Ombuds

• A founded complaint. This means that your rights as a student were violated.
• Report of absence due to serious or prolonged illness.
• Report 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 properly, 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 advice or information about your rights and obligations.
• You need mediation with a teacher or other staff member.
• You would like to request a change to your exam schedule based on a special statute (O statute, top-level sports statute, artist statute, work-study statute) or because of overlapping exams.

You can NOT contact the ombuds service for:

• Satisfaction with your results, without your rights being violated (e.g. you did not study enough, you hoped for better results, etc.)
• Sickness reports 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 yourself)
• You would be happy to reschedule an exam, but there is no force majeure, special status or overlap.

• Your Program Page: Choose the appropriate cluster and then the appropriate program.
• Q&A from the ombuds service on this page.
• The Education and Examination Regulations: Use, table of contents, search function and relevant search terms.
• The Odisee website.
• Online search engines (e.g. Google: Odisee + search term). Note: Look for 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) on a mandatory educational activity (exam, test, presentation, mandatory class)? You can read how to report your illness on your program page (choose the appropriate cluster and then the appropriate course). 
There is no point in contacting the ombuds service. 

You must report your illness before the start of the educational activity (exam, test, presentation, class). You will see your doctor on the day itself at the latest and send your doctor's certificate through the proper channels within 24 hours.
Can't see your doctor in time? Read the question "I can't see my doctor today. What now?"

For all other forms of force majeure (e.g. serious or prolonged illness, accident, hospitalization, death in the family, special personal situations) contact the ombuds service of your campus. You should do this as soon as possible after the start of the force majeure.

Something is force majeure only if:

• You cannot prevent it.
• It happens unexpectedly.
• There is no other solution but to be absent or  not to 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 continue at another (less important) time
• A lack of time
• Being inadequately prepared
• Sleeping late
• Traveling during exam period or class weeks
• A job interview
• Starting a new course
• Taking classes or exams from another program
• A (vacation) job
• (Family, wedding, ...) celebrations
• Failure to be present at the correct exam time or room
• A bad exam schedule
• Delay of public transportation or because of traffic jam of less than 45 minutes
• A public transportation strike announced at least 1 day before the exam
• A computer crash before a deadline (you are expected 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 always see your doctor no later than the day itself to have your illness diagnosed and attested.

Attests issued after the date of your exam will generally not be accepted. After all, a doctor cannot determine if you were sick in the past (yesterday).

You are therefore expected to contact the doctor's office on the morning of your exam at the latest, shortly after the doctor's office opens, to schedule your appointment with your doctor. You should 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 expected to see the doctor who is available.

If you really can't get an appointment on the day itself, you will let us know immediately through the correct way (see: 'How to report absence'). It is expected that you can 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 call. In several regions (note: not all regions) you can find a doctor on call via the general number 1733.

No, a sick note does not always entitle you to a catch-up exam. There are several situations in which sick notes are not accepted:

• If your sick note is written out after the date of the exam.
• 'Dixit' sick notes (based only on the student's statement).
• Within one academic year, from a third sick note of short duration (1 to 5 days) for exams included in your IES (individual exam schedule), a catch-up exam will normally be refused. Absences for mandatory activities or evaluations outside the IES are also subject to restrictions. Students with a chronic condition that causes frequent absences should contact the care coordinators at the beginning of the academic year for this purpose.
• If you are not adequately prepared for the exam in question.
• If your sick note is not credible.
• If your sick note is falsified. In case of suspicion of a falsified sick note, the fraud procedure will always be initiated. There are severe penalties for fraud with forged sick notes (forgery).

Please note that a catch-up exam can take place from the day after the end of your sick note. Your catch-up exam can be placed on the day of another exam and two catch-up exams can take place on the same day. Exceptionally, catch-up exams can also take place outside the exam period. You cannot determine the time of your catch-up exam. 

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So only apply for a catch-up exam if you are so well prepared that you can take it at any time with a minimum of repetition time. 

Step 1: Try to solve it yourself.

You are OBLIGED to try to solve the issue yourself.

Do so using the following link go.odisee.be/examsupport

Here you find an overview of all currently known technical issues, and the way to solve them yourself.

Step 2: Unable to solve it yourself? Use a helpline

• For an on campus BYOD (bring your own device) exam: contact the exam supervisor
• For an online exam at home: contact your professor, unless your professor has given other instructions at the start of the exam (e.g., gave a telephone number as a help line). Make sure to take note of these instructions at the start of the exam.

If your technical problem is fixed within a reasonable time, you should continue with the exam.

Please note: if you do not try to solve it and/or use the available helpline, you cannot ask for a catch-up exam based on the technical issue.

For an on campus exam showing up late is only accepted in cases of force majeure. So always take into account possible public transport delays or car traffic jams. Therefore, always be present on campus at least half an hour to 45 minutes beforehand.

If you are less than 45 minutes late due to force majeure on a written on campus exam, go to the exam room immediately. As long as no one has left the exam room yet, a professor or supervisor may still admit you. You will not be credited for lost time.

If you are more than 45 minutes late because of serious circumstances beyond your control, please contact the ombuds service of your campus.

An oral on campus exam needs to start in time, so that other student's exam planning is respected. Hence, make sure that you are on campus well in advance. If you are late on an oral on campus exam, you usually will be refused to start the exam. You can only request for a catch-up exam if you encountered severe force majeure on your way to the exam and took sufficient precautions in order to be there on time.

During an online exam, showing up late is not allowed. Always take into account possible problems with your computer starting up. Therefore, always be on 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 in to your online exam, always contact the ICT help desk (see 'What to do in case of technical problems with an exam).  

It is not allowed to interrupt an exam. It is assumed that you will not go to the toilet 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 toilet.

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.

You're expected to participate in those catch-up exams that were organized especially for you.

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In any of the following situations, future catch-up exams may be denied:

• Not showing up
• Cancellation without new, serious and re-attested force majeure
• A non or barely completed exam or very poor results, showing that you were insufficiently prepared

If you are absent from a catch-up exam due to new force majeure, no second catch-up exam will be organized.

If you think you have a legitimate complaint, contact the ombuds service as soon as possible. The earlier a complaint is reported, the more opportunities exist to resolve the issue.

The ombuds service will listen carefully and advise you on possible next steps, further investigate the complaint or mediate between you and the other party involved.

Furthermore, the ombuds service will treat your complaint confidentially. Further steps will only be taken if you give them explicit permission to do so.

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 training, cluster director, etc.)
• 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 indicate to you that while a particular situation may be unpleasant for you, no irregularity has happened in any way. 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. That 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 feedback session.

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