DIRECTIVE of ERCIYES UNIVERSITY BARRIER-FREE CAMPUS UNIT

PART ONE

Purpose, Scope, Basis and Definitions

Purpose:

Article 1- (1) The purpose of this directive is to regulate the organization, functioning, procedures and principles of “ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit”, established in order to facilitate the lives of students studying at Erciyes University, university staff and all disabled individuals who have contact with the campus.

Scope

Article 2- (1)The directive involves the provisions regarding the scope and mission of "ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit”.

Basis

Article 3- The directive has been regulated based on the following articles;

(1) Article 15 of the “Law on the Disabled and Amending Certain Laws and Statutory Decrees”, numbered 5378 and dated 01/07/2005.

(2) Article 11 of the “Higher Education Institutions Disabled Counseling and Coordination Regulation, published in the Official Gazette, numbered 27672 and dated 14.08.2010.

Definitions

Article 4

In this Directive, the terms below refer to the following definitions:

a) Students with Disabilities: Students of our university who have difficulties in meeting their daily requirements and in adapting to social life due to congenital or subsequent loss of their physical, mental, psychological, emotional and social abilities in various degrees for any reason and who need protection, care, rehabilitation, counseling and support services,

b) Staff with Disabilities: University staff with disabilities,

c) An individual contact with the Campus: An individual have coming to the campus for any task or personal work,

d) University: Erciyes University,

e) Rector: Rector of Erciyes University,

f) Senate: Erciyes University Senate,

g) ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit: It is a unit, which is affiliated to the Rectorate and detects the physical, psychological, housing and social needs of the disabled and determines, plans and implements the actions to be taken in order to meet the requirements,

h) ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit Representatives: Representatives of the relevant academic units who are assigned,

i) Departments: All departments operating under the Rectorate,

j) OSYM: Center for Evaluation, Selection and Placement,

k) Executive Committee: Executive Committee of ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit,

l) Coordinator: An academic staff member assigned by the Rector to carry out the procedures of the students with disabilities.

PART TWO

Administrative Bodies and Tasks of ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit

ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit and Its Tasks

Article 5- (1) Affiliated to the Rectorate, this unit is in service in order to identify academic, administrative, physical, psychological, housing and social needs of disabled students studying at Erciyes University, university staff and disabled individuals who have contact with the campus and to plan, implement, develop the actions to be taken and to evaluate the results of these actions,

(2) The activities of the unit are undertaken by the lecturers taking part in the executive committee, people assigned by the Department of Health, Culture and Sports and by the Department of Construction and Technical Works, and people assigned by the Rectorate in line with the needs. At least two permanent staff members, including one person (preferably an educator interested in special education, a psychologist, a social worker, or a psychological counselor) for communicating with the students and one person for secretarial works, work in the unit.

Administrative Bodies:

Article 6- (1) The administrative and executive bodies of the unit are composed of Executive Board, the Coordinator and ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit Representatives.

Executive Board:

Article 7- (1) There are 13 (thirteen) members in the Executive Board established under the chairmanship of the relevant Vice Rector, including the Coordinator, 8 faculty members from relevant Faculties and Schools, a representative of the Health, Culture and Sports Department, a representative of the Construction and Technical Works Department and a representative of the Student Council.

(2) The members of the Board are assigned for a period of 3 years by the Rectorate upon the advice of the Coordinator. Members whose terms have expired may be reassigned.

(3) The Executive Board gathers with absolute majority at the invitation of the Vice Rector and the decision is made by a majority vote.

(4) The relevant individuals from the relevant academic and administrative units may be invited to the meetings of the Executive Board in necessary cases.

Duties of the Executive Board

Article 8- (1) The duties of the Executive Board are as follows:

a) to make decisions on the matters related to the activities of the Unit,

b) to determine the principles of cooperation related to the field of activity of the unit with natural and legal entities,

c) to evaluate the annual activity report and to prepare a strategic plan for the following year and conclude it,

d) to develop a corporate culture in creating and maintaining a "Barrier-free University",

e) to cooperate with other universities and institutions when necessary and to exchange views,

f) to ensure that all indoor and outdoor areas on the campus of Erciyes University are also accessible to the people with disabilities.

g) to make necessary arrangements in order to eliminate the barriers that disabled students may experience during their education,

h) to make decisions on organizing the educational environment of the students with disabilities, providing equipment, educational, research and accommodation opportunities for the disabled, preparing special course materials, suitable for the disabled in order to arrange curriculum planning in a way that will not hinder their academic, physical, psychological and social lives,

i) to ensure that the courses and training programs related to the disabled are included in the undergraduate programs and to ensure the implementation,

j) to prepare a document for the students and all university staff regarding the disability, the disabled, the restrictions of the disability and the arrangements that need to be made, to increase the level of awareness, to provide those concerned with consultancy services and to ensure in-service training in necessary cases in order to increase the awareness about disability,

k) to encourage scientific researches and to support the project studies in order to increase the life quality of the disabled,

