O Provedor da Universidade

O Provedor da Universidade

No documento intitulado 'Strategic Orientations for the Reorganization of the Portuguese Network of Higher Education Institutions', datado de 4 de Janeiro de 2005, é proposta a criação do Ombudsman nas universidades (entre outras propostas interessantes). Seria uma espécie de provedor dos utentes da universidade, com um estatuto independente. A definição da Wikipedia dá uma ideia clara do seu papel na instituição:

Organizational ombudsmen

Many private companies, universities and government agencies also have an ombudsman (or an ombudsman department) which serve internal employees or other constituencies. These ombudsman roles are structured to function independently, by reporting to the board of directors, and do not serve any other role in the organization. Organizational ombudsmen are sometimes called 'ombuds' or 'ombuds officers' or 'ombudsperson' or 'ombud'. They are beginning to appear around the world within organizations, sometimes as an alternative to anonymous hot lines, in countries where the latter are illegal or considered inappropriate.

Recently, since the 1960s, the profession has grown in the United States, particularly in corporations, universities and government agencies. This current model, sometimes referred to as an organizational ombudsman, works as a designated neutral party, one who is high ranking in an organization, but who is not considered management. Using an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) sensibility, an organizational ombudsman can provide options to whistleblowers or employees with ethics concerns, provide mediation for conflicts, track problem areas, and make recommendations for changes to policies or procedures in support of orderly systems change. One particularly important function is to pick up "new things" -- that is, issues new to the organization. This is particularly important if the "new thing" is "disruptive" in the sense of requiring the organization to review and possibly improve its policies, procedures and/or structures. An organizational ombudsman who is practicing to "standards of practice" in the US is neutral, and is visibly outside ordinary line and staff structures. An organizational ombudsman will practice informally (with no management decisionmaking power, and without accepting "notice" for the organization). An organizational ombudsman typically keeps no case records for an employer and keeps near absolute confidentiality. The only exception is where there appears to be an imminent risk of serious harm, and an ombudsman can see no responsible option other than breaking confidence -- but organizational ombuds programs report that they can almost always find "other responsible options," such as helping a visitor to make an anonymous report about whatever appears to be the problem."