Information for students with disabilities

Semester fees are contributions for participation in public transport, use of services of the so called “Studentenwerk” (canteen (Mensa), dormitories) and a contribution to the student self-administration (AStA).

The semester contribution does not remain in the university (except for the AStA contribution). It includes the contributions to the following receivers:

• Contribution to administrative costs (Ministry of Science and Culture)
• Student union contribution (Studentenwerk) Student body contribution (AStA)
• GVH-Ticket (local public transport: GVH)
• Lower Saxony ticket (Deutsche Bahn)

Further and detailed information about semester fees for all locations can be found here.

For all students of the HsH there is the CampusCard (student ID/ Studierendenausweis); since 2004 including the Semester-Ticket Niedersachsen/Bremen of the Deutsche Bahn (DB).

This allows you to use all routes within all tariff zones of the greater Hanover area (light rail, buses) and almost all local trains in Lower Saxony and Bremen. In addition to trains of the Deutsche Bahn - depending on which contracts the AStA concludes with the respective university - routes of other railroad companies can also be used.

It is recommended to have a look at the exact route plan on the AStA homepage.

Among others, severely disabled students are exempt from the obligation to purchase tickets.

Hence, severely disabled students pay the full semester fee upon enrollment or re-registration and are refunded the fee in the second step.

The procedure is carried out in writing. The application (10. Antrag auf Teilbefreiung von den Semestergebühren auf Grund einer Schwerbehinderung) can be found on the page "Application Forms".

Please hand it in to the Service Center of the Department of Academic Affairs (Servicecenter des Dezernats - Akademische Angelegenheiten) together with the required proof (current CampusCard, severely disabled person's ID card (copy), the supplement of the pension office with valid stamp (copy)). The semester ticket will be sent to you by mail after it has been processed.

IMPORTANT: You must submit the application no later than 1 month after the start of classes to be exempt from fees related to transportation.

Summer semester:

Start of lectures: 01.03.                                Deadline: 31.03.

Winter semester:

Start of lectures: 20.09.*                              Deadline: 19.10.*.

*Or based on the actual start of the semester

Often students cannot start their studies because they are dependent on aids and the actual service providers often do not make a quick decision (1-2 semester waiting period) - or aids are also rejected.

In order to enable students with impairments to study as barrier-free as possible the HsH has set up an aid-tools-pool.

So, if you need an aid, please contact Stephanie Heine from the Service Office Impairment and Study at the HsH (Servicebüro Beeinträchtigung und Studium).

The resource pool for students with impairments contains loanable electronic and conventional aids and devices that can be borrowed by students with impairments to participate in courses. Lecturers whose courses are attended by students with disabilities and who use the equipment in the resource pool to make their courses barrier-free are also entitled to borrow equipment.

At the HsH according to §7 para. 3 sentence 5 NHG, examination regulations must take into account the special needs of disabled students in order to ensure equal opportunities for them (An der HsH gilt nach §7 Abs. 3 Satz 5 NHG, dass „Prüfungsordnungen […] die besonderen Belange behinderter Studierender zur Wahrung ihrer Chancengleichheit berücksichtigen [müssen]“).

Based on this law and regulations, the HsH has issued a guideline on compensation for disadvantages (Richtlinie zum Nachteilsausgleich) in the general part of the examination regulations (allgemeine Teil der Prüfungsordnung).

Compensation for disadvantages is an instrument to individually compensate for a disadvantage and to achieve equal opportunities. Compensation for disadvantages is available for university admission, for study and examination achievements, for BAföG and for student health insurance. They must be applied for by those affected. In order to avoid misunderstandings: Compensations for disadvantages are no "benefits” or “special treatments” but the legal right to equal participation in order to create equal opportunities.

Guideline of Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts on compensation for disadvantages (Richtlinie der Hochschule Hannover zum Nachteilsausgleich)

Students with movement and sensory impairments and students with long-term, chronic-somatic, or mental illnesses, for example with partial performance disorders such as dyslexia, autism, or other long-term impairments, can make use of the disadvantage compensation.

This also includes severe chronic illnesses with an episodic course, such as rheumatism, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, or depression.

