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McMaster’s Ombuds Office

Since 1980, the Ombuds Office has acted to uphold the MSU and University’s commitment to fair treatment of the McMaster community. In 1980, the MSU created the Ombuds Office in order to ensure the just, fair, and equitable treatment of McMaster’s students. Then in 1998, the MSU and the University came together and agreed to jointly fund the Ombuds Office.

A Brief History of Ombuds

The term “Ombuds” is a gender-neutral version of term “Ombudsman,” which is a Swedish word that generally refers to citizens’ defender. Over two hundred years ago, Lars Augustin Mannerheim became the first Parliamentary Ombudsman appointed in Sweden. Since then, Ombuds have become integral parts of governments and various other industries, such as higher education, around the world. Across all sectors, an Ombuds’ goal is to assist in the resolution of issues related to fairness.