University elections
FAU Elections Office
Representatives are elected to the Senate, the five Faculty Councils, the School of Theology’s Appointments Council and the Students’ Representatives Governing Board of Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg in the university elections. They form the basis for academic autonomy at the University. While the student representatives are elected each year, representatives of the university lecturers, research staff and other staff are elected once every two years (next election in June 2023).
In a nutshell: Procedure for university elections 2022:
- Submission of nominations April 27 to May 10
- Electoral register available for inspection at Elections Office May 17 to May 22
- Deadline for applying for a postal vote May 30
- Electronic vote June 20 to June 27
Further details are available below.
The doctoral candidates’ representatives are elected in parallel to the university elections.
Information
The committees at a glance
The Senate consists of six representatives of university lecturers, one representative of research staff and one representative of other staff as well as two students and the University women’s representative. The chairperson of the Doctoral Candidates’ Council is included in an advisory capacity. The tasks of the Senate include passing resolutions on University regulations (in particular degree program and examination regulations) and issuing statements on proposals for the appointment of professors. In addition, the elected members of the Senate belong to the University Council, which elects the members of the Executive Board and decides on changes to the FAU Constitution and on establishing new degree programs.
The Student Council (Studentischer Konvent) is made up of students from all faculties and has a total of 30 members. The Student Committees (Fachschaftsvertretungen) at each of the faculties appoint three members each (a total of 15), another 15 members are elected directly by students in the university election. The members of the Student Council work to promote the subject-related, economic and social interests of their fellow students at FAU. In addition, the Student Council elects student representatives to the Senate and the members of the General Student Committee (Sprat), which gives students a voice and a greater influence in external affairs.
The Faculty Councils (Fakultätsrat) consist of ex officio members (dean, vice dean, dean of studies and the faculty women’s representatives) and group representatives elected directly during the university elections. These are twelve representatives of university lecturers, four representatives of research staff, two representatives of other staff and four students. The Faculty Councils take decisions in all matters relating to the individual faculties. They are involved, for example, in establishing degree programs, approving examination regulations and appointing professors. Furthermore, the Faculty Council elects the members of the faculty board (deans, vice deans, deans of studies).
The Student Committees (Fachschaftsvertretung) represent students’ interests at a faculty level. They consist of the students with the most votes from the election for the Faculty Council, in other words the four representatives from the Faculty Council and the runners up. The number of members depends on the number of students at the faculties. The Student Committees support their fellow students in organizing their studies and provide students with study-related advice.
The Appointments Council for the School of Theology assumes the tasks of a Protestant faculty of theology pursuant to Section 3 (5) and (6) Bavarian Law on Academic Personnel of Higher Education Institutions at Bavarian Universities (HSchAbwV) in appointment procedures for professors of Protestant theology, Protestant religious education and teaching Protestant religious education at schools. Its members are elected in accordance with the provisions applicable to electing Faculty Councils.
Further information on electing student representatives is available on the Students’ Representatives’ website: https://stuve.fau.de/mitbestimmung/wahlen/.
Information on the election for the doctoral candidates’ representatives is available under “Election for the doctoral candidates’ representatives”.
General publications by Elections Office
Notice of election for university election 2022 (german version)
Notice of election for university election 2022 (english version)
Individuals must be entered in the electoral register at the time when it is closed in order to exercise their right to vote and stand as a candidate. The electoral register shall be available for inspection from May 17 to May 22, 2023, from 9am to 4pm in Erlangen at the University Administration’s Elections Office, Schlossplatz 4, 2nd floor, room 2.027/2.029.
The electoral register will be closed at 9 am on May 23, 2022. Written notifications of missing or incorrect entries in the electoral register are permitted. However, these notifications may only be submitted by those who are eligible to vote and are entered or should be entered in the electoral register. A notification such as this must be submitted to the Elections Office or the Returning Officer at the latest by the first working day after the electoral register has been closed, i.e. by 4pm on May 24, 2022.
Nominations
Nominations for the University election can be submitted from April 27, 2023 to May 10, 2023 to the Elections Office, Schlossplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen, rooms 2.027 and 2.029. Please observe the information on the Guidelines for Nominations. Information about submitted nominations and the lists of candidates will be available on this website at the beginning of June as well as on the Student Representatives’ website.
Voting and postal votes
Votes will be cast in the university election as an electronic election with the option of casting a postal vote from 9 am on June 20, 2023 until 9 am on June 27, 2022. Votes must be cast either by postal vote or in the polling station for electronic voting stated in the polling card.
The votes will be counted on June 27, 2022 in the Senatssaal. Admission will only be granted subject to compliance with the currently valid hygiene guidelines.
Those who are eligible to vote and have an activated IdM account can access their polling card as an electronic document via the online portal online-wahlen.fau.de. Those who are eligible to vote but do not have an activated IdM account will receive their polling card in writing.
Those who are eligible to vote and who have an activated IdM account can also cast their votes on an election terminal in the Elections Office in Erlangen, Schlossplatz 4, room 2.027 on the second floor. The election terminal is available for use during the election period from Monday to Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm and on Fridays from 9 am to 12 pm.
All those entitled to vote are entitled to apply for a postal vote using the template included with the polling card. Applications must be signed and received by the Elections Office or the Returning Officer by 4 pm on May 30, 2023.
In order for postal votes to be counted, the Elections Office must receive the completed postal vote documents (voting letter with completed ballot papers) by 9 am on the last day of the election period (June 27, 2023).
