For a fair study program and student-friendly academic law
We stand for a fair study program with a fair compensation of students' workload in ECTS. Depending on the university and field of study, the workload currently varies greatly. In a system where grants and university funding are based on ECTS, this circumstance is problematic.
We advocate for a student-friendly academic law as the foundation for studyability. Academic law is our tool for asserting the legal obligations of universities towards students. We need uniform minimum standards in academic law and measures to ensure they are adhered to in practice. This includes, above all, compliance with deadlines for assessments, offering a minimum number of exam dates, timely announcement of all dates and the grading scheme, and granting exam reviews.
Academic law must remain public law due to legal protection options and must not shift into private law. We also want students to be informed of their rights so they can apply this knowledge in their academic life when needed. They should be aware of their options for legal representation and active participation at the university.
Traceable assessment criteria
Students need clear information on the requirements and tasks of each course to understand how grades are determined. Grades must not be based on the subjective feelings of instructors but require objective criteria for assessment. Therefore, we demand a comprehensive catalog of criteria that is communicated to students at the beginning of the course and, if necessary, discussed. This should provide students with certainty, especially in courses with continuous assessment.
To counter potentially arbitrary assessments with protective mechanisms, we demand the expansion and communication of available legal remedies against the assessment of a performance, even if it is positive.
Legal certainty for courses with continuous assessment
For courses that conclude with a single exam (e.g., the classic lecture), the law provides clear rules that protect students from arbitrariness. This is not the case for all other courses (“courses with continuous assessment,” such as tutorials).
To ensure greater legal certainty for students on issues such as attendance requirements and repeatability of courses, we demand legal minimum requirements here. Currently, regulations vary greatly from university to university; therefore, Austria-wide minimum standards need to be established!
Enable FH students unrestricted participation in all legally prescribed exam attempts
FH students cannot retake already passed exams to improve their grade. Furthermore, many universities of applied sciences restrict the ability to use all three legally prescribed attempts, even in cases of illness or similar.
We demand that students can always take all legally prescribed exam attempts and that the best grade counts.
Fair compensation for internships
In many degree programs, internships are mandatory and often take over 40 hours per week. Additionally, exams must be completed and life must be financed. Especially in nursing and medical studies, the working conditions and compensation for mandatory internships are shameful to non-existent. In many cases, this is an enormous stress factor. Students are not simply a cheap support for internship providers; our work is valuable and deserves recognition. Therefore, we demand fair compensation for our work in internships.
Freedom of choice for applicants at universities of applied sciences
Study applicants at universities of applied sciences often cannot make a free and well-founded choice of study due to different response times from the universities. Many universities of applied sciences already require a binding commitment while applicants are still waiting for responses from other universities, creating unnecessary pressure and limiting freedom of choice. Therefore, a uniform and binding Austria-wide deadline must be set by which universities of applied sciences announce their admission decisions, so that applicants have sufficient time to make their study choice calmly and without pressure.
For quality in studies
For us, all students with their personal goals are at the center. A university education therefore means for us not merely consuming and reproducing knowledge, but conveying current and socially relevant topics that promote critical and independent thinking. Contemporary and high-quality teaching should enable students to critically engage with current topics and research areas. Teaching should continuously evolve based on current didactic and professional insights and be realized as research- and art-led teaching. Digitalization plays an essential role in making our universities fit for the future.
A central goal of universities should be to promote and ensure the quality of the offered degree programs in the sense of a sustainable quality assurance system. This includes aspects such as studyability, appropriate supervision ratios in courses with continuous assessment, ECTS fairness, and compatibility with work and care responsibilities.
Adapt the tolerance period to reality
The current study duration during which students are exempt from tuition fees is not flexible enough and does not reflect the real study situation of many students. The median study time of recent semesters better reflects the actual duration and can adapt to changing conditions. Therefore, the tolerance period must be regularly adjusted to the median study time, for example of the last five years, and published transparently and comprehensibly for all students, in order to ensure both fair study conditions and a fair distribution of grants.
Open Access for academic papers and publications
Freely accessible academic papers and publications benefit not only students searching for suitable sources for their theses, but also society as a whole, because progress requires an unimpeded flow of knowledge. Research results must not be hidden behind paywalls.
