Dean's Directive No. 1/2022 (Social Safety) establishes the rules for achieving social safety, which is overseen by the ombudsperson. The ombudsperson of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "ombudsperson") is an independent person who creates a space for dialogue and confidential assistance to students, employees, and staff of the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology (hereinafter also "FFA"), primarily in matters of ethics, workplace culture, and prevention of abuse of power.

The mission of the ombudsperson is to contribute to creating and ensuring a safe and just study and work environment and to promote its diversity. In accordance with Section 1, letter d) of Act No. 111/1998 Coll., on higher education institutions, FFA takes an active role in public discussion of social and ethical issues, fostering cultural diversity and mutual understanding, shaping civil society, and preparing young people for life in it. The plurality of life opinions and experiences is seen as a fundamental and valuable quality, especially in the artistic environment. For this reason, the ombudsperson should also help create tools to balance family, study, and work life and to include any disadvantaged groups. The ombudsperson's activities complement the activities of other FFA bodies and working groups, and its main mission is advisory, cultivation, and mediation. The FFA Ombudsperson is a member of ENOHE (European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education).

The FFA Ombudsperson is Mgr. et Bc. Tomáš Fris. Tomáš Fris studied sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy, Charles University in Prague, and a double major in psychology and social work at the Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University in Brno. He worked as a field social worker in Roma communities in Neratovice, a crisis interventionist on the Crisis Helpline, and as an editor for the magazine New Space (Nový prostor). He is currently completing comprehensive training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy and works as a therapist in the Department of Enhanced Acute Care at the Bohnice Psychiatric Hospital. He also professionally provides supervision for teams and individuals in the nonprofit sector.

MgA. Marie Štindlová was appointed as the ombudsperson's assistant (contact). The ombudsperson and the ombudsperson's assistant are obliged to maintain confidentiality about the facts they learn during their activities, and they are guided by the principles of neutrality, impartiality, confidentiality, informality, and protection of the reporter and the persons involved. The ombudsperson's secretary can be contacted especially in case of suspicion of bias on the part of the ombudsperson (if, considering the relationship of the ombudsperson to the parties to the conflict or other persons involved in the conflict, his independence or impartiality can be doubted).

Part One: General Provisions

Article 1: Social Safety

1. This Directive sets out the rules to achieve social safety at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Brno University of Technology (hereinafter referred to as “FFA”).
2. For the purpose of this directive, social safety is
   1. applicant’s right to study in the study programme,
   2. interested person’s right to participate in the life-long learning programme,
   3. the right of a student,
   4. the right of a participant in life-long learning,
   5. the right of an employee,
   6. the right of an FFA unit member, who is not an employee,
   to be treated fairly and the right not to be discriminated against.

Article 2: Discrimination

1. Discrimination can be either direct or indirect.
2. Discrimination means harassment, sexual harassment, stalking, instructions to discriminate and incitement for discrimination.
3. The terms are defined in Act No.198/2009 Coll., on equal treatment and the legal means of protection against discrimination and an amendment to some laws (the Anti-Discrimination Act).

Article 3: Conflict and Parties to the Conflict

1. A conflict is an alleged violation of social safety.
2. Following Article 1 (2), the party to the conflict is a person who should have committed the violation of social safety.

Article 4: Duties

1. Each FFA person is obliged to respect the social safety of others.
2. Senior employees supervise and encourage junior employees to respect the social safety of others.

Part Two: Ombudsperson

Article 5: Establishment and Activities

1. The position of an Ombudsperson is established.
2. The Ombudsperson supervises the compliance with social safety.
3. As far as social safety is concerned, the Ombudsperson also
   1. helps parties to the conflict and anybody else who addresses them,
   2. conducts training and prepares prevention programmes,
   3. conducts surveys,
   4. publishes reports and issues recommendations,
   5. ensures the exchange of information with other ombudspeople or equivalent positions.

Article 6: Status

1. The Ombudsperson performs their activities independently and without bias. The performance of the Ombudsperson’s duties must not weigh against them.
2. The Ombudsperson is appointed by the Dean as a present employee with extended job content, or the Dean hires a new employee.
3. Organization-wise, the Ombudsperson is assigned to the Dean’s Secretariat.
4. Dean’s Secretariat shall bear the cost for Ombudsperson’s activities, provides the Ombudsperson with the administrative environment; the Ombudsperson is authorized to make reasonable use of the capacity of other employees in Dean’s Secretariat, or – after the consultation with the Ombudsperson – the Dean may assign a selected employee as the Ombudsperson’s Assistant, who performs administrative activities necessary for the Ombudsperson. The duties listed in Article 10 apply to the Assistant to the same extent.

Article 7: Incompatibility

Article 8: Bias

Article 9: Mandate

1. The Ombudsperson is authorized to
   1. inspect files, documents, and records,
   2. ask for information and explanation,
   3. ask questions (applies to employees),
   4. speak to the parties to the conflict.
2. To exercise the powers in (1), everybody is obliged to provide the Ombudsperson with assistance.

