TIU- Towards Inclusive Universities

                                           by Empowering Disabled Students

NEWSLETTER 2

2                                                                                                      

Utrecht, 10-12 Dec., 2008

The 2nd Activity of the TIU Project constituted of a study visit to Utrecht. A team of specialists from Turkey travelled to the Netherlands for 3 days at Handicap+Studie, Utrecht, NL, on 10-11-12 December 2008.   The team consisted of Osman Biçer and Nurcan Köse from Mustafa Kemal University (MKU), Claire Özel from the Middle East Technical University (METU), Ahmet Zeki Ünal from Yuzuncu Yil University (YYU), Hatice Şahin from Ege University and Melek Yücel from the Netherlands Institute for Higher Education (NIHA).  

The aim of the study visit was to investigate the Disabilty Support System at the Netherland and to see which parts could be applied to the system in Turkey.

The first day of the visit passed with the  introduction to H+S, meeting with staff, presentations on the current situation, and the history of support for disabled university students in the Netherlands. It continued with Reflection, discussion and meeting with a panel of experts.  At the Handicap+Studie offices in Utrecht, the Turkish team met the team at Handicap+Studie. Irma van Slooten gave a presentation about Handicap+Studie and how it works. A student counsellor explained how student counsellors deal with students with disabilities and we had the opportunity to discuss the different situations in Holland and in Turkey.  Different ways were used to develop the awareness of university staff and of disabled students including training and simulation.

Several students with different disabilities talked about their needs and what strategies and solutions were used to develop appropriate conditions.

The meeting ended with the motto: Don’t talk about disabled students talk with them!

H+S doesn’t focus on the disabilities but on the hindrances that cause the disability. Their recent campaign focusses on the need of all disabled students, whatever their disability, to have extra time: to work in different ways or manage pain or lack of energy.

During the second day a meeting was arranged with the 4th associate member European Association for International Education (EAIE) representative: All TIU members met for the first time. A presentation was given  on 'TIU, achievements so far' and 'a European overview of inclusion of disabled university students'.  The afternoon meetings focused on TIU operational strategy and priorities.  New associate EAIE was represented by the Relations Development Manager Vera de Hen.  She presented ‘EU policy on disabilities’ and reflected on EU priorities over the years. EAIE has about 200 members (individual) and about 1000 universities as members. TIU is now associate member of EAIE and can consider attending the next annual conference in Madrid.  Future In the afternoon we discussed how all partners can work together better. TIU activities will be attended by members of EAIE Special Interest Group on disability, DIW (Disability Issues Worldwide).

In the afternoon the discussion went on with how all partners can work together better. The final session of the afternoon was given by Jan Westgeest.  He described the 4 levels of organisation for providing appropriate conditions for disabled students.  First the laws must be understood: often there are good laws (what are the abilities and responsibilities of different people), but the difficulty is putting them into practice.  The EU required equal rights for all in EU countries. In 2003 the Netherlands started to use it. One particularly effective structure is the Commission for Equal Treatment (CET). Before going to the official court, a student can apply to CET to decide about their case.  CET is an informal advisory body, that meets only when there is a complaint.    

Communication is important: Is information available, and can people express their needs to the right authority?  There are different ways of collecting information and empowering people to express themselves effectively. A national survey (2001 and 2003) showed that 15% of university students have got a disability; half of these are disadvantaged because of their disability. The way the survey was done was important: universities cannot get this number of students to disclose their needs soon enough, before their difficulties become serious. 

The third day passed with  visits to two universities in Amsterdam.  

  Hoegeschool von Amsterdam

 Student counsellor Liddy von de Laag showed a film ‘Students with functional limitations’ made in a project with their university and the University of Amsterdam. The film includes students with dyslexia and autism, which in Turkey are not yet considered as disabilities.  The film was made to show teachers/lecturers how a disability can affect the life/learning of a student, and the role they can have in improving students’ quality of life. The focus is the students’ needs, not their disability.

The position of the student counsellors in the hierarchy of a university was also discussed during this meeting. The student counsellor, a confidence person, must be connected to the highest level of the university.  They must be in connection with all services of the university, with information about technology and training, processes and standards.

The second university visited was University of Amsterdam

The Head of Internation Student Affairs, Willeke Jeeninga, explained the UoA hierarchy.

Student Counsellor, Karin van Spiel, talked about dealing with problems. Support is ‘customer-led’, answering questions of students.  Often they come asking for material facilities when facing a specific barrier.  In particular the needs of autistic students, students with dyslexia, and students with mental health problems were discussed.