Office of Instructional Development and Quality Assurance (LEQS)

Student Participation

What role do you see yourself playing when it comes to participation?

Contact

For questions, feedback, or further information:

 

Julia Kleine: julia.kleine[at]rptu.de
Maike Rech: maike.rech[at]rptu.de

Campus Tour with Julia Kleine and Maike Rech

What motivates you to get involved in committees or student councils—and what keeps you from doing so?

Reasons to Get Involved

  • Access to information and networks: 24
  • Support for other students: 13
  • Beer: 7
  • Creating opportunities for students: 4
  • Personal connection to the issues: 3
  • Financing studies through extended BAföG: 2
  • Political engagement: 2
  • Participation in student council events: 1

Reasons Against Getting Involved

  • Not enough time: 121
    • including a general lack of time, difficulties with commuting, scheduling conflicts between committee work and classes, and a part-time job
  • No suitable opportunities: 8
  • Lack of a sense of belonging, particularly in teacher education and dual-major bachelor’s programs: 3
  • Haven’t been at the university long: 2
  • Not enough information about opportunities for involvement: 1
  • Insufficient willingness on the part of the university to cooperate as needed: 1

  • Conducting evaluations at the end of the semester or after exams: 8
  • High workload for individual staff members due to a small number of volunteers: 5
  • Question regarding Alumni Connect: 1
  • Request for more freedom and freely accessible spaces: 1
  • Desire for more events: 1

What do the results show?

Student participation is primarily associated with providing feedback and contributing one’s own perspective. The role of providing feedback was by far the most frequently chosen. The role of co-creator comes in second place, while comparatively few students see themselves as a source of data or a partner.

An important incentive for getting involved is access to information and networks. At the same time, social motives play a significant role: Students want to support other students, help them succeed in their studies, and contribute to the development of student services.

The biggest hurdle is balancing this involvement with their studies. A lack of time and scheduling conflicts with classes were by far the most frequently cited reasons for not getting involved. The feedback thus suggests that participation often fails not because of a lack of interest, but due to time constraints.

Note on the Results

A total of about 400 students participated in the 2026 Campus Tour. The numbers cited in the individual results do not refer to the percentage of participants, but rather to how frequently that statement was mentioned.

The feedback that had already been provided was visible to subsequent participants, who could add to it. Finally, all results were compiled and analyzed.

The numbers highlighted in bold indicate the number of times each statement was mentioned.