Who to contact
Are you having problems with or related to your studies? Do you need advice or counselling for personal problems? There are a number of counsellors within your study programme who can give educational guidance. See the page of your study programme for more specific information. Utrecht University has even more counsellors who can help you. See the overview below.
At universities we expect students to be highly independent in organising their study and student life. However, we realise that as a freshmen student, you could experience the step from secondary school to university as a large and possibly difficult one. Freshmen students might have to change the place of residence, international students even the country of residence and have to get adjusted to a new culture. You have to familiarize yourself with a system consisting of a limited number of class hours and a substantial number of self-study hours, a different style of teaching and other types of courses and content. Furthermore social life will change: even who do not have to move will experience that student life at a university is much more autonomous and individual than at secondary school.
In order to support you to cope with these changes in social life and to become accustomed to academic traditions and learnings, we have constructed a guidance system. This tutor-mentor system consists of tutors, mentors and study advisors.
A tutor is a U.S.E. staff member who is assigned to guide a group of students during a certain period of their study. Your first year tutor will be your teacher of the tutorial sessions in the Introduction to Economics and Business Economics (IEBE) course, one of the two courses in the first period. They will not only teach about the content of the course, but will also pay attention to academic and study skills and personal development. They will discuss the challenges of time management, the art of academic writing and reasoning, the way to deal with large amounts of material, the choices to make during the first year, etc. Most of the discussions will take place during the IEBE classes, but you can always make an appointment with your tutor for an individual meeting. Just as they will invite you for such meeting in case of a particular occasion. After the IEBE course, your tutor will keep in touch, mostly by means of group sessions and occasionally by individual meetings. For example after the announcement of the preliminary Binding Study Advise and the moment you have to decide on the selection of one of the approved optional minors (or an alternative way to fill in your optional course profile).
Beside your tutor, you will have a mentor. The mentor is a senior U.S.E. student assigned to a group of freshmen students to assist and advise them to become as soon as possible acquainted with their study, the U.S.E. organization and student life in general. While the tutor is strongly related to the content of the programme and the academic part of university life, the mentor is more connected to the student life and the operational aspects of life at U.S.E. They can help you to get your ICT running, know your way around at university, advise you on study, sport or cultural activities, and promote the social interaction in the group of freshmen students. The mentor will take part in the tutor activity during the introduction week and might occasional step into an IEBE session. However most of the mentor activities will take place outside the class room and be complementary to your study activities. The mentor will organise events over the entire first year.
(Note: during the introduction – organised by ECU 92 – you’ll be guided by two coaches. It might happen that your coach becomes your mentor, but mostly these are separate roles. The coach guides you during the introduction days, the mentor during the rest of the academic year)
In addition to the tutor and mentor, U.S.E. has three study advisors, Huub Klein Schiphorst, Janneke Nolles and Sahra Farah. You can approach them for more personal matters. For example in case you want to apply for special exam conditions because you have a disability, when personal problems interfere with your studies, in case you doubt about the programme, the planning of your study and the selection of courses, when you intend to study abroad or you wish to take up another study, etc.
After the first year you will get a new tutor. This tutor is a U.S.E. staff member and is not connected to one specific course. This change of tutor marks the change of the tutor system; from an intensive course-related system to an open demand-driven structure. The tutor will organise some group events during the enrolment days to discuss essential choices to make and courses to choose, but he/she will not invite you to individual meetings. At the same time, you can feel free to approach the tutor for questions, either by mail or by arranging a meeting.
If you have questions concerning the choice and planning of your study, about the academic skills, about the rules and regulations of the study or you have other issues (be they private or not), you can contact a study advisor.
The study advisors can guide and advise you on your study (choice) and setting up an academic plan. They can help you find your way through the countless amenities Utrecht University offers.
If you encounter a delay in your academic progress, through e.g. illness, special circumstances or family circumstances, you are to report this as soon as possible.
Availability
We can be reached by:
Phone: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 11:00 - 12:00.
+31 (0)30 253 4070.
Walk-in hour: Wednesday and Thursday 09:30 - 10:30
Friday 13:00 – 14:00
During the semester 1 enrolment period , there are extra walk-in hours on Tuesdays from 9.30-10.30. This will be on May 30 and June 6, 13 and 20.