Therefore, we demand free, cost-free, and low-threshold access to publicly funded research, if necessary after an embargo period.
Digitalization and a meaningful use of Artificial Intelligence in teaching
Artificial Intelligence and its potential applications are on everyone's lips. We demand a meaningful, reflective use of resources at universities instead of strict bans on technologies. Educational institutions must adopt and promote technological advances. It is important to be able to learn how Artificial Intelligence is structured and what opportunities and risks it offers. However, in order to also mitigate negative consequences, expanding digital infrastructure at universities and suitable models for knowledge transfer are essential.
Therefore, we demand clear and Austria-wide uniform rules on how AI is to be handled in teaching.
Expansion of study spaces, drawing studios, workshops, and student labs
We see universities as responsible for providing their students with the necessary space for their work. Students' housing situations often make working from home impossible or difficult. Therefore, we demand an expansion of space for study spaces, drawing studios, workshops, and student labs. This spatial offering for each field of study must be adapted to comparable international standards; currently, it is often inadequate. We also support student-run spaces, as these are the best way to meet students' needs in spatial design. Additionally, space for informal exchange among all students is needed to foster a vibrant community at universities. Implementing these demands requires close cooperation between the ÖH and local student unions.
Didactic training for teaching staff
The quality of teaching often suffers from a lack of didactic competence among teaching staff. Didactic training improves the teacher's ability to convey complex content understandably and to supervise students efficiently. Therefore, mandatory and regular didactic training must be introduced for all teachers who have completed their doctorate at universities, covering not only the basics of teaching but also modern, practice-oriented methods for promoting interactive and sustainable learning.
University status means responsibility
Many universities of applied sciences use the opportunity to rename themselves as universities without fully aligning the structural differences with traditional universities. A name change alone is not enough to credibly achieve equality with universities. Universities of applied sciences must then also adopt central principles, such as waiving tuition fees and stronger research funding. Therefore, universities of applied sciences that wish to approach universities through a renaming must also create the same conditions and rights as universities – including the abolition of tuition fees, the promotion of academic research, and fair co-determination in all committees.
For free and open access to education
Education is a human right!
We hold the view that access to education must not be denied to anyone – neither through financial barriers nor through access restrictions. Therefore, we oppose any financial obstacles in and before a course of study, be they tuition fees, deposits, or costly admission procedures. The state's task is to ensure an adequate expansion of capacities at existing universities, as well as the necessary resources for this. By creating suitable framework conditions at universities, free and open access to higher education should be made possible for all those seeking to study.
A university degree can mean social advancement for many, which is why students from low-income families in particular should be specifically supported.
Abolition of all access restrictions
Free and open access to universities is the foundation of a fair educational society. Access restrictions such as entrance exams or other selective procedures create artificial hurdles and exacerbate social inequalities. They prevent all those seeking to study, regardless of their social or financial situation, from having the opportunity to do so. We demand the complete abolition of all access restrictions at universities. Instead of filtering out students, the state must invest in expanding study places and improving study conditions.
Consecutive Master's programs as degree programs at universities of applied sciences
Many students cannot pursue a continuing Master's degree at their University of Applied Sciences because it is only offered as a non-degree program there, thus costing several thousand euros. This forces many to even change their place of study in order to enroll in a suitable Master's program. This grievance is not an isolated case and leads to social restrictions in studies! Every continuing Master's program must be offered as a degree program to enable all students to pursue further (vocational) education!
Fair transfer options between Universities of Applied Sciences and Universities
Graduates of Universities of Applied Sciences encounter significant hurdles when transferring to Universities, as their prior education is often regarded as inferior there. Although the study content at Universities of Applied Sciences and Universities is very similar in many cases, the FH degree is frequently not recognized as equivalent when applying for a Master's program, unjustifiably limiting the opportunities of graduates. Therefore, a genuine and practiced equal status between degrees from Universities of Applied Sciences and Universities must be introduced, ensuring that graduates of Universities of Applied Sciences receive unrestricted access to further studies at Universities and that their prior education is recognized as equivalent.