FAQ special circumstances

You can do this via your student file (under the 'special circumstances' button) as soon as you are registered as a student at Hasselt University. After being recognised as a student in special circumstances, you can request facilities in your student file, under 'open facilities'.

On our website 'Disability-related and other support' you will find the application deadlines and the criteria the certification must meet. You will also find information about guidance and support, procedures and deadlines there.

If you have another question about studying with a disability or would like additional facilities, make an appointment with the disability officer. If you have any questions about the combination of study and top sport, work, performing as an artist, informal care, etc. make an appointment with your study coach.

In your student file, under: special circumstances/ open file/ 'Feedback file manager'/ bottom table, under 'Certificate of recognition of disability'.

With this document you can show that you are recognised at Hasselt University as a student with a disability and request reasonable adjustments (e.g. during the interuniversity master's physiotherapy, during an Erasmus exchange,...).

Make an appointment with the disability officer to discuss which services are eligible.

You are free to look for a service/independent practice yourself. When making the appointment, be sure to indicate for which disorder you want to be (re)tested and that you are 18+. This is because not all diagnosticians do research on adolescents/adults.

The cost varies. It is best to check this first. You can submit the costs for (re)testing under 'application for assistance with study costs'. 
Conditions for a partial refund:
- the student must first submit an application to the health insurance fund for a possible refund
- (re)testing is based on a referral from a student psychologist and/or disability officer.

Important: to be recognised as a student with a disability at Hasselt University, your certificate must meet the VLOR criteria or you must complete the document for attestation.

Facilities during teaching periods

• Arrangements during lectures, work sessions, group work, papers, labs and practicals, field trips, bachelor's and master's thesis ...
• Apply via student file - special circumstances

Facilities during examination periods

• Arrangements for knowledge tests, exams, evaluations, ...
• Apply via student file - special circumstances

Short-term facilities

• Arrangements in case of an actual or expected loss of function of less than 12 months (e.g. broken wrist or leg, ...)
• Contact your academic advisor

• via your student file under the 'special circumstances' button and then under 'open facilities'. You can only do this after recognition as a student in special circumstances.
• You can tick the minimum facilities approved by the university (if available)
• You can request extra facilities using the '+' sign at the bottom (under 'extra facilities'). Your description and motivation will be submitted to the Examination Board Office (BEC) of your educational program. Afterwards you can read the decision in your student file.
• The exam facilities subsequently appear in your study contract and in the exam lists per course that the teaching team can consult. If the facilities are temporary (for one year or less), the duration will be specified in the granted exam arrangement

• Approved teaching and exam facilities appear in your study contract and in the list of exam facilities for the teaching team. Always bring your study contract with you to your exam.
• Approved short-term facilities do NOT appear in your study contract nor in the list of exam facilities for the teaching team. The academic advisor sends you and the lecturer(s) involved an email. Please bring this email to your exam.

You can find the deadlines for applying for examination facilities below (see education and examination regulations)

Exam facilities can be requested after recognition as a student in special circumstances. The following deadlines apply to recognition (see education and examination regulations):

Quartile 1: October 15
Quartile 2/semester 1: December 15
Quartile 3 and 4/semester 2: March 15
Second examination period: July 1

Request for exam facilities: before the deadline of the relevant quartile/semester or at the latest 5 working days after approval of the recognition file.

Students who combine sports and study must also respect these deadlines for requesting alternative examination moments.

Your study contract (see student file, under 'study trajectory').

Here you will find your assigned exam facilities and the duration of validity per facility.

Print out your study contract and take the printout with you to your exam.

Place this sheet clearly visible on your exam table (folded in four, beneath your student card).

1. Before your exam, check your facilities in your study contract (see student file, 'my programme') and inform the disability officer if anything is unclear!
2. Bring a printout of your study contract (in which the facilities are listed) with you to every exam.
3. Take a seat in the examination room for students with examination facilities, if applicable (see examination timetable).
4. Come to the exam on time!
5. Report to the supervisors before the start of the exam. Be sure to also speak to the supervisor if you have a question about anything.

Depending on your programme/course, you can find your examination room via:

• MyTimetable
• Blackboard/Toledo
• Mail from the relevant lecturer, student administration, ...

Too late?

Suppose you applied too late for exam facilities for a forthcoming exam period. In that case, you cannot use facilities for that exam, even though you submitted your application (unfortunately, too late). Read the section 'Until when can I apply for exam facilities?'

Facilities not ticked in your student file?

After you are recognised as a student in special circumstances, you have to select your facilities via your student file - special circumstances. If you haven’t applied any, no facilities will appear in your study contract or in the exam lists.
Read the application procedure.

