The Journal of the International Ombudsman Association, Volume 2, has just been published. Articles include:
Considering an IOA Research Agenda —Alan Jay Lincoln, Mary Rowe and Tom Sebok encourage the membership to begin the important discussion about research priorities, defining and operationalizing concepts, developing additional ethical guidelines consistent with Ombuds standards of practice.
Providing Oversight to Comprehensive Systems — Ralph Hasson provides an overview of comprehensive conflict management systems along with a set of principles and flexible framework for developing and evaluating oversight procedures.
Dealing With — Or Reporting — “Unacceptable” Behavior — Mary Rowe, Linda Wilcox and Howard Gadlin explain why some people waiver, rather than acting effectively to stop behavior they find to be unacceptable.
Good Intentions Gone Astray: How the ABA Standards Affect Ombudsmen — Sara Thacker addresses the development of the ombuds profession and the impact of the ABA standards on the establishment and operation of ombuds offices.
Bystander Training Within Organizations — Maureen Scully and Mary Rowe discuss the significance of the bystander role and review the challenges for bystanders in moving from a passive to an active stance.
Military Chaplaincy and Ombudsing — D.A. Graham shares his experiences as a military chaplain and organizational ombuds, and concludes the two professions are more similar than different.
Recent Developments: A Legal Perspective — Tom Kosakowski summarizes significant developments in U.S. legislation and case law relating to Organizational Ombuds in the year ending January 2009.
The Journal is available from the IOA website. (JIOA, vol. 2.)
The International Ombudsman Association has announced the results of its 2009 Board of Directors election. The following were selected to the three-year terms on the Board:
Judy Bruner, University of California, San Diego (reelected);
Isabel Calderon, Mars, Inc.;
Doris Campos-Infantino, Inter-American Development Bank;
Kevin Jessar, National Institutes of Health (reelected);
Patti Lynch, United Technologies Corporation (reelected); and
Don Noack, Sandia National Laboratories.
In addition, John Carter of The Citadel was elected to a two-year term as the Associate Member Representative.
York President Mamdouh Shoukri has appointed Professor John McCamus as the University’s next Ombudsperson, effective April 1, 2009. The move completes a decision to split the duties of campus Ombuds and director of the Centre for Human Rights, which had previously been filled by Fiona Crean. Nöel Badiou was named the new director of Centre for Human Rights in October 2008. Before joining the faculty of York’s Osgoode Hall Law School in 1971, McCamus was a law clerk for the Supreme Court of Canada. McCamus teaches and writes on the subjects of contract, commercial & consumer transactions, contract remedies and restitution. He is a member of the advisory committee for the Restatement of Restitution 3d. In 2007, the Ontario government appointed McCamus to a three-year term as the chair of Legal Aid Ontario. (YFile.)
Paul G. Vallas, superintendent of the New Orleans Recovery School District, fulfilled his promise to create an Ombuds office with the appointment of Terri Wide. The Recovery School District Ombudsman serves as an impartial, confidential resource for teachers, parents, community members, students and staff. Wide has 17 years of experience in education, and most recently was a principal in New Orleans Public Schools. (RSD Ombuds; New Orleans City Business.)
At a House hearing, regulators sought to reassure legislators that they are adhering to the same underwriting standards as in the past. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency Senior Deputy Comptroller Timothy W. Long said that their Ombuds program provides important feedback on this issue. “We believe we are striking the right balance in encouraging bankers to make loans to creditworthy borrowers, but always consistent with safe and sound banking practices - and to the extent we're not, we are continually prodding bankers to let us know, both directly to our examiners and indirectly through our Ombudsman,” Long said in prepared remarks. (Wall Street Journal.)
The Gallaudet University Ombuds, Suze Rosen Singleton, has created an online form for anonymous feedback. She assures users that there is no way to identify submitters and that the mechanism does not put the the University on notice. (Gallaudet Ombuds Feedback.)
Boise State has put up a website for its new Faculty Ombuds, Ron Anson. The site features a charter agreement based on IOA standards. (Boise State Ombuds.)
