Welcome to the Office of the Student Advocate
from the University of Puerto Rico at Ponce
Cover: Welcome Message
Cover: Here you will find general information about the services of the Student Advocate, institutional policies that impact the student community, functions of the Attorney, situations in which the office could intervene, contact information and others for minors.
The commitment of the Student Ombudsman is to offer quality service and excellence, as governed by the established principles and institutional policies. Go to the Office of the Student Ombudsman to clarify your doubts, questions or any particular situation related to the context of university life as a student. We are here to serve you.
Learn about the Functions of the Student Ombudsman's Office
These Services are aimed at all Students and Members of the UPRP University Community.
Rhe main work of a student attorney is based on helping a person to seek solutions to problems and controversies based on their rights and duties that they have in a specific context.
In the case of the Student Ombudsman's Office, the work consists of advising students and members of the university community on student rights and duties, seeking creative solutions to controversies with other sectors that make up our campus and directing the processes to address such controversies in the corresponding instances.
In what situations could I go to the Student Ombudsman's Office for guidance?
In situations related to:
General Student Regulations, Academic Senate Certifications, Review of Grades, Reasonable Accommodation, Dates of Partial Exams Out of Hours, Academic Relationship Teacher-Student, Exams and Class in Universal Schedule, Dates of Partial Withdrawals, Evaluation Criteria Outside the Record, Harassment and/or Sexual Violence, Discrimination Based on Gender, Student Organizations, among others.
If you understand that any of these regulations are not being complied with in any of your courses or in the context of university life, go to the Student Ombudsman's Office.
Mission & Goals
Mission
Rhe mission of the Student Ombudsman's Office is to watch over and help students to receive fair and reasonable treatment in the resolution of conflict situations with the university authorities and to contribute to the formal resolution of conflicts with university regulatory bodies or with members of the academic community.
Goals
To offer accessible services to all students of the institution.
Offer with a clear attitude of confidentiality, neutrality, accessibility and independence the claims of all parties involved. Evaluate situations that will be governed by the knowledge of doing justice and foundations in honor of the truth.
To offer services characterized by respect for confidentiality, in accordance with the law and with the privacy of the people involved.
To offer services with independence of criteria, without being subject to any particular sector of the university community.
Our History
General Concept
Rhe Student Ombudsman's Office is a means adopted by universities to deal with student complaints, an alternative to the traditional adjudicative system, structured as an Organizational-type Ombudsman's Office, in which the constituent is the student. This means:
it is informal (it is not a formal instance to elucidate controversies)
it is not an appellate (it is not an appellate instance to resolve disputes)
It is independent and off record
History
Until the 1960s, academic institutions and universities in the United States lacked appropriate internal mechanisms to deal with student complaints in a quick and agile manner, address controversies and possible violations of student rights. The complaints of the students were addressed by formal and rigid means through the directors and deans, increasing the burdens not appropriate for the position they held.
From that moment on, the student activism resulting from the Vietnam War and the struggles for civil rights put universities to the test to deal with student demands. In the absence of appropriate mechanisms to address complaints, multiple rights violations occurred. The institution assumed slow, impersonal, formal and costly processes. Giving the impression that it sponsored arbitrariness and encouraged confrontation.
Beginnings in Puerto Rico
In the period of the student demonstrations, in the universities in Puerto Rico as in the United States, there was a lack of adequate mechanisms to deal with student controversies.
The Federal Higher Education Law (parameter 14 of the Federal Law) establishes that every public higher education institution that receives financial aid from the federal government of the United States must have some mechanism that attends to and investigates the complaints and claims of the student community.
The answer was the Student Ombuds in the U.S. and the first academic institution in Puerto Rico to implement it was the Inter American University of Puerto Rico Metro Campus in 1982.
Proposal and Implementation at the UPR
Considering the previous paragraph, following the initiative of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico in 1982 and protected by the Federal Law of Higher Education (parameter 14 of the Federal Law) mentioned above, at the Río Piedras campus of the UPR, the law student Rubén Colón, began an investigation on the feasibility of creating an office to address the various student problems.
Then, the Director of the Graduate School of Planning, the President of the General Student Council (CGE) and the former President of the Student Council of the Graduate School of Planning, after a rigorous study and extensive deliberation process with the participation of students, professors and administrators, suggested establishing an office to attend to student complaints and manage the collection of evidence to support the veracity of the complaint or inertia of the administrators in enforcing the rules and regulations.
As a result of this suggestion, in July 1990, Luz Celeste Monge (Legal Officer of the Office of the Legal Counsel at the time) was entrusted with expanding the investigation and presenting a proposal in this regard. A work plan was developed, the first phase of which was to investigate and evaluate the various options and functions of such an office in the Campus.
The research included the study of bibliographic sources, local and external, study of the nature and operation of similar offices in other academic institutions in Puerto Rico and North America.