Temporarily granted facilities?

You may have been granted facilities for only a certain period (semester 1, ...). In that case, you will no longer find the temporarily granted facilities in your study contract, and the facility no longer appears in the list of exam facilities. So be sure to keep an eye on the period to which the facilities applies.

Short-term facilities?

Short-term facilities (because of, e.g. broken wrist, leg ...) do not appear in your study contract or in the list of exam facilities. The relevant academic advisor emails the student and the lecturer(s) involved in the approved short-term exam facilities. Please bring this e-mail to the exam.

Approved teaching and exam facilities appear in your study contract. The description of your facility indicates whether this facility is valid for your entire study career at Hasselt University (permanent) or only for a certain period (academic year XX or indicated by a date from X to X).

Complete this application form before the deadline of each exam periode: 

• Quartile 1 - exam periode of November: November 1
• Quartile 2/ semester 1 - exam periode of januari : December 15
• Quartile 3 - exam periode of maart/april: March 15
• Quartile 4/ semester 2 - exam periode of mei/juni: May 15
• Retake: July 15

Requirement: the exam facility 'use Sprint/exam laptop' has already been granted to you.

The validity of your facilities can be found in your student file, 'open facilities', 'period of approval' and in your study contract.

• Permanent means that your facilities are valid for your entire study career. They continue until the end of your study programme, unless you allow changes to be made. You do need to reprint your study contract at the start of each academic year and whenever you make changes to your study trajectory/facilities.
• If not permanent, there is a validity period (academic year XX or indicated by a date, from X to X).

If the deadline has passed and you wish to continue/again use the facility, you can submit a new application:

• If you are still recognised as a student in special circumstances, you can apply for facilities in the same file.
• If your recognition has expired, you must first submit a new request to be recognised as a student in special circumstances (attestation). This can be done via your student file under the button 'special circumstances' - 'new application AJ'.

Also make an appointment with the disability officer.

At your host institution, you are entitled to facilities based on your recognition as a student with a disability at Hasselt University. However, the facilities at your host institution may differ from those at Hasselt University.

Inform yourself in advance at the educational institution where you will be studying ( = host institution) about the possibilities:

• Do they offer adjustments or assistance for people with disabilities?
• To whom should you turn to make your application?
• Is there a deadline for this application?
• What documents or certificates must support your application?

In higher education institutions, you can contact the Disability / Access Special Needs Office for this. The Erasmus coordinator of your educational program can also give you information about this.

The proof of your recognition as a student with a disability can be found in your student file under: special circumstances/ open file/ 'Feedback file manager'/ bottom table, under 'Certificate of recognition of disability'.

For an interuniversity master's degree, recognition of and/or obtaining facilities in the context of disability is as follows:

• Contact the partner institution to arrange your facilities. This at the latest before November 1st in the first semester and before March 1st in the second semester. Please take into account the specific deadlines of each partner institution.
• It is best to send information about your disability and facilities right away.
• The contact person will let you know if a personal consultation is necessary.
• You will find the 'Certificate of recognition of disability' of UHasselt in your student file (under the button 'special circumstances'). You can provide this to the partner institution as a 'recognition certificate'.
• The registration and approval of your disability is therefore done via UHasselt (the institution where you have your main enrollment). You do not have to go through the recognition procedure again at the other partner institutions. However, the facilities and agreements regarding the facilities may differ per institution.
• Contact details per educational institution:
  • Ghent University: contact persons University of Ghent
  • VUB: reflex@vub.be
  • Hasselt University: faciliteiten@uhasselt.be
  • KU Leuven: functiebeperking@kuleuven.be
  • University of Antwerp: BijzondereFaciliteiten@uantwerpen.be

Consult the Education, Examination and Legal position regulations (EELR)

Internal Appeals procedure

A student with a disability may submit an internal appeal against a decision by Hasselt University/tUL to refuse reasonable adjustments to take account of his/her disability according to art. 4.6, section 5 EER, on the condition that this issue was not the subject of a previous appeal.

Any formal internal appeal needs to be filed within 7 calendar days, starting from the day after the student was given notice of the study progress decision. The appeal shall be filed with the chairman of the Internal Appeals Committee. It shall be formally forwarded to the secretary of the Appeals Committee in accordance with art. 19.3 section 4 of the EELR:

Department Educational Policy and Quality Assurance
Céline Jaspers
Secretary Internal Appeals Committee
Universiteit Hasselt
Martelarenlaan 42
B-3500 Hasselt

For administrative reasons, the student is also asked to report the appeal to the e-mail address: intern.beroep@uhasselt.be.

