Support for transgender and nonbinary people
Since December 2023, the person responsible for providing support for transgender and nonbinary people at our University is Tomasz Jakubowski, PhD, a psychologist and Plenipotentiary of the Student and PhD Student Ombudsperson.
What kind of support can you expect at the University of Silesia?
- Support talk: you can always talk to us if you are having a tough time.
- Support groups: The Ombudsperson conducts regular support group meetings for students’ personal development and support groups (for all students).
- Support at your faculty: coordinator for accessibility. If you need support in contacting the academics with whom you have classes, you can contact the coordinator for accessibility in your faculty. You can find the list of coordinators at https://us.edu.pl/student/en/koordynatorzy-dostepnosci.
You can discuss your expectations with the coordinator and voice your concerns about the difficulties you have already encountered in your studies. As a rule of thumb, the student will approach the academic staff on their own; however, if you are experiencing a difficult time and are afraid to approach the teachers – the coordinator can support you in establishing this contact.
- Creation of a Guest account in MS Teams, which will allow you to use your chosen name instead of your dead name. Such an account can only be created for you by a university employee; you can contact, for example, the Ombudsman or the accessibility coordinator at your faculty for this purpose. Usually, the whole procedure goes very smoothly.
- An e-mail footer to improve communication: you can set up an e-mail template in your mailbox to indicate your preferred pronouns and the way in which you wish to be addressed. You can also set up an e-mail account in the USil domain with your preferred name.