Study Provisions
Study Provisions
Supporting your success
As an international, small-scale, and intensive Liberal Arts and Sciences program, UCR welcomes students from diverse educational backgrounds and healthcare systems. This diversity can lead to varying understandings of what provisions may be available for students with specific learning needs. This is UCR’s approach and explains how to navigate the process.
Formal rules on provisions are described in article 7.3 of the Education and Examination Regulations (EER) in the Student Handbook. Students are encouraged to seek further guidance from the student counselor or their tutor once they are enrolled at UCR.
Provisions are designed to remove obstacles but not to eliminate the fundamental requirements of UCR’s academic program.
Study Provisions
Study Provisions
Limitations
- UCR cannot provide systematic counselling, living assistance, financial help, or healthcare.
- Provisions are primarily for students with chronic or permanent challenges. Temporary issues (e.g., illness or short-term learning problems) may be addressed through extensions, course withdrawals, or leaves of absence.
Responsibilities
Students are responsible for:
- Requesting provisions.
- Submitting complete and accurate documentation.
- Following the procedures outlined in the Provisions Policy.
Common examples of provisions
- For in-class exams: Extra time (e.g., 15 minutes for a two-hour exam), preferential seating (e.g. facing a wall), use of special equipment (e.g., noise-cancelling headphones, laptops).
- For written assignments: Flexible deadlines (e.g., up to a week).
- For class participation: preferential seating, use of hearing aids or laptops for note-taking.
Provisions cannot exempt students from the following fundamental program requirements:
- Meeting all course learning outcomes (EER Article 3.1).
- Participating in learning activities and assessments in English (EER Article 3.3).
- Mandatory attendance (EER Article 4.5).
- Continuous assessment (EER Article 5.1).
Qualifying for provisions
Dutch university policies do not specify a definitive list of qualifying diagnoses, and UCR follows this approach. All requests are reviewed individually, and student’s unique circumstances are taken into account.
Common Diagnoses
Provisions may be granted for students with:
- neurodevelopment conditions such as Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder
- chronic physical conditions such as Crohn’s Disease, sickle cell anemia.
Requesting provisions
Provisions can only be requested once students are enrolled. An email will be sent to prompt students to do so. Requests should include:
- A description of the desired provisions.
- Supporting documentation (preferably a diagnosis) in English.
Requests should be submitted as early as possible, preferably before week 4 of the semester.
The Board of Examiners decides on requests within four weeks of the submission date. Approved provisions are detailed in a provisions letter, which students can share with examiners.