University of Silesia in Katowice

University of Silesia in Katowice is an accessible, universal and open University. These three words describe our care for the needs of the whole academic community.

One of the aspects connected with fulfilling these needs is removing the architectural and digital obstacles that could hinder employment or education.

All University buildings in Katowice, Sosnowiec, Chorzów and Cieszyn are constantly monitored in terms of adjustment to the needs of people with disabilities. Adjustments are made every time such need appears.

Moreover we do our best to make University websites fulfil the WCAG requirements.

Information concerning accessibility and adjustments at the University of Silesia in Katowice are included in the accessibility declaration on the website: https://us.edu.pl/deklaracja-dostepnosci/.

Gabriela Wilczyńska – head of the USIL Student Service Centre. Assistant of the Coordinator of the “DUO project – University of Silesia – accessible, universal and open”. Before the present activities Gabriela Wilczyńska worked at adjusting the University and the studies for the persons with special needs.

How to be efficient and effective in fulfilling our tasks? Many of us feel stressed by the multitude of tasks and information in our environment and look for solutions that would develop our specialist competencies. But does it help to lower the level of stress? The answer to that problem is investing in developing our soft skills, e.g. stress management and assertiveness. This kind of trainings is organized, together with the specialist trainings as a part of a few large projects co-financed by the Program Operacyjny Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój (Knowledge Education
Development Operation Programme). For the University of Silesia employees in Katowice, participation in the trainings is free. The key aspect in making use of the training is transferring the experiences from the training into everyday life. The last day of the training is an excellent opportunity to plan the change, which can be on the next day.

Marek Drąg – HR Practitioner, Psychologist, Trainings instructor.
A practitioner with a many-year experience in managerial skills consulting and development, relationship management, and soft skills development. Member of the Polish Association of Organizational Psychology. At the University of Silesia in Katowice, Marek Drąg works in the HR Department, and he is responsible mainly for trainings in the organization.

Science is not one nationality. It is universal and international. We want the University of Silesia to be the same. The number of foreign researchers, lecturers and administrative workers employed at the university is growing. We do our best to provide them with the best possible work conditions and help them to adjust to the new reality. For this reason the Welcome Point for the employees from abroad has been created. It has been established a year ago as a part of Come2US project financed by the National Agency of Academic Exchange (NAWA).

In Welcome Point we support our foreign employees in matters concerning legalization of stay and contacting offices, we try to diminish the culture shock they experience and organize integration events for them. Starting new work in a new country is a considerable challenge. We try to meet that challenge together with our new employees who came to work from other countries.

Agata Sołdrowska – works in the HR Department, coordinator of the Come2US project. Graduate of English: Translation with German at the University of Silesia in Katowice. Fan of English and Spanish, walks in the woods, sightseeing and meeting new people.

I have worked at the University of Silesia in Katowice for almost ten years. In 2018 I also joined the badminton section of the University Sports Association. Honestly, I wouldn’t have thought this sport was so demanding back then. It requires strength, speed, reflex and precision. However, the time and effort invested in this sport brings incredible satisfaction derived from every newly-learned game element and, above all, from every scored point.

But that is not all. I think that the best reward connected with my passion for badminton are the people I have met thanks to badminton – in our badminton section of the University Sports Association, at the Silesian Badminton Championship, or at the Polish Academic Badminton Championship. I have met many great Badminton fans. It’s a pleasure to play (and often lose) with the much younger and much older people. Badminton is a discipline with the potential to bring different generations together. It’s worth giving it a try!

Jacek Nowak – born in 1984. Jacek Nowak graduated from Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Father of two teenage daughters. Apart from Badminton, his second passion is learning foreign languages. He was also the greatest fan of German pop music at the University of Silesia in Katowice.