Verfasste Studierendenschaft (Constituted Student Body)

The Constituted Student Body is the representation of all students at Heidelberg University and the umbrella organization for all students at the university, including the Computational Linguistics students.

The Constituted Student body is “constituted” because there is a law that regulates its existence. It therefore officially exists as a statutory corporation (“rechtsfähige Körperschaft des öffentlichen Rechts”). This is very practical, as it can conclude contracts, has a financial budget and can go to court if necessary.

For us in the Student Council, the existence of the Constituted Student Body is a relief, because it takes care of all kinds of administrative tasks that we would have to do ourselves if we were a registered association, for example. If accommodation needs to be rented for a Coli weekend, nobody of us needs to do that privately, but it can be done officially through the Constituted Student Body. They also pay the bill (from the part of the budget allocated to us), talk to the tax office and generally take responsibility.

In return, we have to adhere to certain rules laid down by them. These usually come from the “Studierendenrat”, the highest legislative body of the constituted student body, or the “Referatekonferenz”, the highest executive body.

Studierendenrat

The Studierendenrat (= StuRa) is one of many organs of the Constituted Student Body, namely a kind of parliament consisting of student representatives and representatives of university-wide elected lists (e.g. Jusos, RCDS, GHG, Die LISTE…).

Our member of the Studerendenrat is (term of office: Winter Semester 2024/2025 and Summer Semester 2025):

• Timothy

Difference between the Constituted Student Body and the Studierendenrat

Many people also use the name “Studierendenrat” when they are actually talking about the entire Constituted Student Body – similar to how many people say “Holland” when they are actually talking about the Netherlands (this rhetorical figure is called “pars pro toto”). Even the Constituted Student Body does this, which is why its website can be reached at stura.uni-heidelberg.de and not at vs.uni-heidelberg.de.

This inaccuracy is unfortunately very common.

Other political entities within the Constituted Student Body

The Constituted Student Body consists not only of all students (here used in the sense of “Fachschaften”), the Studierendenrat and the Referatekonferenz, but also individual departments (“Referate”), working groups, commissions and other student groups (“Hochschulgruppen”). If you would like to find out more, it is best to visit the website of the student body directly.

• Website of the Constituted Student Body (German)
• § 65 Landeshochschulgesetz (German Legalese) (this is the one that orders the existence of Constituted Student Bodies)

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