l) to create a website which includes publications, documents and information for the parties of the subject falling within the scope of the duty and activity of the unit, and which allows disabled students to express their problems and requests and to communicate with the relevant unit,

m) to provide disabled students who have financial difficulties with auxiliary materials,

n) to take necessary measures and to make arrangements according to the differences of students with disabilities arising from time, place, materials, companion and the nature of the disability,

o) to give information about occupations, employment opportunities and career development thereby encouraging the opening of the academic structures such as schools, departments, programs etc. ,

p) to prepare a report about the programs in which students with disabilities can study to be notified to the Center for Evaluation, Selection and Placement (OSYM) before exam applications,

r) to provide informative trainings for the relevant people who will be assigned in the exams and units so that students with disabilities who enter the exams at our university held by OSYM and Open Education Faculty (AOF) do not have any problems,

s) to discover students with disabilities who are admitted to the university during registration,

t) to encourage students with disabilities, especially to develop themselves academically, to benefit from activities that will take place in our university and to take an active part in these activities,

u) to take necessary measures for the participation of students with disabilities in social/cultural activities that will be held within our University,

v) to supervise the implementation of the decisions and strategies determined,

y) to carry out the budget work,

z) to prepare and carry out the working schedule of the unit, to prepare annual strategic plan and the annual report and to present them to the Rectorate to be notified to the Presidency of the Council of Higher Education.

Coordinator

Article 9- (1) The coordinator refers to the academic staff member who is assigned by the Rector for a period of 3 years and who is interested in the fields of activity or similar fields of the unit.

(2) The coordinator is responsible for the distribution of tasks of academic and administrative staff who will work in the unit. He/She reports to the Vice Rector regarding the activities of the unit. The coordinator whose term has expired can be reassigned.

The Duties of the Coordinator

Article 10- (1) The duties of the coordinator are as follows:

a) to coordinate the works of the unit and the activities of its representatives,

b) to preside at the meetings in the absence of the relevant Vice Rector,

c) to implement the decisions related to the activities of the unit,

d) to enable the unit to implement the principles of cooperation with natural and legal entities that the unit has determined regarding the field of activity of the unit,

e) to prepare the annual report and the annual working schedule of the unit for the following year and to present to the unit for the approval of the Rectorate after receiving the opinion of the Executive Board.

ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit Representatives

Article 11- (1) ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit Representatives are composed of the administrators of educational units and/or representatives assigned, representatives of Departments and the representatives of the Student Council in order to work in coordination with the ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit,

(2) Representatives are responsible for notifying the ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit of the individuals with disabilities in their units and their problems,

(3) Representatives work for the implementation of decisions taken by the ERU Barrier-free Campus Unit, for controlling the works and meeting the needs of people with disabilities in the units.

(4) Representatives gather twice a year at the beginning of each academic term as usual upon the call of the chairman and make evaluations regarding the activities, strategic plans and implementations of the unit.

PART THREE

Principles and Procedures on the Application of Courses

a - Course Applications

Article (1) Following arrangements need to be made in order to eliminate the problems that the students with disabilities experience due to their disabilities before, during, and after courses.

a) The seating order in classrooms with deaf students is planned in a way that the students can easily see the instructor who teaches or gives a presentation regardless of whether they use hearing aids or not,

b) The instructor who teaches or gives a presentation in classrooms with deaf students should be facing the students,

c) The computers in applied computer courses should be made audible for visually-impaired students,

d) Visually-impaired students should be allowed to record the courses on objective subjects with a voice recorder except the courses on personal opinions and discussions,

e) Since visually-impaired students will not be able to benefit from visual materials, verbal descriptions are made about the materials related to the courses in which these materials are used so that the visually-impaired students can comprehend the material.

f) Visually-impaired students are given relevant course materials (books, magazines, tests, presentations etc.) before the course in formats (MS Word, MP3, etc.) they can listen to on their computers so that they can follow the course.

g) Ensuring that the classes and exams of physically-handicapped students are organized on the most suitable floors in terms of architecture,

h) The instructor who will teach or make presentation in the classrooms where students with disabilities are present should prepare slides, presentations, overhead projectors etc. related to the course by taking students’ disabilities into account.

b - Course Exemption

Article (1) The student with a disability whose disability status and degree is authenticated with a health report is obliged to comply with the provisions of this directive regarding taking courses. However, if the student has difficulty in fulfilling the requirements of any course due to his/her disability, changes, adaptations and arrangements are made to overcome aforementioned difficulties with the approval of his/her advisor and lecturer so that the student can take the course. If the student fails to fulfill the requirements of the course despite all the arrangements made, he/she takes another course, if any, that is equivalent to that course, with the decision of the administrative board of the relevant unit. If there is no equivalent course, he/she is considered exempt and a grade of (M) is given.

(2) The student with a disability who is enrolled at the university must take the exams specified in this directive; however, the place, duration and format of the exam are changed and made suitable for the student with the approval of the instructor so that the student’s performance can be evaluated in the best way. Additional equipment such as a special alphabet, computer, magnifying glass, which will be used in the exam, and people or tools to help reading and writing are provided.