Tatia Daniels Granger, the Staff Ombuds at the College of William & Mary, has updated her website. The result is one of the most appealing Ombuds sites on the internet -- informative, professional and friendly. (William & Mary Ombuds.)
The Duke University School of Medicine has named Jean Spaulding, MD, as its first Ombudsman. Created in 2008, the Office of the Ombudsman office offers confidential and anonymous support and advocacy specifically to the medical students at Duke. Spaulding earned her Bachelor's degree from Barnard College and, in 1972, was the first African-American woman to graduate from the Duke University School of Medicine. Spaulding is a child and adolescent psychiatrist. Spaulding served as Duke’s Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs from 1998 to 2002, when she became a Trustee of the Duke Endowment. (Duke SOM Ombuds Office; Women in Duke Medicine.)
Although the health care complex in Galveson continues to struggle with the recession and financial impact from Hurricane Ike, the UMTB Faculty Senate has voted to continue the search for a Faculty Ombuds. One faculty member said that the position is more important than ever during this time. The search has been open since July 2008. Applicants must have a Masters degree and have held a faculty appointment in a university outside of UTMB. No salary or closing date indicated. (UMTB Faculty Minutes; UMTB HR; Houston Chronicle.)
The District of Columbia has appointed Jeff Ross as the Interim Ombudsman for Public Education, filling the position abruptly vacated by the first Ombuds Tonya Kinlow in December 2008. Prior to his appointment, Ross served as the leader of the Chancellor’s Critical Response Team and helped to resolve thousands of issues for the DC Public Schools. He also taught as an elementary school teacher for DCPS. Ross earned his Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Willamette University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from American University. Although the appointment was made in February, it did not warrant a press release from the DC mayor's office and some community activists are still unaware. (DCPS Ombuds Office; DC Ward 5 Community Examiner.)
The organizers of the annual California Caucus at Asilomar are surveying their colleagues to determine the potential demand for their next gathering set for November 8-11, 2009. Lewis Redding, the JPL Ombuds and Asilomar organizer, acknowledges that many institutions “have caught a significant case of economic flu,” and hopes for an early read on how many might attend and for input on programming. Click on the images on the right to download the survey, and then email your responses to lewis [dot] a [dot] redding [at-sign] jpl [dot] nasa [dot] gov.
The American Bar Association Section on Dispute Resolution holds its 11th Annual Conference in New York City April 15-18 (the same dates as the joint Ombuds conference in Montreal). The annual spring meeting is the largest ADR conference in the world and attracts more than 1,200 attendees. Sessions that may be interesting to Ombuds include:
Designing Justice: Dispute System Design and Justice in Education, Courts, Communities, and Employment;
Yes! Corporate America Still Uses ADR;
Institutionalizing ADR—Starting and Successfully Maintaining an In-House ADR Program
Establishing an Integrated Healthcare Dispute Resolution Program; and
It’s More Than the Money: The Non-Economic Subtext of Employment Litigation and Mediation.
The CUNY campus in in Queens, New York is accepting applications for an Executive Assistant to the Vice President and Student Ombuds Officer. The Student Ombuds will handle student complaints; serve as a liaison for academic advisement and student disciplinary matters; track and resolve student issues, grievances, and problems; provide referrals; and advocate for policy or process changes affecting students. The position pays $53,982 to $85,842, but is open only to current CUNY employees. Application deadline is April 16. (CUNY Posting.)
For many college students, a charge of misconduct (academic or otherwise) is their first taste of a judicial proceeding. Ombuds often serve as a resource for confused and concerned students. Now, college administrators are hoping to change the legalistic nature of their judicial processes. The Association for Student Judicial Affairs has changed its name to the Association for Student Conduct Administration, reflecting updated nomenclature on many campuses. The recent survey by the association indicates that that institutions are scaling back on some criminal due-process procedures and using more mediation and similar techniques to settle disputes. (ASCA/ASJA Survey; Chronicle of Higher Ed, subscription required.)
