Ombudsing at Canadian universities through the eyes of a Dutch ombudsman

Abstract

The Ombudsman of Utrecht University in the Netherlands made a study trip to Canada in the spring of 2016. He visited 12 universities in order to gather best practises at the Offices of Canadian ombudspersons. The major principles namely Independence, impartiality and confidentiality were described. Also the funding of the Offices of the ombudspersons and the target groups of ombudspersons are drawn. After having spoken with Canadian ombudspersons comparisons were made between the work of Canadian and Dutch ombudspersons. It appeared that there are more differences than similarities. An important similarity is that in both countries governments are not proactively advancing the value of ombudswork for students, staff and faculty by recommending that ombudspersons be established on all campuses.