Under penalty of inadmissibility, the appeal is filed by registered mail. The date of the appeal is the date of the postmark of the recorded delivery.

Under penalty of inadmissibility the appeal shall contain at least the following information:
- Name, postal address and signature (autograph) of the student filing the appeal;
- A description of the decision against which the appeal is directed, possibly together with all relevant documents;
- A description of the grievances.

The appeal will be handled in accordance with the procedure for internal appeals in Art. 19.4 EER.

Extra facilities are submitted in groups to the Examination Board of your programme. This is after the deadline for requesting examination facilities for that quartile/semester.

Deadlines for requesting examination facilities:

Quartile 1: 15 October
Quartile 2/semester 1: 15 December
Quartile 3 and 4/semester 2: 15 March
Second examination period: 1 July

You can expect an answer approximately 15 days after the deadline.

As soon as your application has been assessed, the answer will be added to your student file. We try to use the same wording as much as possible. The wording of your requested facility may therefore differ from your application, but the content remains the same for approved facilities.

You can find the complete list of group sessions offered by student counselors on the Student Point website. You can also register there.

Els Swijns, disability officer

011 26 90 08

faciliteiten@uhasselt.be

You can choose to meet online or on campus.

Make an appointment

At Hasselt University, you can rent Sprint at a discounted price. The rental price is 25 euros in the first year, 50 euros for the second year you rent, 75 euros for the third year you rent and so on.

How?

You can test a demo version first.

You can request the demo version of Sprint via this link. You can test it free of charge for 30 days. If you would like more information, you can watch the instruction videos on their website.

Convinced?

Transfer 25/50/75 euros (25 euros year 1, 50 euros year 2, 75 euros year 3 and so on) to the account below, stating 'rent reading software + your student number':

• Name and address:
• Hasselt University
• Finance department
• Martelarenlaan 42
• 3500 Hasselt, Belgium
• account number : IBAN: BE53 4532 5078 0153
• bank details : BIC code: KREDBEBB
• VAT number : BE0208.359.859

Please let the disability officer (faciliteiten@uhasselt.be) know that you have made the payment via e-mail.

As soon as the payment is in order (and you have let us know), you will get access to a web licence of Sprint.

If you want to continue renting Sprint next year, make a new request at the start of that academic year.

Use the link to download the SprintPlus 3 web licence.

1. Choose the 'custom installation' web version.
2. When starting up SprintPlus you need to enter your username and password. After payment and confirmation the disability officer will setup these details and email them to the student (see 'How to rent Sprint at UHasselt').
3. If you select "Remember my details", you do not have to fill in your details every time you log in.
4. If you also select "Do not show this window again", the login window will no longer appear at start-up.

You can download the SprintPlus manual via the link.

Having problems installing or using SprintPlus?

Then check the support website of Sprint or contact the disability officer.

Approved students with a disability can request digital books or courses. These are free of charge, provided you have the printed versions of the courses.

Important: keep the receipt for your printed books.

Below are the guidelines per file type (course materials from Hasselt University vs. materials from external publishers).

Courses from Hasselt University (study guides, textbooks, course texts,...)

• Fill out the application form to request digital courses from Hasselt University.
• You can only request courses for the current or upcoming quartile.
• The information on your courses can be found under 'list handbooks: courses' in your student file.
• Prerequisite: Read, sign and return 'Declaration for the correct use of the digital files' as an attachment in an e-mail to faciliteiten@uhasselt.be. By doing so, you indicate that you agree with the conditions regarding the use of digital files. After we receive your declaration, you will receive the digital files.
• If exceptionally a digital version cannot be provided, the disability officer will inform you as soon as possible.

HANDBOOKS/COURSES FROM EXTERNAL PUBLISHERS:

• Apply according to this procedure
• Register on the website https://book-a-book.be.

The Support Centre for Inclusive Higher Education (SIHO) developed a database of supporting technologies (writing apps, audio recording, etc.) that can help your studies.

Take part in Buddy@UHasselt, the Buddy Project of Hasselt University: mentoring for a first-year student by a senior student, expanding your network(skills) for senior students, ...

'MoodSpace is a place for students. Full of reliable info, tips and self-help to cope with emotional problems and be resilient while studying. With room for student stories, pep talks and pointers to a listening ear. The check and push for your mental health, in other words.'

See the tab 'Info Library' for background information on disability.

Take a seat in Silence Point.

Here you can break free from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. You may pause, reflect, be inspired, catch your breath, pray, ...

... with respect for each other.

... with respect for the space.

... with respect for preserving silence.

What is Silence Point not for? To study, gather or catch up with each other, ...