The Ombuds Blog: Apollo Education Group Ombuds Serve Faculty and Staff

December 02, 2013

Apollo Education Group Ombuds Serve Faculty and Staff

The parent corporation of the University of Phoenix (which recently renamed itself to reflect its focus on education) has an Office of Ombuds Services, which serves about 40,000 employees and faculty. Susan Casino was appointed the first Ombudsman for Apollo in 2006 and has created and maintained the office for the past eight years. Associate Ombudsman Elizabeth Hill joined two years ago. Based in Phoenix, Arizona, the office is informal, independent, neutral and confidential.

Casino and Hill have been active within IOA and regionally. Both were speakers at the 2013 IOA conference. Together they established the Arizona Ombuds Caucus, which has met quarterly for the past two years. Casino was the featured speaker for IOA's Conflict Management Webinar in November 2013. Hill has coordinated IOA's Career Connection program. (Apollo Ombuds.)

1 comment:

Tom Kosakowski12/04/2013 8:40 AM
Post was revised on 12/4/13 with information about the history and scope of the Apollo Ombuds Office.
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Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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