October 04, 2010

Pennsylvania State Faculty Ombuds Issues Annual Report

The faculty Ombuds program at PSU, which comprises dozens of college and campus Ombuds and a University Ombudsperson, has issued its annual report for the 2009-10 academic year. The Ombuds program handled 44 in the last year, compared to 46 in 2007-08 and 43 in 2006-07.

David (Duff) P. Gold, the Immediate Past University Ombudsperson, reported that 73% of the cases in 2009-10 were resolved by the Ombuds program and only 18% were referred to referred to the Senate Committee on Faculty Rights and Responsibilities. He also noted a marked increase in the number of matters referred directly to the University Ombuds due to either a temporary absence of a unit Ombuds and faculty reluctance to go through the normal channels for fear of reprisals within their units. Deborah F. Atwater succeeded Gold as University Ombuds on July 1, 2010, and will serve a four-year term. Last week, the PSU conducted its annual Ombuds training program and used video-conferencing for the third consecutive year. (PSU Ombuds Reports.)

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