Adam Smith Hall, room 0.20
Email: studyadvisor.use@uu.nl
Appointments can be booked online and will take place in the Adam Smith Hall, ground floor (take a seat at the green sofa near room 0.17) or via Microsoft Teams (install the app and login with your UU email address). It's always possible to have the appointment via Teams. Leave a remark in the comment field in case you prefer an online meeting instead of an ‘On Campus’ appointment.
Sometimes the confirmation of the booked appointment turns up in your spam box!
Please check your student email, Blackboard and Corona and Education regularly for updates regarding your studies.
Contact Information Study Advisors
- Mr. Drs. Huub Klein Schiphorst
- Ms. Drs. Janneke Nolles
- Ms. Sahra Farah
Adam Smith Hall
Kriekenpitplein 21-22
3584 EC Utrecht
S: Study Advisors USE - Law, Economics and Governance - Students | Universiteit Utrecht (uu.nl)
Please know that UU offers more forms of support. You can read about this on the 'Who to contact?'-page.
The Bachelor of Economics and Business Economics and the Economics Master's programmes have the same Board of Examiners.
The Board of Examiners treats requests concerning the following subjects:
- Special arrangements that are necessary due to illness
- Latest course amenities
- Exemptions
- (Prolongation of) validity of exams
- (Approval of) electives outside the programme
- Incorporation of courses for the purpose of exchange programmes
- Terms and declarations of graduation
- Accreditation of Cum Laude
- Graduation ceremonies
The Board of Examiners is bound by law to respond to requests within six weeks. Ordinarily requests are handled within two weeks and only written requests (preferably by email) will be taken into consideration.
Please make sure your request to the Board of Examiners bears your name and student number.
Contact Information Board of Examiners
Phone: Thursdays 10:30 - 11:30
+31 (0)6-42221431
Email: examencommissie.use@uu.nl
Address: Adam Smith Hall (International Campus Utrecht), Kriekenpitplein 21-22, 3584 EC Utrecht, the Netherlands
Members of the Board of Examiners
- Joop Schippers (Chair)
- Arjan Osté (Member)
- Annette van den Berg (Chair test committee and member)
- Riccardo Valboni (Member test committee)
- Marlies van Beek (External member)
- Tim Jenner (Secretary)
- Nicole Visser (Support officer)
If you have a disability or chronic illness, Utrecht University will support you as much as possible in order to ensure that you complete your degree programme successfully. Examples of a disability / chronic illness include:
- visual, auditory or motor impairments;
- dyslexia;
- ADD / ADHD;
- an autistic spectrum disorder;
- chronic and psychological disorders (e.g. chronic depression, Crohn’s disease, diabetes, asthma, rheumatism etc.).
How to request special facilities?
You can submit a request for special facilities via OSIRIS Student (tab Cases > Application for special facilities). An example of a special facility is extra time when sitting exams.
After you have opened your case in Osiris, you will receive a confirmation and the possibility to arrange a meeting with one of the study advisors.
What kind of support does the university offer?
The study advisor can provide you with the exact details of the options available to you. These will be laid down in a contract.
If you are delayed in your studies as a consequence of circumstances beyond your control (e.g. disability), you may be eligible for financial support.
Further information about support can be found on the Studying with a disability page.
Studying without Limitations is a peer to peer group for students with a disability. The members of the Platform are experts by experience, and are happy to share their knowledge with you.
The Integrity Counselor is there for all employees and students of the Faculty who have questions or dilemmas or want to discuss situations in the field of integrity, academic dishonesty in various issues for example in education, in research, in collaboration with external partners etc. The contact person is an independent, confidential and low-threshold sparring partner for a collegial discussion of questions and dilemmas. The counsellor is obliged to observe secrecy about what has become known to them in that capacity.
Integrity Counsellor REBO: dr. Inge Claringbould (I.E.C.Claringbould@uu.nl)
Questions not related to your study programme
In some cases you may want to consult someone who is not related to your specific study programme. For example, if you fall behind due to extenuating circumstances or mental health issues, and it is not possible to correct this through an adjustment in your programme. If this is the case, you may use the contacts mentioned below.
We have put together some study tips and useful links and offer a number of workshops which can help you as well.
