美国大学监察员制度:演进、实践及其影响

Evolution, Practice and Effect of American University Ombudsman

20世纪60年代,效仿政府监督公共权力的行使,美国大学引入了监察员的观念和制度,创设了美国大学校生纠纷或冲突的全新处理模式。大学监察员遵循"独立、私密、中立、公正和非正式"的实践准则以及"诚实、正直"的道德规范,从而将不利于大学组织的冲突以及纠纷等问题消除在萌芽之中,减少不良事态蔓延至大学组织外部。同时,该制度提供的是一种法律外的救济手段,可以避免因投诉案件进入正式法律途径导致的高成本和低效率问题。美国大学监察员制度受到广泛的认可,在欧洲各国高等教育机构中得到更大范围的推广和实践。

The university ombudsman first appeared in 1960s in American higher education institutions, following the example of government supervision on public organizations. University ombudsman was an innovation in American higher education and was a new mechanism to deal with disputes between the university and students. The university ombudsman works by the principles of independence, privacy, neutrality, justice and informality and the work ethics including honesty and integrity. They discover and aim to take care of potential conflicts and disputes which run counter the interests of the university, mediate within the university and prevent problems from spreading out of the university. The university ombudsman offers an alternative in dealing with on-campus disputes without involving litigation which often has high cost and low effieiency. Moreover, the university ombudsman has been accepted widely and has been adopted in European higher education institutions.