Instructions for casting votes electronically and sample ballot card
In order to ensure that the electronic election remains secure and confidential, it is essential that you vote using a secure end device.
You should use an operating system the manufacturer has approved for accessing the internet and for which the manufacturer provides updates at short notice to remedy any security risks which should arise. System settings should follow the manufacturer’s recommendations and guidelines issued by the Erlangen Regional Computing Center (RRZE). In addition, if it is technically possible, the system should be protected by an anti-virus program and data traffic managed using a firewall program. You are responsible for ensuring that the operating system, programs which allow you to access the internet (e.g. browsers, a browser suited to many different operating systems is available free of charge at https://www.mozilla.org) and installed protective programs are always kept up to date in accordance with the recommendations from the relevant manufacturer.
Further information on protecting time-sharing systems is available in the security guidelines issued by RRZE with respect to supported operating systems at https://www.anleitungen.rrze.fau.de/betriebssysteme/, which are published and kept up to date on the RRZE website.
If the device is shared, we recommend using the incognito mode. The internet should only be used without administration rights on such devices.
You must refrain from changing the operating system of the mobile end device by using jailbreaking, rooting or similar methods contrary to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Additional software may only be downloaded and installed from secure sources.
When using the IdM system, you must be sure to protect it by using a secure password known only to the user (i.e. yourself). If you have the slightest suspicion that third parties have gained access to your IdM password, you must change it immediately and inform the office responsible for computer security at FAU accordingly. (see https://www.rrze.fau.de/person/abuse/)
The log-in credentials required for the electronic election must be kept confidential and must not be passed on to third parties. They should not be stored in the web browser.
Please do not refresh the page or press F5 whilst in the process of voting. Otherwise the votes you have entered will be discarded and you will have to register and enter everything again.
We recommend that users log off from the election application and close their web browser after casting their vote.
Voting is carried out over encrypted websites.
Fingerprints for www.sso.uni-erlangen.de
- SHA-256: AC:D8:E4:37:EE:6C:4A:FE:79:48:A3:32:0C:EB:68:E2:FA:BF:C2:52:33:25:4F:D8:95:8B:D5:14:EF:6F:35:00
- SHA-1: EA:B3:45:86:41:06:C2:8C:29:4A:EF:25:5C:BD:7F:3F:88:11:DB:38
Fingerprints for online-wahlen.fau.de
- SHA-256: 49:31:69:82:88:1C:2E:02:83:42:65:C2:11:C9:B5:2A:35:6C:AF:54:07:CD:18:1B:8F:20:4F:ED:91:1D:46:1E
- SHA-1: 6A:31:85:BD:A8:34:01:1D:FF:33:C2:D5:63:5E:BE:EB:0C:DD:D0:1A
Fingerprints for voting.polyas.com
- SHA-256:
FD:73:DE:02:78:28:23:66:C4:90:5A:DF:99:D0:B4:CE:A3:FE:77:DF:7A:CD:F0:48:2B:14:4A:3C:52:6D:78:CD
- SHA-1:
3D:E5:EA:28:A8:DB:54:82:04:9E:3F:A6:75:0F:FD:8C:94:BA:BA:F8
Template for polling card for postal votes
Election for doctoral candidates’ representatives
The doctoral candidates’ representatives represent the interests of doctoral candidates. They have an advisory function within FAU’s committees and offer individual support for doctoral degree candidates. Two doctoral candidates are elected at each faculty. The persons from each faculty who are elected in this manner form the Doctoral Candidates’ Council. More information about the Doctoral Candidates’ Council is available at: https://blogs.fau.de/proko/.
The Doctoral Candidates’ Council is elected annually at the same time as the general university election and is conducted exclusively as an electronic election. Doctoral candidates registered in docDaten receive a polling card with the log-in credentials required to log in to the electronic polling station (election portal). The Elections Office will provide the polling cards automatically via an internet portal as an electronic document at the beginning of May 2022. More detailed information will be published here in good time.
You can cast your vote from 9 am on June 27, 2022 until 9 am on July 4, 2022 (election period for university election).
Nominations can be submitted from April 27, 2023 to May 10, 2023 to the Elections Office, Schlossplatz 4, 91054 Erlangen, rooms 2.027 and 2.029. Please observe the information on the form for submitting election nominations. Information about submitted nominations will be available on this website at the beginning of June as well as on the blog of the Doctoral Candidates’ Council.
- Schedule for election of doctoral candidates’ representatives 2022
- Notice of election for the doctoral candidates’ representatives elections 2022 (german version)
- Notice of election for the doctoral candidates’ representatives election 2022 (english version)
- Nomination for election of doctoral candidates’ representatives 2022 (german version)
- Merkblatt zur Stimmabgabe und Hinweise zu den Stimmzetteln – Information on postal votes and ballot paper information (translation)
- Announcement of candidates standing for election 2022 (doctoral candidates’ representatives)
Confirmation from Elections Office of membership in committees
The Elections Office can issue you with confirmation that you have served in the Elections Office or an FAU committee.
To request confirmation, please send an e-mail to hochschulwahlen@fau.de with the period of service and which offices you worked in as well as the address to which the confirmation should be sent.
Contact
Christian Bartels +49 9131 85-24500 oder +49 174 4814940
Carolin Bautz +49 9131 85-25805 oder +49 162 2037183
Sonja Vaask +49 9131 85-25826 oder +49 174 5808781