Dear Students,
My name is Afonso Gomes, and I am the Student Ombudsman at the University of Beira Interior.
I am a native of Covilhã and, like you, I am also a member of this great UBI community, where I did my academic training and actively participated in the associative ecosystem of our Academy, both in the Students' Union of my course and in the Academic Association.
Currently, I serve as the Student Ombudsman, whose main mission is to defend and promote your rights and legitimate interests. Higher education is a special and unrepeatable phase in any student’s life, full of new opportunities, but it is also challenging as it represents a new and unknown reality for everyone, where some obstacles may arise.
For these reasons, it is never too much to emphasize the importance of all of us being promoters of empowerment, diversity, and inclusion. The true richness of a Higher Education Institution lies in the variety of perspectives, origins, backgrounds and experiences that each of you brings to our community, and in the institution's ability to bring all these together in a fluid way, promoting a healthy, pleasant environment capable of leaving a positive mark on everyone's life.
I am at your service for whatever you need, whether for clarification of doubts, providing information, mediating actions or enabling you to overcome your challenges and simplify this phase of your life, making it as enjoyable as possible, always in collaboration with the Rectory and the Academic Association.
The Student Ombudsman,
Afonso Gomes