The Concept of Self-Administration

In all dormitories of Studierendenwerk Aachen, the residents have the option to volunteer and take part in the organization of and life in their dormitory. For example, many dormitories have a Network WG, which administrates the connection to the RWTH network for residents, a Room Allocation WG, which selects new residents from the applicants, and a workin, which organizes dormitory parties and runs the student bar of their dormitory. This means that we, the residents, have more influence and fun in our home, and our landlord, the Studierendenwerk Aachen, can save a lot of money and time – a win-win situation.

The Association

To organize the work of our self-administration, we, the residents of the HBS dormitory, have concluded to found an association. In making this decision we followed the recommendations of the dormitory council (“Wohnheimsrat”, short “WHR” – an organization to coordinate the work between the different dormitories in Aachen) and the practical experience in other dormitories: One the many advantages is that we are able open a bank account for the association and do not need to put the association’s money on a resident’s private bank account or store it in cash. Also, the self-administration is now a legal person and can, for example, “sign” a contract with Studierendenwerk Aachen over the usage of the common rooms.

To found an association, at the founding members (least seven persons) have to sign the associoation’s constitution. Our “Constitution WG” worked out the details of our associoation’s constitution over the course of the summer semester 2014 and founded the “Wohnheim Hainbuchenstraße e.V.” on October 14th, 2014. (“Wohnheim” is German for “dormitory” and “e.V.” is short for “eingetragener Verein” – which means “registered association”. Also, our association meets the criteria for charitable organizations and thus does not have to pay taxes.) On December 15th, 2014 the full meeting of all dormitory residents transferred the tasks of the self-administration to the association and it’s bodies.

Working Groups

Members of the association can found working groups – until now, the following working groups exist:

• Network Working Group (“Netzwerk-AG”)
• Room Allocation Working Group (“Belegungsausschuss”)
• Tutors (“Tutoren”)
• Beverages Working Group (“Getränke-AG”)
• Tools Working Group (“Werkzeug-AG”)
• Living Room Working Group (“Wohnzimmer-AG”)
• Former Tenants Group (“Ehemaligen-AG”)
• Study- and Laundry Room Working Group (“Lern- und Waschraum-AG”)
• Internationals Working Group (“Internationals-AG”)