Ombuds-what?

The concept of "ombudsman" originated in Sweden in the mid-1700's and then spread worldwide to the academic, public and private sectors. We use the gender neutral term "ombudsperson", rather than "ombuds" or "ombudsman" to describe our office.

As the Ombudsperson describes in her 2003-2004 Annual Report to the Ryerson community, "an academic Ombudsperson is an advocate for fairness and equity rather than for individuals’ specific complaints; a specialist in conflict resolution processes who generally approaches the resolution of conflict informally and from the perspective of both an ethic of care and an ethic of rights; and uses a variety of means to assist with the resolution of conflict." Currently more than 30 Canadian universities and colleges have established ombuds offices. Most university and college ombudspersons follow a professional code of ethics. For more information on the fundamentals of ombudsing, including confidentiality, impartiality and independence, see the article: The Principles of Ombudsing.

Who is the Ombudsperson?

The Ombudsperson is Nora Farrell. The Assistant Ombudsperson is Ayesha Adam.

Nora has extensive experience in providing Ombuds services, in problem-solving and in dispute resolution. She also has experience both as an investigator and as a mediator. As Ombudsperson, Nora is responsible for preparing and presenting an Annual Report to the Ryerson community advising community members and committees concerned about fair process, and making presentations on various Ombuds-related topics. Nora shared her thoughts on fairness in an interview for Ryerson University's "the GREET Exchange" newsletter (see p.2).

Ayesha has extensive dispute resolution and negotiation training and experience with a broad-range of problem-solving processes, including mediation. She is also involved in Ombuds outreach, for example,  U201 presentations   and the development and maintenance of the ombuds website.

All of the staff of the Ombudsperson Office are independent of the University. The Office of the Ombudsperson at Ryerson is a member of the Association of Canadian College and University Ombudspersons (ACCUO), a bilingual (English and French), independent association of ombudspersons in colleges and universities across Canada; the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman, an umbrella organisation to share information and views and promote the Ombudsman concept across Canada; and the International Ombudsman Association.

Nora and Ayesha are always interested in discussing any concerns or complaints you may have - just contact the Ombuds Office to arrange an appointment.

More about our office...

Administrative Fairness Checklist
Used by the Ombudsperson In order to make a determination about whether or not a decision has been made fairly.

Annual Reports
Presented annually by the Ombudsperson to Senate and the broader Ryerson community.

Assessment of Services
An executive summary of the results obtained from the Spring 2004 assessment of services offered by the Ombudsperson's Office.

Terms of Reference
Outline the powers and responsibilities of the Ryerson Ombudsperson and the role of the Ombudsperson Committee

Page updated February 20, 2013 . Please direct any questions/comments to ombuds@ryerson.ca . Website maintained by Ayesha Adam.