Ombuds

• A legitimate complaint with regard to your education or examinations. This means that your rights as a student were violated.
• Notification of absence due to serious or prolonged illness.
• Notification of absence due to other force majeure situations (death, accident, special personal situations, etc.).
• You cannot fulfill other obligations (e.g. following up on your student file, deadlines) due to serious or prolonged force majeure.
• You want advice or information about your rights and obligations and you cannot easily look them up yourself.
• You need mediation with a teacher or other staff member.
• You want to request a change to your exam schedule based on a special status (O status, top-level sports status, artist status, student worker status) or because of overlapping exams.

You can NOT contact the ombuds service for:

• Dissatisfaction with your result, without your rights having been violated (e.g. you did not study enough, you hoped for better results, etc.)
• Reports of illnesses of short duration (see below for information on how to report them)
• Information you can easily find yourself (see below for tips on how to find information about your rights and obligations)
• You would be happy to reschedule an exam, but there is no force majeure, overlap or a special status including adjustments like spreading or rescheduling exams.

• Your program page: 
• Q&A from the ombuds service on this page.
• The Education and Examination Regulations: Usage, table of contents, search function and relevant search terms.
• The Odisee website.
• Online search engines (e.g. Google: Odisee + search term). Note: Find information on reliable websites (Odisee, Flemish Government, Education Flanders).
• Toledo.
• The ECTS sheets of your course: Click through to Program Guide/ECTS sheets.

Are you absent due to a short-term illness (e.g. 1 to 5 days) from a mandatory educational activity (exam, test, presentation, mandatory class)? You can read how to report your illness within your program on your Dashboard. 
There is no point in contacting the ombuds.

You must report your illness before the start of the educational activity (exam, test, presentation, class). You should see your doctor the same day at the latest and send your doctor's certificate through the appropriate channels within 24 hours.
Are you unable to see your doctor in time? Read the question 'I cannot see my doctor today. What now?".

For all other forms of force majeure (e.g. serious or long-term illness, accident, emergency admission, death, special personal situations) contact the ombuds service of your campus. You do this as soon as possible after the start of the force majeure.

As a student, do you want to celebrate a religious holiday but have a required class or evaluation activity on that day?

The academic calendar already takes into account Catholic, Anglican and Protestant holidays anyway. In addition,Odisee's education and examination regulations provide the possibility of being absent on the following holidays recognized by KU Leuven's Religion and Philosophical Diversity contact point:

• Islamic holidays: Feast of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha), Celebration end of Ramadan (Eid ul-Fitr).
• Orthodox Christian holidays: Orthodox Christmas, Easter, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Whit Monday
• Jewish holidays: Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashanah), Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), Shemini Atseret, Rejoicing in the Law (Simchat Torah), Purim, Pesach, Shavuot

In this calendar, you will find the dates of religious holidays.

How to apply.

• You fill out and sign the "absence religious holiday" form. You can download this form from this page.
• You add this to your normal absence report. On your student dashboard you can read how to do this and which conditions apply within your program.

When to request this?

• For activities during class weeks: as soon as possible after the announcement of the class or evaluation activity.
• For exams: within 10 calendar days after publication of your individual exam schedule.
• Exception: for some holidays, the date is fixed just before the holiday takes place. In that case, you still make your notification as soon as possible and at the latest 24h before the start of the mandatory class or evaluation activity.

Notice:

• Only correctly and timely submitted requests will be accepted
• You do not go to the doctor for a doctor's certificate! After all, attending a holiday is not an illness.
• This rule does not apply to internship and workplace learning. There you must comply with the employer's regulations regarding religious holidays.

Do you have a different religious belief than the religions listed above and are there certain important holidays that you want to celebrate? Then contact your campus ombudsperson with your question.

Something is force majeure only if:

• You cannot prevent it.
• It happens unexpectedly.
• There is no other solution than to be absent or not fulfill your obligation.

Some examples of situations that are NOT considered force majeure:

• Stress or fatigue
• A (doctor's) appointment that is not urgent and can take place at another (less important) time
• Time constraints
• Being insufficiently prepared
• Sleeping late
• Going on a trip during exam period (incl catch up exams) or class weeks
• A return journey that has been booked too close to your school commitments (e.g. a flight with a return just before an exam that gets delayed)
• A job interview
• Starting a new course
• Classes or exams from another course
• A holiday job
• (Family, wedding, ...) celebrations
• Mistaking the exam time or room
• A bad exam schedule
• Delay of public transport or traffic jam of less than 45 minutes
• A public transport strike announced at least 1 day before the exam
• A computer crash before a deadline (you are supposed to submit an assignment on time and provide reliable backups of tasks and assignments)
• A personal situation that has been known for a long time and for which other solutions are/were possible (e.g. absence already known before deadline of composition or change of your ISP)
• ...