Article 10: Duties

1. The Ombudsperson must keep confidentiality about facts they learn about when exercising their powers.
2. The Ombudsperson is guided by the principles of neutrality, impartiality, confidentiality, informality and protection of the notifier and other people involved.
3. The Ombudsperson is obliged to prepare and publish a brief anonymized report on their activities in the previous calendar year in the public part of the faculty’s website on 31 March at the latest. The Ombudsperson notifies the Dean. The report on activities includes:
   1. the types of cases handled (number; the date of receipt of the complaint; faculty unit it concerns; method of review);
   2. the analysis of trends, problems and deficiencies in terms of FFA rules and policies, where applicable;
   3. suggestions for system changes, where applicable.

Part Three: Informal Settlement of the Conflict

Article 11

1. Where a conflict can be settled informally, the parties to the conflict shall do so.
2. A senior employee may participate in the informal settlement of the conflict if parties to the conflict ask for it; the employee is the head of the person from FFA who was supposed to violate social safety.
3. The documentation on the informal settlement of the conflict is made in writing only in the case referred to in (2), the documentation is written by the senior employee and handed to the Ombudsperson.

Part Four: Mediation

Article 12: Application

Article 13: Bias

1. The Ombudsperson is biased if a party to the conflict objects to it or if they exclude themselves.
2. The mediation is performed by the Dean instead of the biased Ombudsperson.

Article 14: Initiation of Mediation

Article 15: Mediation Course

Article 16: Termination

1. Mediation is terminated by the written agreement between parties to the conflict.
2. The Ombudsperson stores the agreement in the personal files of parties to the conflict.
3. The agreement may not interfere with FFA activities.
4. Mediation is terminated if the agreement cannot be concluded within three months from the start of mediation.

Article 17: Recommendation

1. If the findings of mediation are general recommendations, the Ombudsperson proposes its implementation in writing to the Dean.
2. The Dean notifies the Ombudsperson in writing how the recommendation has been dealt with.

Part Five: Complaint

Article 18: Application

1. A complaint may be filed if the conflict has not been settled informally or through mediation or if a party to the conflict asks for it directly; the direct application of the complaint may not weigh against the party to the conflict that filed it.
2. A complaint may be filed even by someone who is not part of the conflict but assumes that social safety may have been violated. If the complaint fulfills other requirements in Article 21, it can be filed anonymously.

Article 19: Bias

1. The Ombudsperson is biased if a party to the conflict objects to it or if they exclude themselves.
2. The mediation is performed by the Dean instead of the biased Ombudsperson.

Article 20: Form

1. in paper form to the Dean’s Secretariat,
2. in paper form to mailboxes labeled “Ombudsperson” at FFA, the mailbox must be secured against abuse,
3. in written form by e-mail to ombudsman@favu.vut.cz,
4. to the Ombudsperson in person.

Article 21: Requirements

1. description of the conflict,
2. identification of parties to the conflict or persons participating in the conflict,
3. description of essential facts of how social safety was supposed to have been violated,
4. signature of a person who files the complaint.

Article 22: Adjournment

1. The Ombudsperson adjourns the complaint if:
   1. it was filed anonymously, and it is not clear what shall be achieved,
   2. it was not filed anonymously, but the requirements of the complaint were not filled out in due time,
   3. it has been more than 3 years since the event described in the complaint happened,
   4. the complaint has already been reviewed, and the repeated complaint does not raise any new facts.
2. The Ombudsperson shall inform the person who filed the complaint if and why it was adjourned.

Article 23: Complaint and Appeal

Article 24: Procedure

1. If the case is not described in Articles 22 and 23, the Ombudsperson reviews the complaint as soon as possible.
2. The Ombudsperson uses all their powers to review the complaint.

Article 25: Termination

1. If the Ombudsperson does not find any violation of social safety, they inform the person who filed the complaint.
2. If the Ombudsperson finds a violation of social safety, they inform the person who filed the complaint and propose to the Dean that a remedy action shall be taken; the Dean is obliged to inform the Ombudsperson how they handled the proposal.

Part Six: Ombudsperson’s Initiative

Article 26

1. The Ombudsperson is authorized to act on their own initiative in social safety.
2. If they act on their initiative, they shall proceed according to Part Five.

Part Seven: Relation to Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Rules for Students

Article 27

1. Violation of social safety may be a violation of the Code of Conduct or Disciplinary Rules for Students.
2. The Ombudsperson is authorized to file a complaint to start proceedings on the violation of the Code of Conduct or Disciplinary Rules for Students.

Part Eight: Record Keeping

Article 28

1. The Ombudsperson shall keep a clear record of their activities.
2. In doing so, they shall comply with the recording and discarding regulations of Brno University of Technology.