Icon: enlarge
Empty canteen of the European University Viadrina (archive)
Photo: Patrick Pleul / picture alliance / dpa
SPIEGEL:
Mr. auf der Heyde, how hard has the corona crisis hit the student union facilities?
Achim Meyer auf der Heyde:
Rooms in the dormitories remained empty because many students from abroad were unable to enter.
But around ten percent of students from Germany also moved back to their parents because the courses and lectures were offered digitally.
To person
Icon: enlargePhoto: Kay Herschelmann
Achim Meyer auf der Heyde
has been Secretary General of the German Student Union since 2003.
SPIEGEL:
Which locations are particularly feeling the effects?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: Especially the cities that are very popular with students from abroad.
In individual cases we had up to 17 percent vacancy.
Student unions from metropolitan areas such as Cologne or Heidelberg were able to cope with this by working through their waiting lists or temporarily leasing them to trainees and university members.
But in smaller university cities in Thuringia, but also in Bonn or Würzburg, it was not so easy because the demand there is generally not that high.
SPIEGEL:
How should things continue in the winter semester?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: We primarily focus on the freshmen, for whom there should primarily be face-to-face events.
To integrate socially and academically, we recommend that you move to the university and find a place in a dormitory.
We hope that students from Europe and non-European countries can come despite the pandemic - even if there is no compulsory attendance at the university.
To do this, however, politicians have to relax the visa regulations.
SPIEGEL:
Can students go into quarantine in the dormitory if they come from a risk area?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: That is definitely difficult in flat-sharing communities that share a bathroom.
But I also find it questionable to first isolate students who come to Germany from a foreign country.
If they have to be quarantined, it should be ensured that they are well looked after.
We can only hope that there is some sort of failure guarantee from the universities if international students cannot enter.
There is not only a drop in sales in the dormitories.
SPIEGEL:
How badly are the cafeterias and canteens affected by the crisis?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: The failures are much higher here because the universities were closed for weeks.
In the meantime, hygiene measures have been taken everywhere, there are plexiglass walls on the counters and cash registers, there is a wayfinding system, tables have been set apart.
There are admission controls at peak times, and the guest data is registered - even with a QR code, as at the Studentenwerk Würzburg.
SPIEGEL:
How can the cafeterias and canteens compensate for the slump in sales?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: The meals are offered on site, but also to take away.
There are also food trucks in use, for example in Hamburg and Marburg.
SPIEGEL:
But that can only compensate for a small part?
Meyer auf der Heyde:
Yes, absolutely, which is why we hope that a high proportion of face-to-face teaching will soon be possible again.
SPIEGEL:
Did many employees have to be laid off?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: In some federal states there was bridging aid, in others short-time work could be registered for employees.
SPIEGEL:
For many low-wage earners, that means a loss of more than a third of their salaries.
Meyer auf der Heyde
: Many student unions have generally increased the short-time work allowance to up to 80 percent.
And many employees who would have gone on short-time work could be deployed differently, for example for processing applications for bridging aid.
SPIEGEL:
So the cafeteria manager no longer orders meat and vegetables, but checks whether the students have correctly submitted all the documents for the bridging aid?
Meyer auf der Heyde
: Although this task is not something for every employee in university catering, it is at least for those with management functions or employees from administration or consulting.
They could get used to it quickly.
Icon: The mirror