On the occasion of the most recent preparatory meeting for the ENOHE annual Conference 2023 at Charles University (CU) their newly appointed ombudswoman Kateřina Šámalová of said institution and ENOHE President Josef Leidenfrost first met in person last week in Prague. After earlier electronic contacts the main aims of the person-to-person meeting were the positioning of the new central ombuds office at CU and the process of elections for this position and expectations on the future cooperation with the decision makers within the Charles University. Kateřina, who has a background as a social worker, was selected from 22 candidates for the position and designated as ombudswoman by the in 2022 newly appointed CU rector Milena Králíčková. The respective rector’s directive will be published shortly.
Kateřina Šámalová started her work for a three years term on the 1st of January 2023. She and Leidenfrost did talk about the possibilities of future cooperation and joint activities. One concrete endeavor will be the participation in ENOHE’s first Training Activity Program on the 12th of June 2023 on the general theme of “mediation”. Yet another joint undertaking during the ENOHE Prague Conference from the 14th to the 16th of June 2023 will be a conference session about setting up and running the central Ombuds office at CU and its cooperation with Ombuds offices at university faculty level and with central administrative units. Also the interaction with the newly founded Czech National Network of University Ombuds Offices is on the future agenda. A further possibility for future cooperation might be an internship at one of the ENOHE members` offices in order to learn more about other higher educational institutions and conflict resolution cultures in other European countries.
