Ombudsman

The Ombudsman is the defender of the rights of students, staff and others in a similar position in situations where their rights and legally protected interests may be, are or have been threatened as a result of inappropriate or differing treatment, conflict situations, inaction by bodies that should have acted, etc. The performance of the activities of the Ombudsman of the UPJŠ is established by Decision of the Rector of the UPJŠ in Košice No. 9/2023 on the submission and handling of queries, complaints and petitions to the UPJŠ in Košice and its components.

Queries you can turn to the Ombudsman with:

• violation of the rights of applicants in connection with the admission procedure and enrolment in study
• violation of students’ rights related to study, completion of modules, evaluation of modules, award of scholarships, etc.
• violation of employees’ rights resulting from employment relations
• unequal treatment and discrimination
• bullying, including mobbing and bossing
• protection of personality resulting from, for example, damage to honour, reputation, dignity or privacy
• sexual harassment
• and other situations that the person reporting assesses as infringement of his/her rights affecting his/her conditions of study or performance of work.

The Ombudsman receives and handles written or telephone notifications within 10 working days of receipt of the query.

The Ombudsman’s role is also:

• mediation of conflict situations, mediation of communication between the parties, thereby contributing to finding an appropriate and acceptable solution to the problem for all parties if the person affected and the person identified as the violator in the query agree to mediation
• representation of the person concerned on their behalf vis-à-vis other bodies of the UPJŠ or parts of the UPJŠ in sensitive cases (e.g. sexual harassment), if the person concerned wishes to maintain anonymity
• support for addressing situations by contact with responsible organizational units of the university/faculties/workplaces (e.g. dean, vice-dean, senior employee)
• identification of problems and obstacles negatively affecting the work, study and academic environment at the University
• methodological and educational action to prevent and solve problems and to create a safe, respectful, equitable and pleasant study and working environment
• formulation of recommendations for the handling of specific cases by the competent authority and preparation of proposals for systemic changes to prevent them.

Confidential persons

The Ombudsman cooperates with confidential persons on sexual harassment queries, the number of which is determined by the Defender of Rights.