Equal Opportunities - Linguistic Equality

SUPSI promotes an inclusive culture, with initiatives aimed at fairness and equality for the entire academic community.

To this end, SUPSI is committed to:

  • Promoting a culture of diversity by raising awareness and enhancing the skills of the entire SUPSI community on issues related to gender differences and their interconnection with social differences linked to age, culture, sexual orientation, ability/disability, etc. through intra- and inter-departmental training and communication activities, in collaboration with its centres of expertise, the local network, and cantonal and national bodies and associations.
  • Develop high-quality inclusive measures aimed at staff and students at all stages of their educational and professional journey.
  • ​​​​​​​Further expand measures aimed at students with disabilities or specific learning difficulties (e.g. dyslexia and dyscalculia) in relation to admissions, certification, curricular differentiation or other forms of academic support (teaching aids, differentiation of classroom teaching, definition and recognition of specific measures) in collaboration with the heads of education – Bachelor’s programme heads – Master’s programmes – and lecturers, and in synergy with other Swiss universities.

SUPSI ensures the right to education and equal opportunities by promoting inclusive learning conditions for students with Special Educational Needs (SEN), including disabilities, Specific Learning Disabilities (SLD), and other certified conditions that may impact the academic pathway.

The institutional commitment is based on:

  • the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (Art. 24 – Education);
  • the Swiss Federal Act on the Elimination of Discrimination against People with Disabilities;
  • internal SUPSI regulations (Statute; Bachelor’s and Master’s Regulations).

In line with these frameworks, SUPSI may grant individualized support and reasonable accommodations, while respecting the learning objectives and professional competencies required by each study program.

SUPSI is guided by the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Universal Design for Instruction (UDI), instructional design frameworks developed by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST, 2011; CAST, 2024) and progressively extended to higher education. These models are grounded in evidence from the learning sciences and educational neuroscience and aim to reduce barriers to access, participation, and assessment through inclusive course design from the outset.

In particular, UDL recognizes learner variability as a fundamental characteristic of the student population and promotes:
  • multiple means of representation of disciplinary content;
  • multiple means of action and expression;
  • multiple forms of engagement and motivational regulation.
In higher education, these principles inform course design and assessment practices, fostering an accessible learning environment aligned with academic and professional goals.

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Accommodations are not granted automatically; they are evaluated based on the documentation provided, their compatibility with the study program, and the available organizational and instructional resources.

Within SUPSI degree programs, accommodations may include:
  • Organization of studies (e.g., adaptations to the study plan);
  • Teaching and learning (e.g., access to materials, adjustments in course delivery);
  • Assessment (e.g., additional time for exams, use of approved assistive tools).
These accommodations are compensatory in nature and do not modify the essential learning outcomes or the professional competencies expected at the end of the program.

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Requests for accommodations must be submitted in writing to the Head of Program (Bachelor’s/Master’s/Diploma), including relevant specialist documentation via the secure Switch FileSender platform.

The evaluation is carried out in collaboration with the SUPSI SEN advisor. Faculty members involved are informed of the approved accommodations.

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 For further information, students may contact:
  • the Head of the relevant study program (Bachelor’s/Master’s/Diploma), whose contact details are available on the SUPSI website.
  • the SEN contact persons: Chiara Balerna and Angela Pasqualotto at inclusione@supsi.ch .
The contact persons provide general guidance on orientation and procedures for requesting accommodations, in compliance with data protection regulations.

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  • CAST (2011). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines.
  • CAST (2024). Universal Design for Learning Guidelines – versione aggiornata.
  • Savia, G. (a cura di) (2016). Universal Design for Learning: progettazione universale per l’apprendimento e didattica inclusiva.
  • Convenzione ONU sui diritti delle persone con disabilità (Art. 24).

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Through the SEN-SI Special Educational Needs USI-SUPSI Project, SUPSI and USI have launched initiatives to monitor, develop and/or implement the necessary compensatory or accessibility measures to support students with Special Educational Needs (SEN) and ensure high-quality university education.

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