Plan of Activities of the DAMU Ombudsman for 2023 (DRAFT)

Pursuant to Article 1(1) and Article 12 of Dean's Decree No. 1/2022 establishing the DAMU Ombudsman, I hereby submit the plan of activities for the year 2023.

Sources

The plan is based on a mapping of the DAMU environment that took place from 1 May 2022 to 30 November 2022. I analysed the internal regulations of DAMU and AMU, conducted interviews with DAMU management, heads of departments, DAMU psychologist, representatives/representatives of students, teachers, and dealt with specific complaints. I also communicated with the AMU Rector's Office and the FAMU Ombudswoman. I also participated in educational events regarding counselling and prevention of sexual harassment in the academic environment. I have established cooperation with other ombudspersons at public universities in the Czech Republic.

During the preparation of the action plan, an "Equal Opportunities Analysis" (in the form of a questionnaire survey and focus groups) was conducted within the AMU. Therefore, I did not address certain groups of male and female employees. I will work with the results of the analysis and recommendations later in 2023.

Implementation and monitoring

I will prepare an interim report on the implementation of this plan by 31 July 2023 and will submit it to the Dean of DAMU. The final evaluation of the action plan will be annexed to the Annual Report for 2024.

Consultation and transparency

The first draft of the action plan was presented at the DAMU management meeting on 4 October, the next version of the plan at the Dean's Council meeting on 7 December.

I plan to present it further at the meeting "Share DAMU!" on December 12th, then at the next meeting of the Academic Senate of DAMU. I will send the plan to the AMU Rector, the AMU Ethics Committee, the FAMU Ombudsperson, and the AMU trade union for their information.

The action plan is available to the public and is posted on the website in the "Ethical Culture" section.

Cooperation

External service providers, selected public universities, DAMU/AMU authorities, FAMU Ombudsman, DAMU psychologist, DAMU PR manager, departments and institutes, students and other people and institutions.

Funding

Budget: the Programme for the Support of Strategic Management of Universities (PPSŘ), CRP (Centralized Development Programme) for 2023

Please send your comments, suggestions and recommendations to ombudsman@damu.cz by 31 December 2022.

In Prague, 9 December 2022

Thematic areas

1/ Provision of advice by the Ombudsman and effective handling of complaints

• Creation of information materials (leaflets) for students and employees of DAMU
• Adding information to the "Ethical Culture" website
• Creation of a website for anonymous reporting of incidents

Outputs: 1/ 2 information leaflets with examples (school, work), 2/ description of the resolution of the complaint from the perspective of the person who made the complaint and from the perspective of the person whose actions are being assessed by the ombudsman, 3/ website supplemented with contacts and information (support services,  guidelines, legal and social counselling), 4/ website/application for anonymous reporting

2/ Monitoring of the working and study environment in terms of compliance with ethical culture, awareness raising, prevention of gender-based violence

• Quantitative analysis, prevalence of violations of the code of ethics and other rules (questionnaire survey)
• Student workload during the semester and academic failure - analysis of workload according to the schedule and reasons for abandoning studies

Outputs: 1 research report applying the analysis based on the holistic 7P model of the Unisafe project, presentation of the results of the report to students and staff/employees, 1 analysis of workload according to timetable and reasons for dropping out, 3 workshops with learners and DAMU staff/employees (suggestions for action)

3/ Building the wellbeing and resilience of DAMU students and employees

• Pilot wellbeing courses for students in their first year: mental health care (stress management, time management, psychohygiene), assertiveness, conflict resolution, defence against manipulation, crisis situations
• Extension of psychological support for students (3 interventions per academic year)
• Launch of psychological support for employees
• Establishment of a faculty mental health support group
• Establishment of a group of faculty peer support (from among students)

Outputs: 10 one-day courses on resilience, 8 support group meetings and 2 thematic recommendations, psychological interventions, 3 training sessions and 3 group supervision sessions for providers of peer support, 1 recommendation for safe conflict resolution

4/ Support in the implementation of the system for students with specific needs

• Continuous support for social safety and ethical behaviour of members/members of the academic community towards students with specific needs (with a focus on appropriate communication with students with learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder and mental disorder).

Outputs: 8 moderated discussions in individual departments, 1 workshop for male/female staff

5/ Professionalization of care of the needs of international students at DAMU (with emphasis on their integration into the academic life of DAMU)

• Gathering knowledge about the specific needs of international students who do not understand the Czech language.

Outputs: 2 workshops for foreign students, 1 update of the content of the DAMU website, 1 draft of measures to improve the situation

6/ Capacity building of people in decision-making positions (of their choice)

• Performance appraisal of staff - sharing practices
• Designing a system of handover of power (changes in decision-making positions)
• Effective conduct of working meetings
• Crisis communication (with a focus on the media)

Outputs: 2 facilitated discussions/1 workshop, 1 crisis communication plan

7/ Building the communication and professional capacity of  employees

• Courses to provide respectful feedback (to students, staff/employees)
• Regular pedagogical (group) supervision

Outputs: 3 courses to provide feedback, piloting of pedagogical supervision in selected departments

8/ Promoting an ethical culture in the internal environment

• Ombudsman newsletters, commemoration of days related to the protection of human rights
• Meetings between the Ombudsman and people in each department (using existing formats)
• Appearances by the Ombudsman at regular DAMU formats during the academic year

Outputs: 4 newsletters, 8 departmental meetings (including DISK)

9/ Promoting an ethical culture in the external environment

• Speaking at seminars, forums, conferences
• Media interviews
• Articles in professional or non-professional media (typically news)

Outputs: 2 articles, 2 presentations at professional events

10/ Developing a School Ombudsperson Platform

• Meeting and sharing knowledge with ombudspersons from other universities
• Organization of the Annual colloquium of the School Ombudsperson Platform

Outputs: 6 meetings with ombudspersons of other universities in the Czech Republic, 1 colloquium of the School Ombudsperson Platform

Petr Polák
Ombudsman DAMU