On this page, you will find information on what to do if you experience unacceptable behavior such as bullying, harassment, discrimination or other censurable conditions.

Norsk versjon - Uakseptabel adferd - mobbing og konflikter for studenter

Topic page - Speak Up! | Topic page for HSE

All students at NTNU shall have a fully sound learning environment

The basic requirements for students' physical and psychosocial learning enviornment is stipulated in the The University and colleges act, chapter 4.

NTNU wants you to speak up if you or others are subjected to unacceptable behavior, such as bullying, harassment or similar acts in your learning environment. See here how you 'blow the whistle' about bullying and harassment.

Report censurable condtions

Zero-tolerance for bullying and harassment

NTNU has a responsibility to secure all students' rights to a fully sound learning enviornment. We take students' physical and mental learning environment seriously, and do not accept any forms of bullying or harassment. We work systematically to develop students' learning environment through a tight cooperation with student representatives, programme associations, the Student welfare society and others.

What is bullying and harassment?

It is not always easy to know precisely what is bullying and harassment. Bullying and harassment can happen in many different forms: it may happen verbally, in text or physically. It can be directly, in an agressive or sexually laden form, or indirectly through social exclusion.

• When a person is subjected to negative events by others, systematically and over time, that is bullying. Such events can be things that are said or done, or it can be willful exclusion. When bullying happens in situation where there is an imbalance of power, e.g. a group against a single person or an employee against a students, it can be extra difficult to defend one self against the bullying.
• Examples of harassment can be acts, omissions or utterances that is experienced as offensive, frightening, hostile, condescending or humiliating. It can be a student posting negative things about another student online with full name, address, pictures etc. It can also be harassment when a student acts in a disturbing way towards others and appears frightening or threatening during e.g. group work.
• Examples of sexual harassment can be unwanted sexual attention that is experienced as offensive, scary, hostlige, humiliating or bothersome. By 'sexual attention' we mean that the attention of a sexual character or sexually laden. Such acts are often repeated over time, but single events can also fall under this category. It can, for example, be sexual allusions, comments or unwanted touching. Pictures or videos with offensive/sexually harassing content sent by letter, phone, internet or other mediums also fall under the category. NTNU has its own routines for handling sexual harassment. It is your perception of the situation that shall be given the most weight in any consideration of the issue.

Handling of conflicts

There shall always be room for different views and free exchange of views in a study environment. However, disagreements are not the same thing as conflicts. A conflict can occur when disagreements arise with regards to different interests or points of view on an issue, allocation of goods or similar. They can occur between two people, one person and a group, or between groups. In some cases, conflicts can develop in a way that makes them severely taxing or damaging with negative effects on learning or the learning environment.

It is important that you yourself contribute to developing a good learning environment. By showing respect to other students and employees, you can contribute to diminish or minimize conflicts. NTNU expects and requires our employees to show you respect, and are aware that there is an imbalance of power between you. Mutual respect and good dialogue are important tools when it comes to facilitating a sound learning environment.

If conflicts arise, you have a number of alternatives regarding how to handle them:

1. You do not experience the conflict as taxing or damaging, and choose to do nothing.
2. You experience the conflict as somewhat taxing, and you can try to talk to the other part to resolve the situation. If that does not lead anywhere, or is exceedingly difficuly, you can choose to seek help from others in considering what you should do. We call this solving the case through informal handling. Those who can help you with advice and guidance are, for example:
   • The student advisor at your programme
   • The Student Ombud
   • Sit - conversation and health services
3. Some conflicts can develop in a severely negative direction or be experienced as so taxing that it affects your learning and learning environment, and you choose to blow the whistle about the case. If you do, NTNU starts a formal handling of the case. See here how you 'blow the whistle' about unacceptable conditions in the learning environment.

You can contribute to a good and inclusive learning environment

NTNU wishes all students to actively contribute to the development of a safe and inclusive learning environment. You can contribute in this work by giving input to improvements when evaluating courses, get engaged in councils and comittees, take part in Studiebarometeret and the SHoT study, and more. The different inputs and results give us information about the quality of your study programme and learning environment.

Last updated 10.03.2022