Rights and obligations
Remember, upon becoming a student you took an oath. You swore that you would always refer to the university authorities and all its community members respectfully and that you would respect the law and student customs, look after your dignity and the good name of the University. These are not just empty words – you will be held liable for breaching the provisions and for wrong behaviours before the disciplinary committee which may not only punish you but also expel you from the university.
If you commit an act of violence, staling (also on the internet), discrimination, theft or vandalism, or if you commit plagiarism in any work or study or forge a grade or signature in the student record book, student ID card, doctor certificate or scholarship document, you will put yourself at risk of being removed from the list of students and meeting a prosecutor and being placed before the court.
You also need to be aware of the fact that you may encounter some serious troubles also for acts unworthy of a student, such as disputes, improper treatment of others or appearing at the university under the influence of alcohol, narcotic drugs or designer drugs.
It all sounds scary as it may be really unpleased for you. However, there is some good news too – you are not doomed to be held liable for anything. All it takes is to study in a fair manner and behave reasonably.
If you feel that your rights have been breached, you are discriminated or you have found yourself in a conflict situation or if you have a problem with obtaining credits during an exam session, you can always seek legal support in at least three ways. These include:
Student and PhD Student Ombudsperson – appointed by the authorities of the University of Silesia to provide direct assistance to students, PhD students and post-graduate students in the scope of the provisions by which they are bound. You may turn to the ombudsperson if you are having problems related to the Rules and Regulations of Studies, obtaining credits during an exam session, obtaining provisions or when you think your rights at the University have been breached. You may contact them via email: rps@us.edu.pl.
Student Legal Clinic – organization associating students of law for whom regulations mean not just a set of acts and codes but, above all, people and their individual problems. The Clinic has a status of a scientific club operating at the Faculty of Law and Administration of US. It grants free of charge legal assistance to indigent persons as well as to NGO social organizations. Legal advice is provided to the student after prior agreeing its content with the scientific supervisor. All necessary information regarding activities of the clinic may be found at: spp.us.edu.pl and facebook.com/spp.us.
Student Service Centre (SSC) – you may obtain some basic legal information about the provisions binding at the University of Silesia there.
Remember that student self-government is a body that represents all students and that its bodies are coordinated by the University Council of Student Self-government (urss@us.edu.pl) and that they function at individual faculties and academic campuses.