Changes to Ombuds Function at Confederation College

Confederation College opened the Ombuds office in January 2008, staffed with a part-time contracted Ombudsperson. The College and SUCCI (the student union) have always shared the cost of this position equally.

Due to the pandemic, there was low utilization of this service and the Ombuds office was closed in January 2021. Recently, this position was revisited, with a view to reopening the office and recruiting a new Ombudsperson. However, a review of the data kept by this office indicated that most of the services provided by the Ombuds over the last 10+ years were services already offered in other areas of the College, including but not limited to, the SUCCI Office, Student Success, Apiwin and the International Education Centre. These services were categorized as the provision of information, advice, informal guidance, coaching and referrals to both internal and external resources. Historically, the main reason for establishing this position was to assist students in managing informal and formal academic issues, appeals, and to make recommendations to eliminate systemic barriers in the College affecting students. 

We introduced a new role of Equity and Human Rights Advisor for a three-year term in 2019. This position worked closely with the Ombuds Office in the provision of support services to students regarding the appeals process and any human rights inquiries. 

In consultation with the Ombuds Advisory Committee and the Student Union of Confederation College, we have determined that the best way to provide consistent service to students is with a permanent full-time resource. As such, we developed a new position of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Student Appeals Advisor.

This role will continue the work of designing and implementing a diversity strategy and act in a consultative role to all levels of management, employees, and students regarding diversity, equity, and accessibility. This position will also act as a resource to students regarding academic issues including the informal and formal appeals process, and as such will liaise with the Student Appeals Advisory Committee. The position will also make recommendations to administration to remove systemic barriers identified through their work. We will be posting this position shortly.