If you are absent from an exam due to illness, it is expected that you will always visit your physician no later than the day of the exam to have your illness diagnosed and attested.

As a rule, certificates issued after the date of your exam will not be accepted. After all, a doctor cannot determine whether you were ill in the past (yesterday).

Therefore, in case of illness, you are expected to contact the doctor's office at the latest on the morning of your exam, shortly after the doctor's office opens, in order to book your doctor's appointment. You will ask for an appointment on the same day. If your regular doctor is not available, but another doctor within the same practice is, you are supposed to go with the doctor who is available.

If you really cannot get an appointment the day itself, you will let us know immediately through the correct way (see: 'How to report absence'). You are expected to be able to prove that (1) you contacted your doctor's office in time (e.g. call history) and that (2) you were unable to get an appointment on the day (e.g. have your doctor note this on your absence certificate).

If you need a doctor on the weekend or in the evening, you can go to the doctor on duty. In several regions (note: not all regions) you can find a doctor on duty via the general number 1733.

No, a sick note does not automatically entitle you to a catch-up opportunity!

The following applies to exams: On your dashboard and your program page, you can find out how to report an absence due to illness and how the opportunities to catch up are organised in practice. As a rule, a maximum of 2 catch-up exams are organized per semester. Therefore, you can only request a catch-up exam for 2 exams. The first two exams for which you request a catch-up exam will be considered.

Absences for mandatory activities or evaluations outside of exam periods are also subject to restrictions (see above).

Notice:

• Students who miss multiple exams due to serious, long-term illness or other serious force majeure may contact the Ombuds Office to review a possible customized arrangement.
• Students with chronic conditions that cause frequent absences should contact the care coordinators for this purpose at the beginning of the academic year.
• For other students, there is no point in contacting the ombuds to request an exception.

In addition, there are several situations where doctor's certificates will not be accepted anyway:

• If your attestation was issued after the date of the exam.
• 'Dixit' attestations (based only on the student's statement).
• If you are not adequately prepared for the exam in question.
• If your sick note is not credible.
• If your attestation is falsified. In case of suspicion of a falsified doctor's certificate, the fraud procedure will always be initiated. There are severe penalties for fraud involving falsified doctor's certificates (forgery).

Please note that a catch-up opportunity can take place from the day after the end of your medical certificate. Your catch-up opportunity may occur on the day of another exam or test, and two catch-up exams may occur on the same day. Exceptionally, catch-up exams can also take place outside the exam period. You cannot determine the date and time of a catch-up opportunity.

So only request a catch-up opportunity if you are so well prepared that you can take it at any time with a minimum of repeat time.

The steps below apply to both on campus BYOD (bring your own device) exams and online exams you take at home.

Step 1: Try to solve it yourself

You MUST always first try to solve the problem yourself.

To do that, go to the page go.odisee.be/examhelp

All known technical problems are listed there, together with an explanation of how to try to solve them yourself.

Step 2: Can't solve it? Then contact a helpline.

• For an on campus BYOD (bring your own device) exam, contact the supervisor.
• For an online home exam, contact the instructor, unless the instructor communicated a different procedure at the start of the exam (e.g., provided a phone helpline). You must note the instructor's instructions about this before the exam starts.

If your technical problem is fixed within a reasonable period of time, you must continue the exam.

Note: If you do not try to solve it yourself and do not contact the supervisor or teacher, you cannot cite the technical problem to request a make-up exam.

For an exam on campus, tardiness will only be accepted in cases of force majeure. So always take into account possible delays of public transport or traffic jams. Be on campus at least half an hour to 45 minutes before the exam.

If you are less than 45 minutes late for a written exam on campus due to circumstances beyond your control, go to the exam room immediately. As long as no one has left the room, a professor or supervisor may admit you. The surveillant decides at what hour you will be admitted to the exam room. It is well possible that students who arrive late will be admitted every 15 minutes (so at 15, 30 and 45 minutes after the start of the exam). You will not be credited for lost time.

If you are more than 45 minutes late due to circumstances beyond your control, please contact your campus ombudsperson.

For an oral exam, you are expected to be present well in advance so that others' exam schedules are not compromised. If you arrive late to an oral exam due to circumstances beyond your control, you may of course be denied permission to take the exam. Only if you are late due to serious force majeure en route and took sufficient precautions to arrive on time can you request a make-up exam.

