Claudia Krieten brings students, teaching staff and administration together

Students with physical and/or mental disabilities receive quick and competent assistance at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences: Claudia Krieten from the Centre for Equal Opportunities and Diversity, as the representative for inclusive studying, provides advice on aids and services that make it easier for students with special needs to participate in seminars and lectures - barrier-free access to rooms, digital tools and analogue aids - even before they start their studies. It also checks whether students can claim compensation for disadvantages in examinations. To date, it has advised students on a voluntary basis.

Commitment and safety

Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences has now adopted the regulations for inclusive study programmes and appointed Claudia Krieten as the official Inclusion Officer. "This is a decisive step forward: there is now an official mandate. Our aim is for everyone to be able to study with equal opportunities and equal rights," emphasises Claudia Krieten.
With the official commitment that has now been created (linked below this text), which she developed together with Gudrun Zimmermann, Head of the university's Centre for Equal Opportunities and Diversity, she can ensure, as the representative for inclusive studying, that teaching staff, administrative staff and students enter into a solution-oriented dialogue and that compensation for disadvantages is "not granted on a whim". Fortunately, she emphasises, everyone involved generally pulls together "so that we can make the degree programme a success together". A supportive guide for teaching staff is currently being developed.

Many are "already thinking along" with inclusion at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences

The support that the representative for inclusive studying at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences provides with those involved varies greatly: "For example, we ensure the greatest possible accessibility when redesigning rooms," explains Claudia Krieten. "Fortunately, this is always taken into account nowadays." Members of the accessibility working group, which also includes students, check the practical implementation and identify potential improvements. "Some students are helped by the use of appropriate hardware and software, which we can then make available." In another case, she made it possible for a student to bring her assistance dog to campus and lectures with the support of the university school. "The most important thing is to talk to everyone involved and develop solutions," emphasises Claudia Krieten. She is delighted to have been officially appointed as the representative for inclusive studying: "It's great that the topic is becoming increasingly well known and I realise that many people are already thinking about inclusion - that shows that we're on the right track!"

Translated with DeepL