Advocacy Establishment for Students through Ombudsman Position (AESOP)
The AESOP project develops student advocacy offices in Azerbaijani universities to remove obstacles in the academic process and to effectively protect students’ rights. Improving the administration of the Azerbaijani partner universities will enable them to fully implement the Bologna Process, giving students access to the democratic processes that are used to make decisions about their education.
The project will learn from the experience and best practices of European universities in the area of student advocacy. The findings are implemented in Azerbaijani universities through the creation of a Student Advocacy Office in each university headed by a full-time, trained ombudsperson who will offer training and support services. The ombudsperson will be a “neutral” (free from other work responsibilities or conflicts of interest) resource who can listen to student issues and direct them through appropriate procedures to resolve them fairly, consistently, and efficiently.
Ģֱ acts in a consulting role in the project.
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Project description
Background: The implementation of the Bologna system in Azerbaijan has ushered in a new era of students’ involvement in their own educational decisions. Now students have the responsibility to take initiative in managing their academic careers, but they lack the resources to deal with problems arising along the way. Unfortunately, Azerbaijani universities have not developed consistent or democratic systems for student advocacy in administrative issues (specifically including academic appeals, disciplinary appeals, complaints, emergency financial aid requests, or health-related concerns). When universities overlook these issues, they neglect to protect students’ rights.
This project will learn from the experience and best practices of European universities in the area of student advocacy, specifically including the common practice of employing a “neutral” (free from other work responsibilities or conflicts of interest) ombudsperson as a resource who can listen to student issues and direct them through appropriate procedures to resolve them fairly, consistently, and efficiently. The project will implement its findings in Azerbaijani universities through the creation of a Student Advocacy Office in each university headed by a full-time, trained ombudsperson who will offer training and support services.
This project will improve the administration of the Azerbaijani partner universities, enabling them to implement the Bologna Process not only as a formality but in the full sense of the spirit of the Process, giving students access to the democratic processes that are used to make decisions about their education.
