Ombudsmen in Higher Education

ombudsman

= independent, neutral person to whom anyone can turn in an informal / confidential manner for help with problems/complaints/grievances/deficiencies

ombudsman at higher education institutions

= special ombudsman to whom students, staff, faculty and/or administrators can turn with problems in daily life at higher education institutions

= contribution to the quality assurance strand within the Bologna process
academic ombudsmen have working relations with:
rectors’ (presidents’ / chancellors’) offices, faculties, admission offices, international offices, student
representatives, other administrative units, interest groups, external.

What is an Academic Ombudsman? 

• An academic ombudsman is an independent, neutral person to whom students, staff, faculty and/or administrators can turn in an informal and confidential manner for help with their complaints about the university and its community. 
• The academic ombudsman aims at resolving problems in an informal manner, primarily through mediation. Some academic ombudsmen are also entitled to launch an investigation into the complaint concluding with a formal decision.
• Another important task for the academic ombudsman is to identify structural problems within the university. Where appropriate, he or she can make recommendations to responsible authorities and individuals to prevent similar problems in the future or improve the existing situation.
• The academic ombudsman‘s function is positioned independently from the organization‘s management structure and has direct access to anyone.
• An academic ombudsman operates as an independent complaint officer as a supplement to the organization‘s internal complaint procedure.
• Academic ombudsmen do not act as advocates for individuals or a special group of people, but rather advocate fairness and righteousness.

Ombudsman - Word History:
The word ombudsman has one familiar element, man, but it is difficult to think of what ombuds could mean. Ombudsman is from Swedish, a Germanic language in the same family as English, and man in Swedish corresponds to our word man. Ombud means „commissioner, agent,“ coming from Old Norse umbodh, „charge, commission, administration by a delegacy,“ umbodh
being made up of um, „regarding,“ and bodh, „command.“ In Old Norse an umbodhsmadhr was a „trusty manager, commissary.“ In Swedish an ombudsman was a deputy who looked after the interests and legal affairs of a group such as a trade union or business. In 1809 the office of riksdagens justitieombudsman was created to act as an agent of justice, that is, to see after the interests of justice in affairs between the government and its citizens. This office of ombudsman and the word ombudsman have been adopted elsewhere, as in individual states in the United States. The term has also been expanded in sense to include people who perform the same function for business corporations, newspapers or universities.
Source: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2006 (Houghton Mifflin Company)