Meet University of Oslo’s First Student Ombuds

In February 2013, Marianne Høva Rustberggard became the first Ombudsperson for 27,700 students at the country’s oldest and largest university, Universitetet i Oslo. The Ombuds is confidential and reports administratively to UiO’s Internal Auditing Unit. According to her website, Rustberggard is also the first Student Ombudsperson in Norway.


Rustberggard’s English-language website, which went live this week, explains her role:

The student ombudsperson can:

• Advise on how students can proceed in order to safeguard their interests in relation to a case 
• Support students in their relations with UiO 
• Investigate UiO’s case processing with the student’s consent 
• The student ombudsperson does not adopt a position with regard to academic questions. 

If the ombudsperson cannot provide support for your case, you will be given assistance with how to proceed.

Rustberggard earned her Bachelor’s and LLM from UiO.  Before coming to the university, held leadership positions with a variety of higher education organizations, including the country's largest student union, Studentsamskipnaden i Oslo og Akershus.  (UiO Ombuds; LinkedIn.)