The Office of the Ombudsman is Here for You!
The Ombudsman and staff are here to serve the Ashford University community both on-campus and online with problems, issues, or conflicts that are brought to our attention.
The Ombudsman may be contacted by any member of the University community. The Ombudsman currently addresses student issues some of which are described below.
The Ombudsman and staff act as student liaisons, mediators, and/or facilitators as confidential, independent, impartial, and neutral resources for the University community. The Ombudsman informally provides information, counsel, intervention, and referrals to assist the University community in resolving student issues. If you have a problem and do not know where to start, please contact us!
History of the Ombudsman Position
The Ombudsman position was originally created in Sweden in 1809. The Swedish Parliament appointed an Ombudsman to resolve difficult problems in the absence of the country's abducted king. In the United States and Canada, Ombuds programs have been created to assist citizens, consumers, employees, and students who wish to address concerns about administrative actions or lack of action. The Ombuds function is utilized in state and local governments, nursing homes, the media, colleges and universities, industry, prisons, and agencies of the federal government. The term Ombudsman is gender-neutral and is often used as Ombudsperson or simply Ombuds.
In 1966 Eastern Montana College became the first educational institution in the United States to appoint an Ombudsperson. In 1967, Michigan State University became the first major U.S. university to implement an Ombuds office. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, a number of universities established Ombuds programs to respond to demands for a neutral, confidential, and safe place to discuss concerns and voice complaints. It is now estimated that more than 200 colleges and universities in the United States and Canada have implemented Ombuds offices.
Ashford University created the Office of the Ombudsman in 2009 to aid the University community in the informal problem-solving process.
Ombuds history excerpted from the University and College Ombuds Association handbook.
If you have any questions about the office, or if we can be of assistance to you, please call the Office of the Ombudsman at 866.974.5700, ext. 2480, email ombudsman@omb.ashford.edu.