Ombudsmen in Higher Education: Helping the Single Student, Contributing to the Universities’ Institutional Changes

Josef Leidenfrost

Austrian Student Ombudsman, Vienna, Austria.

DOI: 10.4236/ce.2013.47A2002                

Abstract

This article aims to firstly give a brief insight into the major challenges for modern time universities like necessary change management, growing competitiveness, increasing expectations by the stakeholders and how rising tuition fees affect all of that, and secondly on the growing pressure for universities on responding more effectively to a demanding student population, mounting expectations and diverse backgrounds of students, and thirdly how alternative dispute resolution is more and more commonly used as a means of resolving disputes and complaints informally and at an early stage in order to avoid litigation and the courts. It is described how ombudsmen in higher education can help to minimize the students’ feelings of disconnection created by formal and judicial processes and get fair treatment. Catering either for students only or for the whole university community, ombudsmen provide confidential, impartial complaints handling services and also contribute to change management on the macro level and hence help with changing policies.

Keywords

University Governance; Complaint Management; Conflict Resolution; Higher Education Ombudsman

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

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