health Unit. This unit is now headed by Dr Johann Meyer and is, with immediate effect, known as the Occupational Safety, Health, Biological Safety and Radiation Protection Unit (AGBS).
The Teaching and Learning Day will take place on 30 November 2023 from 9.30 am to 5.00 pm. This year’s theme is ‘AI – Teaching without AI? Topics for the future of education’. This will be followed by the presentation of the 2022/2023 Teaching Award in the Library Hall from 5.00 pm to 6.00 pm.
Other developments:
At the last Senate meeting, we forgot to bid farewell to Petra Mende, the long-standing Chair of the Staff Council. This oversight will be rectified at today’s meeting.
Our Senate member Nadja Sturm has submitted a proposal p.p. on behalf of the ver.di organising team regarding the current round of collective bargaining with the federal states.
The motion reads as follows:
“The University Senate of the University of Oldenburg supports the demands of ver.di, GEW and the German Civil Servants’ Association for the current round of collective bargaining: to increase the pay of state employees by at least €500 or 10.5 per cent, and to conclude a collective agreement for students. It calls on the State of Lower Saxony to advocate for such a collective agreement within the collective bargaining association of the federal states, so that universities remain attractive in the competition for skilled workers and do not fall further behind other sectors and the federal and local public services.”
Ms Burwitz points out that the University Senate does not have the right to pass a resolution on this matter, as it is not part of the University Senate’s remit to pass resolutions on political issues, amongst other things.
Mr Bruder agrees to use the Presidential Board’s channels to communicate that the University of Oldenburg and the University Senate have an interest in ensuring that a reasonable collective agreement is negotiated for state employees.
Meeting of 5 July 2023
The Endfossil group has occupied Lecture Theatre 3 for a week. As the issue of climate change is of interest to everyone, including here at our university, Mr Bruder swiftly sought to engage in dialogue with the group. As part of this, the Endfossil group presented their list of demands to Mr Bruder. The first meeting took place on Monday, and the second on Thursday. As a result, the Endfossil group ended their occupation of Lecture Theatre 3.
At this meeting, the agenda item on online elections was reviewed and discussed once again. In the end, a majority decision was taken to allow online elections (9:4:0). The Stupa election at the start of next year is to serve as a trial run for online elections. The online vote will be offered as an additional voting option. Voting at the ballot box and postal voting will still be possible. Following the conclusion of the Stupa election, there will be an evaluation of the online voting process to assess whether online elections should be permanently introduced as a third voting option.
Meeting of 24 May 2023
The special dividend from Porsche AG’s initial public offering provides unprecedented financial scope to rethink and restructure the promotion of science and technology in research and teaching. In February 2023, ‘zukunft.niedersachsen’ was launched as the largest science programme in the history of Lower Saxony.
576.3 million euros from the special dividend are available and are to be invested in three key priority areas:
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Transformation (of the state)
Energy and mobility transition, resource-efficient management, healthy living, skills and knowledge
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Digitalisation
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Cutting-edge research
These are additional funds and do not form part of the universities’ core funding. An increase in the core funding for Lower Saxony’s universities is currently being discussed at the State Higher Education Conference.
Further information is available at: https://www.mwk.niedersachsen.de/zukunft.niedersachsen
At the next Senate meeting on 5 July, the topics of electoral regulations and online voting will be addressed. On the one hand, the electoral regulations are to be amended; on the other, there will be a further discussion on whether online voting should be introduced as an additional voting option. A first reading will take place at the July meeting, whilst the second reading is scheduled for the September meeting.
The former project group, led by Mr Deitermann, has resumed its work.
On 23 May, Diversity Day took place, focusing on first-generation university students. Among other things, an event was held in collaboration with Arbeiterkind.de. According to a survey, 41 per cent of all first-year students at the UOL in the 2022/2023 winter semester were first-generation university students. Last year, the Diversity Day focused on the topic of racism.
Meeting of 19 April 2023
The new University Senate has been constituted and Nadja Sturm has taken up her post as our representative. One of her first key tasks was to vote on the new members (details at https://uol.de/senat/kommissionenausschuesse-des-senats) for the various commissions and committees. We have members on the Commission for Higher Education Development Planning (HEP), the Commission for Good Academic Practice and the Commission for Research and Early-Career Support. We also have representatives on the Commission for the Appointment of Honorary Citizens and Honorary Senators / Awarding of the University Medal (EEK), the Commission for Research Impact Assessment and Ethics (EK), the ‘University–Trade Unions’ Cooperation Committee, and the Conciliation Commission (SchliKo). On 17 April, the Women’s General Assembly elected proposals for the members of the Commission for Gender Equality (KFG), which were confirmed.
The next meeting on 24 May will be of particular interest to all colleagues working in laboratories, when Prof. Theilmeier and Prof. Bräuer will provide detailed answers to the enquiry regarding laboratory and occupational safety.
The transition to system accreditation has completed its first round of evaluation; VP-L has outlined the positive accreditation report.
President Bruder outlined the University Senate’s agenda for the next two years. A discussion on the university’s mission statement will take place as part of the University of Oldenburg’s 50th anniversary celebrations. A website containing all the information on the 50th anniversary is due to go live before the summer. A launch event will take place on 5 December. Furthermore, the University Senate will address the central equality plan, the diversity strategy and a digitalisation strategy. An excellence strategy will also be on the agenda, and efforts will be made to enhance the appeal of our range of degree programmes, the University of Oldenburg as a place to study and the University of Oldenburg as an employer.
The topics of climate protection and sustainability will also feature on the agenda.
The digitalisation strategy has so far only included minor changes. There is a desire within the university to make more significant changes. A participatory process utilising existing expertise is sought. This desire will be taken on board and work on the strategy will resume; at the end of the year, the University Senate will be briefed on the digitalisation strategy for discussion.
The most recent committee elections were, once again, very bumpy. Amendments to the electoral regulations are being prepared by the Presidential Board, and the possibility of online voting will also need to be discussed again. External experts are to be invited to the University Senate for this purpose.
The ubiquitous AI ChatGPT will have an impact on teaching: the E-Didactics group is addressing this issue and aims to clarify how to deal with AI. Two papers are to be produced on this subject.