Late arrival is not allowed for an online remote exam. Always take into account possible problems with the startup of your computer. Therefore, always make sure you are at MS Teams at least half an hour beforehand and try out your internet connection.

You may be refused to start the exam if you log in late.

If you have technical problems logging into your online exam, always contact the ICT helpdesk (see 'What to do in case of technical problems with an exam).

You are not allowed to interrupt an exam. It is assumed that you will not go to the restroom during the exam. So be sure to limit your fluid intake before and during the exam so that you do not have to go to the bathroom.

Students who need to visit the restroom frequently for medical reasons should contact the care coordinator at the beginning of the academic year to request an O-statute.

What if you become ill while taking an exam? Please note that, as a rule, exams that have already started cannot be rescheduled. If you are ill on the day of your exam, carefully consider whether you are able to take the exam before leaving home. 

If you feel seriously unwell during the exam, inform the invigilator. If necessary, they can contact a first-aid worker and the ombuds service. Because exams that have already started cannot be rescheduled, every effort will be made to continue the exam.

If you request a catch-up opportunity, you must participate in it!

In any of the following situations, future catch-up opportunities may be denied and this for other courses as well:

• Not showing up without prior notification
• A failed or barely completed exam or very poor results showing that you were insufficiently prepared

If you are absent due to new force majeure, a second time will not be organized for this test or examination.

Do you have a legitimate complaint about the education or the exams?

If you are dissatisfied with anything relating to the education you are receiving or the exams you are taking, it is advisable to first raise the issue yourself with the teacher concerned.

If you are unable to resolve the matter in this way, or if there is a specific reason why you cannot discuss the complaint with the teacher concerned, as an Odisee student you can contact the ombuds service at your campus. You can submit your complaint to the ombuds service using the complaints form.

The ombuds service will listen to your complaint thoroughly. They can also advise you on possible further steps, further investigate the complaint or mediate between you and the other party.

Do not wait too long to contact the ombuds service if you have a justified complaint. The earlier a complaint is reported, the more options there often are for resolving the complaint.

The ombuds can:

• Inform you about your rights and obligations.
• Give you advice on how to handle or address the situation yourself.
• Raise the situation with the teacher or staff member involved, or with someone else within the organization (e.g. your head of program, cluster director, ...)
• Mediate

What does the ombuds not do?

The ombuds cannot force a solution in your favor just because you want it. Sometimes the ombuds will tell you that a certain situation may be unpleasant for you, but that in no way an irregularity has happened. In case there is no willingness on the part of the accused to change anything and there is no irregularity, then the ombuds cannot do anything further. This means that sometimes the ombuds will have to disappoint you. At that point, you will have to accept this. There is then no point in endlessly arguing about your dissatisfaction.

Always go to the debriefing (feedback).

If you then still feel that you received an incorrect exam result, contact your campus's exam ombuds service as soon as possible. The ombuds service can investigate your complaint further, mediate, or advise you on possible further steps.

If you remain convinced that you received an incorrect result, you may lodge an internal appeal (within 7 calendar days after the announcement of your results). The procedure for this can be found in the OER (Education and Examination Regulations) and is also mentioned briefly on your result sheet.

The definition, procedure and possible sanctions for irregularities, can be consulted in the Education and Examination Regulations.

We speak of irregularities when you, as a student, engage in behavior that (attempts to) make it completely or partially impossible to form a correct opinion about the knowledge, insight and/or skills of yourself or other students. This applies to any form of evaluation.

Some examples of irregularities include:

• Carrying a cheat sheet, or prohibited digital media carrier (smartphone, smartwatch, ...) on a test, exam, ...
• Not following the guidelines of what is and is not allowed to be used on a test, exam, ...
• Copying the work of others (plagiarism)
• Submitting forged doctor's certificates (both your own forgery and forgeries purchased online and on social media)
• Using AI in a way that is not allowed
• Forging a signature
• Forging or fabricating data
• ...

It does not matter whether you state this behavior accidentally or intentionally to speak of irregularities. For example, if you accidentally carry a cheat sheet or smartphone, this is also considered irregular.

Students often underestimate the risk they run by committing irregularities and think they will be punished only for the course (OPO) itself. However, in cases of irregularities, (multiple) other courses (OPO's) are usually punished as well. If you commit irregularities repeatedly or the irregularities are serious, the penalties increase further. So you run a high risk with committing irregularities and violating exam guidelines.