Study Delay - personal circumstances

Reasons for study delay

It can be possible that you failed or will fail to meet the MoMi requirements because of circumstances that delayed your study. If these circumstances jeopardize the standard duration of study, it is imperative that the right actions are taken in time. Your study adviser must be consulted, a meeting with a student counsellor must take place and submitting the application for assessment of circumstances is necessary. The CPO will handle the applications regarding MOMI in one of the meetings in July. Therefore your application needs to be completed before 1 July. Afterwards you will receive a copy of the judgement of the CPO that will be sent to the MoMi Committee. The MoMi Committee makes the decision before October 1^st.

Study delay may be attributed to various situations. However, the CPO and the IND only recognizes a limited number of reasons. By law, only the following grounds for study delay can be recognized as justifiable by the Committee Personal Circumstances (CPO):

1. Illness: A medical certificate from a Dutch doctor (or BIG-registered psychologist), indicating the circumstances during a period, is required. If you don't have one, the doctor or psychologist can use the standard form for a medical certificate. You may also contact the General Practitioner that is located at the campus. (Questions? Please contact cpo@utwente.nl ).
2. Psychological problems: see 1
3. Physical, sensory or other dysfunction: see 1
4. Exceptional family circumstances: you are advised to submit a supporting statements or documents. This can be everything, like medical/financial proof or a death certificate in case of the death of a family member. If nothing is possible, please contact cpo@utwente.nl and explain why you can't submit supporting documents.
5. Pregnancy and delivery: A certificate from your midwife or gynaecologist stipulating the expected date of birth is required. With a pregnancy, it is assumed that a student will hardly be able to study (if at all) for a period of four months. If the delay amounts to longer than four months, a reason other than pregnancy/childbirth must be given for the prolongation of this period. In that case a medical certificate is required for that period (see bullet above).
6. Activism: the MoMi Activism Form is required: it is a statement of the association mentioning your position and the period you are/were in the board. Student activism: membership of University Council, Faculty Council, Programme Committee or board of recognized associations listed in category 3 and 4 FOBOS, Appendix B, Basic list for allocation of activism grants ).
7. Insufficiently feasible study programme: Lodge with supporting documents/statements.
8. Other special circumstances determined by the board of the institution, for example: Top-Level Sports or Top-Level Arts. In case of Top-level Sports or Top-level Arts, a decision from the UT Committee Topsports or Topculture is required.
9. Causes other than the aforementioned which, if a request for support on the part of the institution's administration was not honored, would lead to an unfairness of a predominant nature : Lodge with supporting documents.

important notes:

• You can only qualify once for each of these exceptions.
• Not meeting the (additional) MoMi terms, when you followed a preparatory year (pre-master) for the maximum period of time (12 months), unfortunately can not be justified due to personal circumstances. The 12 month period can not be extended.
• If your ec’s will be awarded too late because of f.e. an internship, you can get the MOMI Study Progress Form filled in, which states that you have sufficient study progress. Make sure you submit it to the MOMI Committee (momi@utwente.nl) before the 25th of August. In this situation you don't have to submit the CPO application.  

Confidential

Your case will be dealt with confidentially. No data is shared unless you gave permission. There will be no mention on your diploma of any matters that you discuss with a study advisor, a student counselor or a student psychologist.

Steps to take

If you are or were unable to meet the MoMi requirement for the academic year due to one of the justifiable grounds for study delay, you can submit the application for assessment of your circumstances to the Committee Personal Circumstances (CPO) before the 1st of July of the current academic year. Take the following steps, but please note that gathering the necessary evidence to support your application might take some time. Hence it is wise to consult the student counsellor well in advance about the evidence needed. The evidence is stated above and also in the application.

1. Contact your Fainco or study adviser. If you experience a delay - or think you will experience a delay - in the progress of your study based on the circumstances mentioned above, you must contact your Fainco or study adviser immediately to draw up a study plan: binding agreements will be made in writing between you and the program to ensure that timely graduation is not compromised. If you are in doubt whether your circumstances are justifiable grounds for delay, you can always consult a student counsellor.
2. Arrange a meeting with the student counsellor of SACC as soon as study delay occurs, but before the 1st of July. This is mandatory. The student counsellor can give advice and help you with the formulation of your statement in your application, as well as provide you with advice regarding (financial) regulations that might be applicable. Please note that gathering the necessary evidence to support your application might take some time, hence it is advised to consult the student counsellor well in advance about the evidence needed. The evidence is stated above and also in the application. (An interview with the student counsellor is always allowed, even if it is not about the MOMI).
3. Submit an application for assessment of your circumstances to the CPO as soon as possible (from the 1st of April, but before the 1st of July of the current academic year). Your case will be dealt with confidentially. 
4. Advice of the CPO: The CPO assesses the personal circumstances of the submitted applications: the CPO will assess the legitimacy, the expected duration and the severity of your personal circumstances and  will determine whether there is a justifiable ground. The CPO assesses whether insufficient study progress is caused by the stated personal circumstance, and takes the advice of the programme into account. The CPO gives an advice to the MOMI Committee. When submitting: if you gave permission to share the information with your Study adviser/Fainco of your educational programme, he or she will receive a copy of your application.
5. Final observation of the MOMI Committee: After your case has been assessed by the CPO, the final observation will be made by the MOMI Committee. The MOMI Committee will take the advice of the CPO and programme into account. You will receive a letter about this final observation.

• If your ec’s will be awarded too late because of f.e. an internship, you can get the MOMI Study Progress Form filled in, which states that you have sufficient study progress. Make sure you submit it to the MOMI Committee (momi@utwente.nl) before the 25th of August. In this situation you don't have to submit the CPO application.    

Complaint procedures

• If your study delay is not justifiable, the IND will be notified, as mentioned earlier. The IND will take the decision about revoking your residence permit. If you think this decision is unjust you can object the decision of the IND by by making appeal within 6 weeks after you received the decision of the IND.
• Disagree with the advice of the CPO? Submit a complaint to the UT Complaints Desk. Before a complaint is submitted, you are advised to seek informal advice from the student counsellor.  
• If you think there has been made a mistake in the procedure of the MOMI commitee you can submit a complaint to the UT Complaints Desk and/or contact the MOMI commitee.

The complaint procedures are explicitely not intended to report (including for the first time) new circumstances that already should have been reported to the study advisor and the Committee Personal Circumstances (CPO).