Studentenwerk Dresden performance - Corona slows down track record
As a public law institution (German: Anstalt des öffentlichen Rechts), Studentenwerk Dresden has to strike a balance every year. The following performance figures show how the year 2020 looked from a statistical perspective for Studentenwerk Dresden as a company.
Due to the measures taken to cope with the pandemic, the growth of previous years could obviously not continue. Of the approximately 600 employees of the Studentenwerk Dresden, a large proportion had to go on short-time working. With hygiene concepts and flexible arrangements, an attempt was made to continue providing all services, counseling and support. The results show that this was mostly successful.
The total number of students supported by the Studentenwerk Dresden fell slightly to 40,350 (previous year 40,800) - even though only some of the students were actually on site at the universities.
Student Dining Services
In the Student Dining Services Division, only €6 million of the originally planned €15.6 million in sales could be generated due to the massive restrictions - €3 million of which was generated in the first three months of 2020. Total sales of €4.74 million were generated in the dining halls (2019: €10.67 million), while total sales in the cafeterias were €1.34 million in 2020 (2019: €4.47 million).
Student Financing
In 2020, a total of 9,266 BAföG applications were processed in the Student Financing division (2019: 9,423). The number of applications has thus continued to decline. However, the total amount of funding disbursed increased significantly to €46.3 million (2019: €41.5 million).
Student Housing
A total of 6,648 dormitory places were available in the 40 dormitories in Dresden, Tharandt, Zittau and Görlitz. While the vacancy rate in Dresden was slightly higher than in the previous year, the vacancy rate in the Upper Lusatia business unit increased more significantly.
Rental income of around €17.5 million was generated in 2020 as a whole (2019: €17.0 million). Due to the Corona restrictions, the International Guest House also had an approx. 14% lower occupancy rate than in previous years.
Counseling and Social Affairs
In the case of social counseling, including telephone and e-mail counseling, there were around 2,400 counseling sessions, a third more inquiries than in the previous year (2019: 1,833). Approximately €15,000 more was spent on students from the social fund than in previous years. In total, more than €100,000 was provided for students from tuition funds.
The number of legal consultations was on a par with the previous year at 985 consultations (2019: 979). As with the other counseling services, the share of e-mail and telephone counseling obviously increased significantly. While this share in legal counseling was still 33% in 2019, it rose to 77% in 2020.
At the Psychosocial Counseling Center, the number of contacts was lower than the previous year at 4,851 (2019: 4,943), but was handled by fewer staff members.
The 240 daycare places were largely occupied, but due to Corona the situation here was also exceptional - the two daycare centers SpielWerk and Miniforscher had to react very flexibly and develop new (hygiene) concepts and new forms of contact with parents, which made the work more complicated.
Student Culture
A total of €106,986.88 was used in the culture department, including project funding for seven projects totaling €3,835. After the Dresden Student Days had to be canceled in the first half of the year, the second half of the year was dedicated to supporting the student culture and club scene. Special funding was provided for Dresden's student clubs, which are struggling to survive due to the Corona-related shutdowns.
| Studentenwerk Dresden: Performance figures | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Responsible for students (approx.) | 41,800 | 40,800 | 40,350 |
| Income from Studentenwerk fees (in million €) | 6.7 | 6.8 | 7.0 |
| Employees as of 31.12. | 608 | 601 | 594 |
| Personnel costs (in million €) | 22.7 | 23.1 | 23.0 |
Student Dining Services |
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| Full canteens (with kitchen) | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Distribution canteens (no kitchen) | 6 | 7 | 7 |
| Independent cafeterias | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| Turnover from canteens (in million €) | 10.57 | 10.67 | 4.74 |
| Turnover from cafeterias (in million €) | 4.28 | 4.47 | 1.34 |
Student Financing |
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| Number of applications processed | 10,038 | 9,423 | 9,266 |
| Payments | 7,512 | 6,818 | 6,704 |
| Grants disbursed (in million €) | 44.1 | 41.5 | 46.3 |
| Funding rate of supervised students (%) | 17.5 | 15.8 | 15.9 |
Student Housing |
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| Student residence halls | 41 | 40 | 40 |
| In Dresden and Tharandt / Zittau / Görlitz | 33 / 7 / 1 | 32 / 7 / 1 | 32 / 7 / 1 |
| Spots in student residence halls | 6,700 | 6,703 | 6,648 |
| Rental income from students (in million € | 16.8 | 17.0 | 17.5 |
Culture |
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| Supported student clubs | 8 | 3 | 4 |
| Supported artistic groups | 8 | 5 | 5 |
| Total funds spend on promotion of culture (in €) | 92.394 | 81.133 | 106.986 |
Social Affairs |
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| Loans to students (in €) | 16,950 | 20,660 | 23,910 |
| Awarded expectant mother aid programs / amount granted (in €) | 79 / 15,600 | 68 / 13,400 | 48 / 9,500 |
| Psychosocial Counseling Center (number of contacts) | 5,594 | 4,493 | 4,851 |
| Daycare spots (own / external) | 240 / 10 | 240 / 10 | 240 / 10 |
| Legal counseling sessions | 916 | 979 | 985 |
| Social counseling sessions | 1,324 | 1,833* | 2,441* |
* from 2019: including telephone and e-mail consultations