When I was still a new student in Leuven, I was quite happy to learn that there was a way to voice out concerns about the requirements and exams and/or complain about an unfair professor. If and when there is a problem, one can have recourse to the ombudsperson. But then I have heard some exam horror stories that seem to show that the ombudsman is not always reliable and/or that some student concerns are not always properly addressed.

The “Regulations on Education and Examinations” that can be found on the K.U.Leuven website clearly state that each faculty should appoint a member of the academic staff to function as examination ombudsperson. The latter is “a person of trust” who acts as intermediary between professors and students. S/he should have the requisite expertise and to be totally independent in the exercise of her or his functions. There is even a provision that says questions about the “authority or independence” of the ombudsman can always be addressed to the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs. Now this all sounds very good on paper and it is not difficult to see that behind these is the intention to safeguard the rights of students. Yet, as one story bears witness to, while the ombudsman may be fulfilling his duties, some complaints are not always fully and justly resolved.

CURIOUS CASE OF STUDENT B

Student B is a responsible student. He consistently comes to his classes on time and prepared. He participates actively in discussions and he has earned very good marks. In one course, however, he sensed that he was being treated unfairly by the teacher: he received failing marks for the requirements he had already submitted. Wanting to avert the logical conclusion of these occurrences, he went up to his faculty’s ombudsperson to explain the predicament he’s in and to ask if it was possible to have his final paper be read by somebody else. The ombudsman reassured him then that the head of the programme can correct his paper.

But then, after student B got his grades, he discovers that, in fact, it was still his teacher who read the final paper. He got a 10 for the course; his paper earned just enough points for him to pass, but he is convinced he deserved a higher grade. So he went to talk to the programme head, who told him that he did not actually read the paper but he believes anyway that the teacher was fair.

MORE QUESTIONS

What the case of student B appears to indicate is that while the ombudsman is there to help when a student has a problem with the exam time and/or date, there is only so much that he can do when it comes to graver matters like unjust professors. The ombuds may for all intents and purposes fulfill his function well. But this does not always mean that the student’s concerns will be fully addressed or that the student will get justice in the end.

Upon hearing stories about responsible but unlucky students like student B, I was troubled by questions like: Why did the ombudsman not make sure that student B’s paper was read by somebody else (it didn’t have to be the head of the programme)? I have heard too that in cases where a student already claims, with at least some evidence, that the professor had been unfair, s/he will have to re-take an exam with the same professor under suspicion for another shot at getting the grade s/he thinks s/he deserves. Why is it then that when a student suffers in the hands of an unjust professor, the student has to choose between undergoing the unpleasant experience again or simply accepting what had happened?

I also find it strange that according to the K.U.Leuven’s “Regulations on Education and Examinations” “disputes regarding the authority or independence of the examination ombudsperson may at all times be submitted to the Vice-Rector for Student Affairs by the examination ombudsperson or any examiner” (emphasis mine). Can students with doubts about the ombudsman not go directly to that Vice-Rector or to another office? Furthermore, I wonder if the ombudsman can really be independent when s/he still works at and for the faculty, that is, if s/he still has to answer to some professor or other. At other universities, one can seek the help of a truly independent student union. At others, there’s a council outside and above the faculties that can deliberate on matters relating to exams and unfair professors.

Let me be clear: I am not saying that the ombudsman “system” is a total failure. I have also heard of people having been satisfactorily helped by their ombuds. I do honestly believe that a way of dealing with student’s concerns and complaints is already in place. Nevertheless, it might need to be reviewed in light of stories like the one we related above... |