The confidential advisor for students is your contact if you have (had) to deal with unacceptable BEHAVIOuR
The University of Twente wants to offer students and staff a socially safe environment. In such an environment, respect, integrity, honesty and attention to the other person are normal manners. Nevertheless, it may happen that students are approached by a fellow student or an employee of the UT in a way that is unacceptable to them. Or you may have witnessed such a situation. Examples of unacceptable behaviour are intimidation or sexual harassment, discrimination, aggression, violence or bullying. Such unacceptable behaviours can reduce your sense of security and pleasure in your studies. It can lead to stress and mental or physical complaints. Therefore, do not ignore such behaviour and please talk to someone about it.
Do you prefer to talk to a UT student?
Then a Confidential Contact Person(CCP) is your contact. They are trained to be peer listeners and will keep everything you share completely confidential.They support you if you are struggling with something, no matter how big or small. Let’s talk about it!
What is unacceptable behaviour
Unacceptable behaviour may have many forms. You decide for yourself what unacceptable behaviour is for you. It could be unacceptable if the direct or indirect behaviour affects your personal integrity, in any sense: verbally, non-verbally or otherwise physically, online, by telephone or via text, online text, voice, image or video message. Unacceptable behaviour includes (sexual) intimidation, aggression, violence, bullying and discrimination.
Some forms of unacceptable behaviour are obvious to everyone. Other forms can be more subtle, like intrusive messages, more than average interest from a teacher, repeatedly being addressed on your appearance or nationality.
It could also be that you witness unacceptable behaviour.
What can you do yourself
In case of unacceptable behaviour, it is important to take action. Ignoring it for too long can possibly lead to stress and mental or physical complaints.
In order to stop the unwanted behaviour, it is important that you address it. It may be that the causer is not aware of the fact that he / she is a burden to you. You can contact the person who is exhibiting the unwanted behaviour and point out that you are bothered by this. Tell them that you experience it as unwanted, offensive or even threatening. You can also ask someone you trust to talk to that person, for example a teacher, your study advisor or fellow student. Or contact the confidential advisor.
Role of a confidential advisor
The confidential counsellor for students lends a listening ear in situations of unacceptable behaviour or unequal treatment, is independent and has a duty of confidentiality towards others, such as lecturers and university institutions.
The confidential advisor will always be on your side and offers moral and emotional support. He or she helps to investigate what steps you could take and identify advantages and disadvantages of each step. For example, the confidential advisor can guide you in talking to the causer or in taking possible next steps. One possibility is to file a formal complaint or report an incident if all your attempts to change the situation have not helped. But it is also possible that just talking to a confidential advisor is sufficient for you.
The confidential advisor guides you through the entire process and the possible steps you might want to take. In this process, you are always the person who decides on what to do. Nothing happens without your explicit consent. You are always in control and decide whether or not to take a certain step or action.
In all situations your anonymity is guaranteed.
What a confidential advisor does not do
A confidential counsellor does not take over the problem from you. The confidential counsellor will not act as your representative, will not conduct investigations to discover the truth, will not provide legal assistance in a legal matter, and will not act as a mediator.
File a complaint
If, after one or more conversations with a confidential adviser, you have decided to submit a formal complaint, you do so by sending your complaint in writing to the complaints desk. A confidential advisor can help you formulate and submit the complaint.
The confidential advisors for students are:
Marjolein Drent - marjolein.drent@utwente.nl
Frido Oei - f.b.l.j.oei@utwente.nlContact
Contact SACC secretariat (+31 53 489 2035) for an appointment or e-mail to: confidential-advisor-students@utwente.nl.
