The Ombuds Officer of the Faculty of Law Presents the Activity Report

11/11/2024

2024 REPORT - FACULTY OF LAW OMBUDS OFFICER - Faculty Board, 5 November 2024

This report compiles the Ombuds Officer’s activities during 2023 and 2024.

1. A total of fifteen cases were managed, of which ten were referred by the University ombuds office, while the other five were addressed directly to the faculty ombuds office.

2. The issues raised in the various cases cover a range of topics:

• Management of enrolment application errors
• Processing of degree issuance, which depends on the Sigma system
• Timelines for resolving appeals related to enrolment issues within the University
• Course credit transfers
• Review of regular and extraordinary assessment tests and final thesis evaluations (TFG)
• Clarification of grading guidelines in course syllabi
• Classroom amenities, particularly sockets and comfort
• Questions about rounding final grades in continuous assessment or resit exams
• Compensation-based grading information, that is available on the website
• Discrepancies in the information provided in the course guide at enrolment versus later in the term
• Non-attendance at a doctoral committee meeting due to application system issues

3. Throughout case management, there has been full cooperation from faculty members, administrative staff, and management. Regarding case resolution:

• Application error handling was clarified to depend on system configurations. The University Ombuds Officer recommended reviewing error management in the operator’s system.
• Concerning appeals, resolutions were justified by adherence to current regulations.
• Current regulations were applied to course credit transfers and extraordinary reviews of exams.
• For exam reviews, cases were handled with the faculty involved and promptly resolved.
• Regarding classroom conditions, relevant infrastructure bodies were notified; this will be addressed under the investment programme.
• For grade rounding, the applied criterion is to round the grade earned in continuous assessment before resits exams.
• Regarding information changes, explanations were provided for variations due to the new teaching staff being assigned following the 2024 adjunct lecturer hiring process.
• For doctoral committee operations, issues were resolved by scheduling a new meeting via Teams.

4. Although the overall organisational functioning is reasonable, considering the number of cases relative to daily activities, the Ombuds Officer makes the following recommendations to the Faculty:

• Raise awareness of the office of the Ombuds Officer among students by introducing it at orientation events and including it in programme monitoring committees.
• Update or remove outdated information regarding course credit transfers from relevant web pages.
• Ensure coordination among academic units in their evaluation practices.
• Review the functionality of digital applications and suggest improvements to the relevant university bodies if needed.
• Explore options for improving classroom conditions.
• Ensure the academic community has adequate information about the criteria for rounding grades.