About us

The Interim Commissioner for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses at the University of Bayreuth is responsible, in accordance with the university’s constitution, the integration of disabled students into the University, represent their spezific interests concerning their studies and examinations, and provide them with advice and assistance. The constitution difines two areas of resposibility in which the representative has to carry out this task: 

1. They receive suggestions and applications for the avoidance of disadvantages of disabled students and forwards them to the responsible bodies and committees of the University.

2. They submit an annual report on the situation of disabled students at the university and forwards it to the University Governing Board. 

Starting from March 2024 the Interim Commissioner for Students with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses is Nicole Klug. ​

advise | mediate | change

The goal of our work is to 1. Create an opportunity for all Students and potential students to be able to have equal opportunities to study the study program of their choosing. Therefore, we support Students in short and medium-term advice and mediation to ensure that students are able to master their studies with the given situation. 

2. To advocate that the university of Bayreuth is accessible in all areas and offers equal opportunities for students with any impairments. We learn from the experience of our students to better recognize the structural problems of the university of Bayreuth. We develop ideas, measurements and building foundations to avoid obstructing and segregating structures in the long term within the university and archieve the goals of the University Rectors' Conference of 2009- “Eine Hochschule für Alle” (One Univeristy for all). 

According to our mandate we understand ourselves as a contact person and mediator for students with impairments or chronic illnesses. This concreatly means:

Representation

Your concerns and needs are represented in the committees of the university of Bayreuth through our Interim Commissioner. 

Advice and mediation

In our open consultation hour as well in individual consultation session we are  available as contact points for any questions and problems concerning your studies with a disability and/or chronic illnesses.  We point students and potential students at the possibilities of a compensation for disadvantages for an equal opportunity while studying as well as in the study admission and advise them regarding overcoming their individual challenges during your studies. 

This usually means we show you the instutional paths and, in exceptional cases, represent your specific interests to examinations offices, administration, etc.

Compensation for disadvantages are aimed to allow all students and applicants an equal access to the university and its teachings. How a compensation for disadvantages looks like is dependent on each case. This is not about the granting of benefits but rather about the creation of of equal opportunities.

More information on the topic of compensation for disadvantages can be found in our guide for students.

Information

Fundamentally on many levels there is a conciousness deficit regarding demands, needs and rights of students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses. Excluding the individual consultation we have started to offer on our website and in our office an information base to topics such as Studies and disabilities. 

• What rights and demands do you have?
  
• According to what laws and decisions are these rights based on?
• What barriers can you expect on the campus of the university of Bayreuth?
• What contact points are there for your concerns?

In order to better inform the affected students about our work and possible offers such as information events and seminars, we have set up and Emailing list through which we can reach you.

Acessibility

Becks works together with the university of Bayreuth, the student union Oberfranken, the work group for accessibility and the state official construction office to design the Campus, university buildings, cafeteria, living accomidations, seminar rooms and lecture halls more accessible. The university of Bayreuth should be as accessible to mbility and sensory impaired students, employees and guest as it is to everyone else. 

Especially here we are open and hope for ideas and critic of the affected students and employees as you are experts in this field. 

Sensitization

With the goal of creating an accessible studying envornment for students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses we see it as our responsibility to communicate concepts and methods of inclusive university in teaching and administration.

This means:

• Sensitization of lectures, examination offices, the student union and other administrative structures for the needs and demands students and potential students with disabilities and/or chronic illnesses.
• Organisation and  mediation of workshops and training opportunities for researchers and non-researcher employees at the univerity of Bayreuth, to coney the possibilities of an inclusive higher education and to anchor awarness of disadvantage compensation and equal opportunities.

These tasks are if possible completed in coopeeration with partners of the administration as well as the student union, the Fortbildungszentren Hochschullehre (FBZHL), interest groups and affected groups.

Exchange

To meaningfully work in the areas mediation, sensitization and acessiblity we are reliant on the support of the affected: then you know the best, what problems and bariers exists in buildings but also in lectures and the overall study conditions.  We hope and wish therefore beyond the individual consultations to create dialog with you about study conditions of students with disabilities. Please share your experiences with us so that we can represent your interest and needs better through our work!

Feel free to use our Feeedback-form, after a consultation with becks.​

Beyond the immediate tasks of becks, we are developing concepts and ideas, how different institutions of the University of Bayreuth, for example the Iwalewahaus, not only can be physically assecible but also more inclusive in general: What does accessibility and inclusion mean for historic grown institutions and buildings? How can academic discourse about inclusion be translated into practical work of cultural instutions? How can we ensure that many people profit from this change? How do realistic executions of these look like? 

The execution of this vision is outsorced in new Projects: 

To these projects count:

The exhibition Lieblingsstücke – 36 Objekte des monats at the Iwalewahaus 

The research and informationcenter – Inclusive Univeristies and cultural instututions (BayFinK)

The network Gender, queer, intersectionality and diversity studies (GrQuInDI) at the university of Bayreuth. 

Becks is an active member of the consulting network of the University of Bayreuth. The consulting network is a merging of all instutition of the university of Bayreuth which advise students. You would like to know more about thee goals and projects of this network or would like to be come a member ? All informations about it can be found on the website of the consulting network.​