TU/e hopes to have appointed an interim ombudsman by October 1 until a new, permanent ombudsperson is found, Executive Board President Koen Janssen announced Monday at the University Council meeting. The current ombudsman, Anna Soedira, will resign two months before her contract expires. She decided to do so after the Executive Board (EB) said to have lost confidence in her.

According to Janssen, employees can contact the Integrity & Social Safety Desk and the university's confidential counselors in the meantime instead. But is that really equivalent? After all, the ombudsman's role is to formally and independently investigate complaints and provide advice to the board. A confidential counselor offers personal, confidential support and advice regarding inappropriate behavior or integrity issues.

What many people don't know is that they can take their complaints directly to the National ombudsman. TU/e ​​is a state university, and as an administrative body, it falls under the Dutch General Administrative Law Act (Awb). By law, you can file a complaint with the National Ombudsman about the actions of such an administrative body. But many people are unaware of this, says Reinier van Zutphen.

Call a spade a spade

A procedure with the National Ombudsman is never anonymous. Van Zutphen: “If you file a complaint with us, you must state who you are, what you are complaining about, and who the defendant(s) is/are. This always results in a ruling on the complaint, which is shared with the institution, and in some cases with the public as well. Such a complaint could concern integrity, the actions of a manager, or the conduct of deans, for example.” With a complaint with the National Ombudsman, the procedure is considers how you were treated. “We look at the dispute from the citizen's perspective.”

The National Ombudsman sees a clear difference between the university ombudsman and his position. "The university ombudsman was established at the initiative of unions and is there for the staff. Such an ombudsman primarily handles personnel issues and undesirable situations, investigates them, and tries to find a solution together. The ombudsman also identifies problems within the organization." Regarding his own role, he says: "I'm there for everyone who has dealt with a government institution and is dissatisfied with how they were treated. So, that mandate is much broader."

Van Zutphen believes it's important to make it clear that anyone who has dealt with a state university and is dissatisfied with how they are treated can contact the National Ombudsman. "I've discussed this with the employers' organization UNL in the past, but that awareness could definitely be improved." Although the roles of the National Ombudsman and the university ombudsman differ, there is contact between them. “Regularly that is, even with universities of applied sciences. We exchange knowledge and experiences about complaint handling and stay informed about current developments.”

Capacity

The Netherlands has 14 national universities, and at TU/e ​​alone, the university ombudsman for employees received 106 complaints in the past eighteen months. If suddenly employees, students, and other contacts from every university contact the National ombudsman, will he be able to handle it?

Van Zutphen isn't worried that the workload will become overwhelming. The National Ombudsman is an institution consisting of a designated person (him) and a team of no fewer than 220 employees, he explains. "Last year, we received 65 complaints about the national universities, 5 of which were about TU/e. If that number increases, our team can still handle it. In fact, not only staff, but also students and, for example, suppliers or partners of the university can contact us." 

If you contact the National ombudsman, he will first see if he can help you through a university complaints procedure. “Of course, it's always better to resolve a complaint early than to write a report about it. If that doesn't work, the Executive Board must issue a decision, and if you're dissatisfied with that, you can submit that decision to the National ombudsman. Incidentally, we've noticed that people don't always know how or where to file a complaint with a university. The complaints procedure is unclear or not properly organized. That needs to improve.”

Complaints Procedure

Van Zutphen emphasizes the importance of properly organizing the complaints procedure as a key starting point for universities. “The Dutch General Administrative Law Act (Awb) stipulates that an administrative body must have a proper complaints procedure. Ultimately, you can always contact the National ombudsman if you feel you've been treated unfairly.”

The law doesn't require the official complaints procedure to state that someone can contact the National ombudsman. However, the letter you receive about the handling of your complaint must state that you have the option of submitting a complaint to the National ombudsman. "We find it desirable for this to be included in the university's complaints procedure as well; that way, the chances of success are the greatest." At the time of writing, this latter point is not included in the various TU/e ​​complaints procedures. However, the National ombudsman is mentioned in the student study guide as an option to complain with.

The National ombudsman is critical of how universities have complied with the legal requirements. "With all due respect to the ombudspersons employed, I am disappointed that universities in the Netherlands do not have their right to complain in order. Yes, we have those social safety desks, all lovely, but a complaints procedure must be clear and easily accessible." The ombudsman urges universities to thoroughly review their current complaints procedure(s): "Comply with the law," is his message.

According to a spokesperson, the university complies with the law with its own complaints procedures. “We have this information available in one place on our website, accessible to everyone, so that it is as easy as possible to find”, he states.

The National ombudsman does not make pronouncements on the complaints procedures of a specific university.

Non-binding ruling

A university's ombudsman provides advice based on their findings, or may choose to issue a ruling, as stated in the ombudsman regulations (see, among others, articles 3.3 and 11.4). The university board may choose not to follow this advice or ruling, however, the Executive Board must inform the Ombudsman whether and how the advice will be followed, and if not, why.

The National ombudsman doesn't offer advice, but rather a ruling. This ruling on a university's actions is also not binding: an institution can disregard it. The National ombudsman hopes his ruling will primarily encourage the organization to reassess its own actions and learn from them for the future.

"We've noticed that many people find it important to receive a genuine assessment of how the university has treated them," says Van Zutphen. "They want to know if there has been improper conduct. The National ombudsman can assess that."

So, is it worth filing a complaint with the university’s ombudsperson, or even with the National Ombudsman? That largely depends on your expectations. It is certainly useful if you want an independent advice or an impartial assessment. However, the procedure offers no guarantee of actual change.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.