Compensations for disadvantages can apply to all academic achievements and examination situations. They can be granted once or for longer periods of time. They must always be designed individually and according to need - there are no prefabricated models. Students with disabilities/chronic illnesses are "experts in their own matters"; they usually know very well how their impairment affects their studies and how appropriate compensation can be provided. Many lecturers cannot imagine how impairments affect individual cases and how disabilities can be compensated. By talking to the persons concerned, open questions can usually be clarified, misunderstandings can be cleared up and rejections avoided.

If necessary, the representative for the interests of disabled and chronically ill students (Beauftragter für die Belange beeinträchtigter und chronisch kranker Studierender) at the HsH advises and supports both impaired students and teachers and offers moderation in the event of conflict.

Below you will find some examples of possible disadvantage compensation. This list is not complete and should in no way be understood as a fixed "recipe book", but rather as a "pool of ideas". It is important that compensations for disadvantages are always individually adapted to the situation of the impaired student.

• Extensions of time for examinations, e.g., due to concentration restrictions
• Extension of the processing time for homework
• Possibility for breaks during exams
• Equalization of examination phases
• Agreement on substitute performance if regular attendance at events is not possible
• Flexible time arrangements for internships/excursions/labs
• ...

The responsible examination bodies must determine whether there is a right to compensation for disadvantages, and they must ensure that the requested compensation for disadvantages is necessary, suitable, and appropriate in the specific individual case to realize equal opportunity examination conditions.

If there are disadvantages in comparison to fellow students due to impairments, disadvantage compensations must be granted in any case. Approved modifications must allow for equivalent performance records. These must also be in line with the content requirements of the study and examination regulations.

Important: Students with disabilities and chronic illnesses are entitled to compensation for disadvantages. However, there is no entitlement to a specific form of disadvantage compensation.

Students must generally be able to acquire the competencies required by the respective examination regulations and to prove this knowledge through examinations. It is not always possible to compensate for the study-relevant effects of a health impairment by means of disadvantage compensation.

For example, forms of performance and examination conditions can be changed, but the performance targets cannot. These must be met in any case.

The application for compensation for disadvantages during examinations must be submitted by students in writing to the examination board of the respective faculty (Prüfungskommission der jeweiligen Fakultät) prior to the examination. This should be done on time so that the examiners can also organize the deviating examination situation, e.g., book the room in which the exam is written for longer or find a substitute room and a supervisor.

In the „Antrag auf Nachteilsausgleich bei Prüfungsleistungen“, students describe how the specific impairment impedes their studies. This requires information about the illness, but not necessarily the naming of a diagnosis. The application should be comprehensible for a medical amateur, which restrictions - related to the study are present.

In addition, the person to be examined can suggest solutions as to how a compensation for disadvantages can look in the specific case. Some possibilities can also be found in the form "Antrag auf Nachteilsausgleich bei Prüfungsleistungen".

A medical certificate must be enclosed. Here, too, it is not the diagnosis that is relevant, but the comprehensibility of the impairment. The application is sent to the responsible examination board (Prüfungsausschuss), if necessary to the chairman of the examination board.

The examination board decides on the application in a timely manner and sends a written decision. Students can appeal against this decision.

The representative for students with disabilities and/or chronic illness is the contact person for both students and examiners. He/she can make a recommendation to the examination board regarding the compensation for disadvantages.

The procedure is carried out in writing. You can find the application (8. Antrag auf Nachteilsausgleich bei Prüfungsleistungen) on the page "Application Forms".

If possible, the certificate should be issued by the attending physician. This can be a specialist, but also a family doctor (so called Hausarzt). Psychological psychotherapists (with a license to practice) can also issue a corresponding certificate.

Diagnostic tests, e.g., for dyslexia, should not be older than 5 years.

It is not necessary to state the exact diagnosis or medical history. However, the symptoms that lead to an impairment in the study situation should be described as precisely as possible.

Both the Examination Office and the Examination Committee are obliged to maintain confidentiality regarding third parties.

The discussions are, of course, treated confidentially and are subject to the duty of confidentiality.

The list on the following pages is intended to give you an idea of how certain impairments affect your studies. It is not about medical categorization or even evaluation, but about sharpening the eye for barriers and developing ideas for overcoming them.

An application for compensation for disadvantages must always be submitted on time before the examination.

In the case of permanent limitations, an application can also be made for several examinations to keep the administrative burden low. For example, if it is foreseeable that someone will always have problems with handwritten exams due to a motor impairment, the use of a laptop for all future exams can be requested.