June 21, 2012

UC Merced Appoints First Ombuds

The seven year old University of California campus has announced the appointment of Deidre “De” Acker as its first Campus Ombudsperson, effective July 16, 2012. Chancellor Dorothy Leland made the announcement earlier this week. Leland said that the new Ombuds “will actively engage students, faculty, staff and university constituents in dialog, negotiation and problem-solving to ensure that members of our campus community receive fair and equitable treatment.” 


Acker has served as assistant dean for the School of Natural Sciences for the last five years. Before coming to UC Merced, she spent 13 years at UC Santa Barbara as a unit director and was instrumental in creating a mediation program, which trained faculty and staff to serve as campus mediators. Acker has also worked as a trained mediator for 15 years. As Ombuds, she will report directly to the Chancellor. 

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9 comments:

  1. Did the Chancellor appoint Deidre Acker ? If not, who appointed
    Mrs. Acker? An answer would be greatly appreciated,

    Best,
    K. H.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Who appointed the ombudsperson?
    An answer would be greatly appreciated,
    K. H.

    ReplyDelete
  3. KH-
    I couldn't tell from the announcement I received. However, since the position reports to the chancellor, I would assume that she made the decision.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In general, it seems to me that a former administrator, also a good one,
      could not function as an ombudsman. Should we expect employees to talk to
      the ombudsman about problems created by the ombudsman?

      Comments appreciated,
      K. H.

      Delete
    2. From a document on this site:
      "The Ombuds Offices shall not take sides in any conflict, dispute or issue." A former administrator, regardless of performance, will almost always be associated with one side in some dispute. I would assume that a former lawyer cannot suddenly act as a judge in the same legal case. Are there no guide lines for appointing ombuds?
      K. H.

      Delete
    3. There are no guidelines per se for appointing ombuds and I have no idea what criteria was used in this case. Generally speaking, when hiring an ombuds, most organizations choose either: 1. an insider who will be trained; or 2. an experienced outsider. It is most typical an insider is chosen. So this is not too surprising. What is important is how the new ombuds practices to standards.

      Delete
  4. The vast majority of university ombuds are former faculty, but this is changing.
    -Angry Ombuds

    ReplyDelete
  5. I prefer to discuss in general terms. It seems to me that an insider many times will be deeply associated with one side in a dispute. Tom remarks that an insider will be trained. Well, I have never met a human who can be trained to become neutral about his own work. An insider who built structures hated by some employees, will not be instrumental in tearing down the very same structures.
    K. H.

    ReplyDelete