Miscellaneous
Performance report of Studierendenwerke NRW published
The Performance Report 2020 (Leistungsbilanz-LB 20) of Studierendenwerke NRW offers an informative insight into the diverse work of Studierendenwerke NRW.
The twelve Studierendenwerke in North Rhine-Westphalia are today publishing their performance report for 2020, which provides an overview of the diverse services provided by the NRW Studierendenwerke. These present themselves as the core of the social infrastructure at the 37 state universities, even in the Corona pandemic.
Impact of the Corona pandemic on Studierendenwerke
2020 has shown how important Studierendenwerke are as pillars of the social university infrastructure for the universities and especially for the students. Despite temporarily closed dining halls, the remaining services such as student housing, student financing, daycare centers and, in particular, counseling services continued to run. What's more, due to emergencies caused by the coronavirus, Studierendenwerke NRW paid out more than 22 million euros in bridging assistance to students from June to December 2020.
Successfully meeting the challenges
In the process, the services for the well over 600,000 students in the area of responsibility of the Studierendenwerke were adapted to other online and hybrid studies in no time: Instead of in-person office hours, there were online advising sessions. Loan applications and tenancy agreements were processed via computer. Instead of full-service dining halls with many dishes, dining capacities had to be limited again and again.
"Most of the time, Studierendenwerke were able to maintain basic services, even if the usual variety was missing and at times only take away meals were possible," explains Jörg Schmitz, spokesman for Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Studierendenwerke NRW.
The challenges were also extraordinary for the 4,500 employees of Studierendenwerke: two long lockdowns and constantly changing contact restrictions had to be implemented in many new work models. Short-time work, home office, partial opening, video consultations are examples of this.
"Thanks are due not only to the students and employees, but also to the state and federal government," Jörg Schmitz continued. "Without their rescue package and the short-time working allowance, Studierendenwerke would not have been able to secure the social university infrastructure that is so important for students and for North Rhine-Westphalia as a university location."