Life in the dormitory

Fünf Studierende sitzen auf den Stufen zum Eingang des Wohnheimes Kaiserstraße 47. Es ist sonnig und warm.

Student self-administration

More than 350 students are volunteering to ensure that every dormitory offers a unique range of leisure activities.

In every student dormitory, there are tutors, mentors and senior citizens, who usually already have a bit more experience in student life. They maintain contact with the student union, the property management and organise many joint activities such as cooking and games evenings, darts, table football and football tournaments, visits to museums, cinemas and much more.

Student self-administration thrives on the commitment of its members and the interest shown by its residents. So when you move in, you will get to know your contacts in the building.

Zwei Studentinnen sitzen sich in der Universitäts- und Landesbibliothek Bonn gegenüber am Tisch. Sie diskutieren über irgendetwas.

Senior citizens

The senior citizens represent the residents of the dormitory towards the Studierendenwerk. They attend the Seniors' Conference at least twice a semester, at which they elect trusted students. In the building itself, they are in close contact with the property management, have information and keys to the common rooms. They carry out the General Assemblies, support the other officials in their work and are also responsible for the formal implementation of the offices.

At the house meeting, you will learn about news and activities in the house. In addition, you can get to know the other residents. The senior citizens are always the contact persons if you need information about self-administration, help with property management or activities in the house.

International tutors

The international tutors are elected for two semesters. Cooperating with the Studierendenwerk, they support foreign students while moving in and out and advise them after they have moved in. Twice a semester, they visit the International Students' Conference, where a coordinator is elected. They are especially familiar with the problems of foreign students and can help them with their first steps in the Studierendenwerk and with other organisational questions.

House tutors

The tutors are there to strengthen the sense of community in the dormitories. They organise evenings for newcomers so they can get to know their flatmates, other newcomers and their home with all its facilities better.

Many house tutors are also responsible for the house parties. They too elect their own coordinator.

Environmental mentors

The environmental mentors provide information about waste disposal and waste avoidance. They work closely with the property management as well as the senior citizens. They also attend two conferences organised by the environmental department coordinator. The environmental mentors offer multilingual documents explaining waste separation in Germany.

Network tutors

The network tutors organise Internet operation in the building. They provide advice and support to the network mentors and coordinate with the network coordinator and the Studierendenwerk. In addition, they advise the residents in case of problems.

Network mentors

The network mentors help with the installation of hardware and software and provide assistment regarding the network. Together with the network tutors, they help set up the accounts and try to solve minor problems with computers.

Mentors

The mentors offer numerous events during the semester. These are usually tied to the common rooms. However, they also e.g. organise baking events, sports activities or cultural visits. Some events can be attended spontaneously, with others you can register yourself in a list.

How to participate

Would you also like to get involved in student self-administration?

Wonderful! The only requirement is that you still have residence for the semester in which you want to work as a tutor or mentor. At the end of each semester, the election of the functionaries takes place in each dormitory.  Just look out for the relevant notices. Your senior citizens will also advise you how to help shape your choice.

High-speed Internet with StudNet

Zu sehen ist im Serverraum das Herzstück des Glasfasernetzwerkes der Uni.

Everybody living in our dormitories is able to enjoy particularly fast internet access. For more than ten years, the Studierendenwerk Bonn has been equipped with its own fiber optic network, also known as StudNet. This enables surfing at gigabit speed, or in other words at 1,000 megabits per second for both upload and download.

The entire network and server infrastructure is operated by the Studierendenwerk in cooperation with the university. Each dormitory provides network mentors within the student self-administration, who assist new residents in all questions concerning the network.

StudNet began in 1994, when two students living in the Tabu II dormitory founded a network group. Three years later there was even an optical radio link - one of the first in Germany - which allowed the residents of the dorm to surf 200 times faster than the modems of the time were able to. In 1999, the Studierendenwerk Bonn, enthusiastic and convinced by the entrepreneurial residents, entered into a cooperation with the City of Bonn and the University of Bonn. As a result, the students installed their own fibre-optic cables. Since then, performance has been upgraded step by step, always one step ahead of the speed of private households.

If you need help setting up the Internet connection in your dormitory, contact the network mentors and tutors.

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