Network of the Polish Academic Ombudsman: “The Academic Safety and Equality Network (Akademicka Sieć Bezpieczeństwa i Równości – ASBIR)” was created in November 2021. The Academic Safety and Equality Network is a community connecting people who perform different functions at Polish universities and higher education institutions related to the protection of academic rights and values, as well as security, equality, and diversity.
Regardless of the name of the functions, the members are connected by scopes of competence, common experience, and shared perception of the ethical values underlying the functioning of the academy. The network acts informally, it creates a safe space for mutual support and the implementation of the common goals.
The network objectives are:
• Providing a space for safe and confidential sharing of knowledge and experience,
• Searching for the best solutions
• Sharing good practices,
• Diagnosing and signaling problems common to many academic institutions,
• Conducting joint research and creating “trans-university” reports,
• National and international cooperation with organizations working for equality and security in academia, in particular with the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education – ENOHE
• Sharing information on national and international events.
The network meets at least once every two months online. Meetings are organized alternately by people from the network and concern specific, previously agreed topics. During the meetings, there is room to discuss common problems, share experiences, present solutions adopted at individual universities, discuss current issues, and inform about planned events and news.
At least once a year the network meets at a stationary plenary meeting, organized on a rotating basis by successive universities (the most recent meeting took place at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń on April 21-22). The network also has its own virtual space on the Teams platform, which is used for ongoing communication, periodic meetings in the online formula, and gathering a common knowledge base.
Contact person for the ENOHE – ASBiR relations: Anna Cybulko phd, Ombudsman of the University of Warsaw.
Learn more on their web page: https://www.ur.edu.pl/uniwersytet/rowne-traktowanie/siec (Currently only in Polish, English version will follow)