University of Amsterdam Plans Ombuds Program

The leading Dutch public university, Universiteit van Amsterdam, will appoint its first Ombudsperson as part of a push to embrace the increasing levels of diversity in the student body and staff. The UvA employs 8,000 members of staff and has a student population of 40,000, figures that include over 120 different nationalities. This week, the university's Executive Board adopted the recommendations of a Diversity Committee’s report, which included a first-ever Ombuds.

Here's the text of the "New Measure" for an Ombuds:

Establish the position of UvA ombudsperson, for students and staff to consult. The ombudsperson does not replace the usual means of reporting concerns for individual cases. After three years the position will be evaluated. [Citation omitted.]

UvA is not the first Dutch university with an Ombuds: Leiden University named an Ombuds for Students in 2012; and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam appointed a Student Ombudsman in 2014. In 2016, Lies Poesiat, President of De Vereniging Ombudsmannen in het Hoger Onderwijs (The Association of Ombudsmen in Higher Education) said that Ombuds are desperately needed throughout the Netherlands. (UvA Student News; Diversity Document.)

Related posts: Leiden University Introduces New Ombuds; VU University Amsterdam Ombuds Posts Annual Report; President of Dutch Ombuds Group Calls for More University Ombuds.