University of Silesia in Katowice

While becoming a member of the academic community of the University of Silesia you should now the scope of rights and obligations stemming from the legal acts in place at the university. It is worth to be conscious of difficult situations which you may come across and ways to react to them as well as the consequences of them if you decide to behave in a non-regulatory manner.

Below you will find some information on behaviours that qualify under disciplinary responsibility, difficult situations that you may face as well as manners of reacting to them and copying with them.

What is a disciplinary liability and in what situations does it occur?

In accordance with the legislation in place – Act on Higher Education and Science, students and doctoral students bear disciplinary responsibility for breaching the provisions in place at the university and for acts detracting from the dignity of a student/doctoral student. Students and doctoral students ought to be aware of the fact that they represent their school also during the time when classes are not held and outside of the university area, also in the internet.

Behaviours falling in the scope of disciplinary responsibility:

Cybercrime and stalking YBERCRIME AND STALKING 

In accordance with the Polish law, harassing by electronic means through sending information is a crime. In accordance with Art.  190a § 1  of the Penal Code: „Anyone who through persistent harassing of another person or of their closest person induces in them justified by circumstances feeling of guilt, humiliation or torment or significantly breaches their privacy is subject to the penalty of imprisonment from 6 months up to  8 years”.

See what you can do:

• report your case to the police;
• Keep all the messages – they will constitute an evidence in the later disciplinary proceeding (if they concern a member of the community of University of Silesia) or in the criminal procedure;
• inform the university rector of this fact in writing;
• consult Student and PhD Student Ombudsperson at rps@us.edu.pl Consultation is free of charge and does not involve the necessity to launch any procedures;
• avail of free psychological assistance at psycholog@us.edu.pl;

 

AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOURS

Aggressive behaviours are ones that lead to disorganizing classes. They may take the form of physical manifestations of aggression (hitting a desk, throwing objects, banging on the door) or verbal manifestations (threats, hate, loud conversations unrelated to the topic of classes). It is important also to be aware of the existence of passive aggression, manifested through ignoring the contents of classes (i.e. in the form of reading a book or browsing through the internet on one’s mobile phone).

See what you can do:

• if there is a possibility of direct threat to life and/or health you must immediately inform the relevant emergency services by calling to the alarm number 112 and inform the building security crew of the existing situation;
• look after your own safety and the safety of people near you, ensuring an escape route and if it is impossible, separate yourself from an aggressive person using for instance a chair or a table;
• ask others for help in taking control of the situation, referring to specific persons and, if necessary, call the relevant services such as: security crew, police, emergency services (alarm number 112);
• remain calm but, at the same time, clearly and firmly express your lack of agreement with aggressive behaviours, avoiding however any critical remarks towards the aggressive person.

 DISCRIMINATION AND UNFAIR TREATMENT

Discrimination is an unjust, hurtful, worse treatment of a person or group of people in comparison to others on account of a specific feature. The most frequent causes of discrimination include: sex, age, race, disability, sexual orientation, physical properties, religion, affiliation to an ethnic, national or social-cultural group, political views or other beliefs as well as marital status, social background and other occurring circumstances.

See what you can do:

• tell the discriminating person that they behave inappropriately, whilst if you are a witness of recurring acts of discrimination on the side of an academic teacher, inform the relevant degree programme director or the Deputy Dean for Education and Students;
• inform the university rector of this fact in writing;
• – consult Student and PhD Student Ombudsperson at rps@us.edu.pl Consultation is free of charge and does not involve the necessity to launch any procedures;
• avail of free psychological assistance atpsycholog@us.edu.pl;

 

SEXUAL HARASSMENT 

In accordance with the act on equal treatment and the Labour Code  – Sexual Harassment is understood as each undemented behaviour of sextual character towards a natural person or referring to gender, the goal or effect of which is a breach of dignity of that person, in particular, through creating a threatening, hostile, demeaning or humiliating atmosphere towards them;  Such behaviour may include physical, verbal or non-verbal elements.

See what you can do:

• in a situation of direct threat, one must immediately notify the security personnel or emergency services as well as the police  (alarm number 112);
• inform the university rector of this fact in writing;
• – consult Student and PhD Student Ombudsperson at rps@us.edu.pl Consultation is free of charge and does not involve the necessity to launch any procedures;
• avail of free psychological assistance atpsycholog@us.edu.pl;

 

DIFFICULT SITUATIONS

MENTAL DISORDERS 

We define mental disorders as phenomena and behaviours which put the well-being of a person in whom they occur or the community that person belongs to a threat in a significant degree. They constitute a substantial deviation from the norm. Such behaviours may be defined as non-typical, burdensome, unjustified and non-adaptational.

The University of Silesia offers the following forms of support:

• Free psychologist consultations and (in justified cases) also psychiatric consultations. In order to arrange a psychological consultation, write a short email message to the following address psycholog@us.edu.pl.
• In a situation in which issues of psychological nature hinder or prevent the student from participating in the educational process, he or she may avail of IAS – individual adjustment of studies or health leave.

Furthermore, in a situation of coming into contact with a person who experiences psychological difficulties:

• In life or health-threatening circumstances you should immediately call the emergency services by dialling the alarm number 112 or 999 and inform the operator of the psychological background of the problem. If possible, it is worth to accompany such a person until arrival of the rescue crew;
• You may pass the information regarding free consultation available at the mental health centres or healthcare centres employing a psychiatrist (in order to arrange a consultations with a psychiatrist in the framework of the national healthcare system you do not need to have a referral – whilst the psychologist referral may be issued by the psychiatrist or GP), centres offering assistance to addicted or co-addicted persons, hospital emergency rooms by psychiatric wards;
• you may call the free Crisis Trust Hotline  (116 123) or visit the Crisis Intervention Centre in your city.

SAFETY AND HYGIENE OF WORK

Each student of the first year must attend an obligatory H&S training which ends with an entry into the student record book. H&S training occurs entirely online and is available at: us.edu.pl/student/studia/obowiazkowe-szkolenia.

In case of experiencing irregularities with respect of  H&S:

• Report this fact to the class supervisor or another university employee. The employee, in case of emergency, is obliged to provide first aid as well as inform their superior or H&S and Fire Protection Inspector about the situation that occurred.
• if there is a possibility of direct threat to life and/or health you must immediately inform the relevant emergency services by calling to the alarm number 112 and inform the building security crew of the existing situation.