Ombuds Year in Review: 2017 (Intro)

Since 2009, I have taken time to rank the most important stories of the year about Organizational Ombuds. The list comes in three installments and concludes on December 28.  In the first week of January, readers will have the chance to vote on what they thought. 

Before the list of top ten stories starting tomorrow, here are some other notable items from 2017:



Honorable Mentions

• Do as I Say Award -- At the end of 2016, the law firm of Shipman & Goodwin appointed its first Ombuds. One of the partners of the firm is Chuck Howard, author of the legal treatise on the profession and attorney for Ombuds programs for many, many years. 
• Professional Jealousy Award -- In November and for the second year in a row, Montgomery College adopted all of the recommendations of its Ombuds, Julie Schwartz Weber.
• Surprised He Noticed Award -- In June in a speech to DOE staff, Secretary of Energy Rick Perry gave his full support for the Office of the Ombudsman.
• You Can Do That? Award -- In October, the University of Arizona Ombuds implemented 'terms of use' for visitors.
• Maybe Next Year Award -- Multiple experts and insiders advocated for U.S. tech companies to create Ombuds programs, especially Uber. So far, nothing has come to fruition.

Retirements

• Sudeshna Datta-Cockerill (CERN - European Organization for Nuclear Research);
• Kellie Harmon (University of Kansas); 
• Toni Robinson (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); 
• Lillian Santa Maria (University of Cincinnati); and
• Dick Thompson (Saginaw Valley State University).

Passings

• Yeworkwha Belachew (Oberlin College); 
• Katy Kolodziejski: (UCLA); and
• Charles Peterson: (Kean College). 

New Offices

• Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME); 
• American Political Science Association; 
• Baylor College of Medicine; 
• Eastern Kentucky University; 
• Gallifrey One; 
• History of Science Society; 
• Navajo Technical University; 
• Norfolk State University;
• North Carolina State University (staff);
• Norton Rose Fulbright; 
• The Ohio State University College of Medicine;
• Sacred Heart Schools (Atherton, CA); 
• Shipman & Goodwin; 
• University of Florida College of Medicine (faculty); 
• University of Missouri–Kansas City (staff); 
• University of North Carolina at Ashville; 
• Wake Technical Community College; 
• Weill Cornell Medicine; 
• Wesleyan University; and
• Wheelock College.

The three-part annual review starts Friday, December 22, 2017.

Related posts:

• The Ombuds Decade in Review; 
• The Ombuds Year in Review: 2010;  
• The Ombuds Year in Review: 2011 (Part I); The Ombuds Year in Review: 2011 (Part II); The Ombuds Year in Review: 2011 (Part III);
• The Ombuds Year in Review: 2012 (Nos. 8-10); The Ombuds Year in Review: 2012 (Nos. 4-7); The Ombuds Year in Review: 2012 (Nos. 1-3); 
• The Ombuds Blog Top Ten Stories of 2013 -- Part One; The Ombuds Blog Top Ten Stories of 2013 -- Part Two; The Ombuds Blog Top Ten Stories of 2013 -- Part Three; 
• The Ombuds Blog Top Ten Stories of 2014, Nos. 7-10; The Ombuds Blog Top Ten Stories of 2014, Nos. 4-6; The Ombuds Blog Top Ten Stories of 2014, Nos. 1-3; 
• The 2015 Ombuds Blog Annual Top Ten List, Part I;  The 2015 Ombuds Blog Annual Top Ten List, Part II; The 2015 Ombuds Blog Annual Top Ten List, Part III;
• The Ombuds Blog Annual Wrap-Up 2016 Preview; The Ombuds Blog 2016 Annual Wrap-Up, Part I; The Ombuds Blog 2016 Annual Wrap-Up, Part II; The Ombuds Blog 2016 Annual Wrap-Up, Part III.