Subsequently, the proposal entrusted to Luz Celeste Monje is presented, exposing the various options and functions of the Office of the Student Advocate, based on the office of the Inter American University of Puerto Rico, Metro Campus.
This proposal was accompanied by the principles of Accessibility, Neutrality, Independence and Confidentiality. This office would have the support of the Rector, but it will function as an autonomous entity of rectory. The first UPR campus to establish the Office of the Student Ombudsman was Rio Piedras in February 1991. The University of Puerto Rico at Ponce established this office in February 1996.
*Source: Manual of the Association of Student Attorneys of the University of Puerto Rico (APE), Prof. Rolando Cid, UPR Cayey Student Advocate
Roles and Principles
Rhe University of Puerto Rico, committed to dialogue, communication and mediation as fundamental instruments for coexistence in the university community, affirms, as an expression of Institutional Policy, that the units of the University System will offer Student Ombudsman services in accordance with the general principles stipulated in Certification 119 2014-2015 of the Governing Board. known as "Policy of the University of Puerto Rico on the Student Ombudsman's Office".
Functions of the Student Procurator
- Contribute to the solution of student problems that result from conflicts with other members of the university community or with regulatory bodies of the Institution.
- To complement in an agile manner procedures established by regulations in order to address, informally, conflict situations between students and other members of the university community.
- To ensure that students receive fair and reasonable treatment in their relations with university authorities and officials, serving as an advisor, mediator, intercessor and conciliator between students and other members of the university community.
- Serve as a consultant with respect to the planning, development, or implementation of standards or procedures that have an impact on student life. For these purposes, the Student Procurator will be a permanent guest with voice to the Academic Senate and may attend the Student Affairs Committee, and the committees that the Academic Senate may dispose.
- Recommend regulatory or practical changes, in order to improve university coexistence.
- To guide, educate and advise actively on institutional rights, duties and policies. This function will be carried out by conventional and digital means as well as individually and massively.
- Attend to any member of the university community, as long as it brings a situation that has to do with students or is related to student life.
- Follow up to ensure that situations are resolved.
- To respond to claims of retaliation from the parties who receive or participate in the services of the Attorney General's Office.
- Establish flexible office hours that guarantee access to your services.
The UPR student prosecutors' offices represent several approaches to conflict management and resolution. Namely:
- A They serve as a neutral entity to seek justice and equity in the solution of situations before their consideration.
- B They provide informal and independent mechanisms for dispute resolution, such as: mediation, negotiation, intercession and conciliation.
- C They have investigative power to objectively evaluate the complaints they receive and to submit general annual reports on their services as well as special specific reports.
- D They have the authority to act on behalf of the individuals or groups for whom they seek just solutions, when authorized by the student.
- I Its recommendations enjoy institutional recognition to achieve changes at the structural level.
Principles That Should Govern the Provision of Student Advocacy Services
- Accessibility – Student Ombudsman services must be offered in such a way that they are accessible, both at the time and in place, to all members of the university community, including the student population at night and on Saturdays.
- Neutrality – There will be no particular personal interest in the resolution of the matters before the consideration of the student prosecutor's office. The evaluation of situations will be governed by the duty to do justice, which implies assuming well-founded positions regarding the solutions to the issues before it, except in its role as mediator of conflicts between individual parties.
- Confidentiality – Student procurator services are confidential in nature, in accordance with the law and with the privacy of the people involved. Considering that confidentiality is a fundamental principle, there are the following general exceptions: situations of threat, risk of bodily harm between the parties or third parties, damage to property, processes for raising complaints about the actions of the Attorney General's Office, and, in cases of sexual harassment, in accordance with the Institutional Policy Against Sexual Harassment at the University of Puerto Rico in force.
- Independence – The services of the student ombudsman must be offered independently of criteria, so they cannot be subordinated to any particular sector of the university community.
Case Intervention
Channels to go...
In caso de surgir alguna situación con un miembro de la comunidad universitaria, los canales para atender la situación son:
- Professor or other member of the institution.
- Director of the Department or Office.
- Deans (depending on the situation to be resolved or department, office or dependency attached).
- STUDENT PROCURATOR
Note: You can always contact the Student Procurator in case of any matter or advice.
Institutional Policies
Attached here will be various policies and laws governing the University. All documents will be in "PDF" format, and you can download them for your convenience. Some documents are:
State Laws
Federal Laws
Governing Board
Academic Senate
State Complaints Referral
If you cannot see the document, click on the following link: https://www.uprp.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2025/03/state-complaint-referral-info.pdf
Contact Information
Hours and Location
Ms. Isabelle González
Student Attorney
Location: Building F – Office F-1C
Hours (tuesday and thursday):
8:00am – 12:00pm
12:30pm – 4:00pmCall phone number:
(787) 844-8181, Exts. 2509