André Marin has announced that he has withdrawn his name from consideration for reelection as President of the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman. Marin, who is the Ontario Ombudsman, thanked his colleagues and said that his tenure as President had brought him “a unique appreciation for the work of other kinds of Ombuds-type offices and the challenges that we have as a profession.” The FCO Board election will take place at the Joint FCO/ACCUO/IOA conference in April. Out of the nine Board of Director positions open for reelection, five individuals intend to stand for re-election while four, including Marin, will not. (FCO News.)
According to the NY Times, a fundraiser for Binghamton University has complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over “egregious acts of sexual misconduct” by two senior athletic department officials. Elizabeth Williamson, a major gifts officer for Binghamton athletics, said she was marginalized in her role after reporting the situation to university officials a month ago. “I saw a couple of top administrators, an ombudsman, a union representative, and they said: ‘I’ve seen people go through this before. It’s athletics. It doesn’t end well,’ ” Williams said. (NY Times.)
Several weeks ago, the California Institute of Technology announced that it was laying off 100 employees due to economic concerns over its endowment and alumni contributions. (San Gabriel Valley Tribune.) In an email today, the Institute’s Ombuds, Ornah Becker, revealed that her office would be shuttered by the cuts effective April 2.
In 1995 Caltech’s Ombuds, Helen Hasenfeld, was at the center of the historic Garstang case. That decision by the California Appellate Court recognized a qualified privilege for an Organizational Ombuds under the State’s constitutional right of privacy. The case remains a touchstone for Ombuds seeking to protect the confidentiality of communications with visitors. In addition to Hasenfeld, the Caltech Ombuds position was also held by Jan Schonauer, past president of IOA.
There is no indication that the closure is temporary. Moreover, with the demise of the Pepperdine Ombuds program, this marks the second Southern California office to close this year.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, the public-private research complex in New Mexico, has named Kirk Christensen at its new Ombuds. Christensen takes over from Camilla Lopez and John L. Armijo, who have managed the office on an interim basis after the retirement of Bruce McAllister. Christensen earned his master’s in engineering from the University of Texas, Austin and BA from the University of Alabama. Most recently, he directed LANL’s Conduct of Engineering Office.
In addition to his extensive engineering and management background, Christensen is a skilled mediator, arbitrator, and negotiator with experience as a Lab volunteer independent party reviewer, volunteer mediator, and informal division level Ombuds. Lab Director Michael Anastasio said, “Kirk is a person of high integrity, who employees will find is open and approachable for those types of difficult discussions.” (LANL News Bulletin.)
Over the next two weeks, externs from the Strauss Institute at Pepperdine University who are conducting a five-year evaluation of the ICANN Ombuds Office. Externs will invite some participants by email. The survey is being conducted with SurveyMonkey. (ICANN Ombuds Blog.)
An article in the newsletter of the Virginia Judicial System ADR program summarizes the work of the Federal Emergency Management Agency Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) “cadre.” Established in 2005, the FEMA ADR Cadre employs 20 advisors with a fairly broad and fully developed skill set in conflict resolution, mediation, facilitation and related skills. These ADR Advisors are deployed to assignments in FEMA disaster field offices following the declaration of a major disaster and focus on workplace conflict resolution. Rob Scott, FEMA’s ADR Cadre Manager, concludes that the program most closely resembles the Organizational Ombuds model.
Typically the organizational ombudsman model, like the FEMA ADR Cadre, provides the following services: listening and problem solving, providing information and options, conflict coaching, mediation, facilitation, shuttle diplomacy and assisting clients to find the right office within the Agency that can best deal with their problem. Important characteristics of the model include independence of the neutral (they have no conflicting collateral duties or lines of authority; neutrality and impartiality; confidentiality and informality) and that the office cannot acceptnotice for the Agency and cannot open or process complaints or testify in formal or legal proceedings. And, in contrast to the classical model of ombudsman, the university model prohibits conducting investigations, issuing reports or findings of fact, or creating formal processes to resolve issues. And, in practice, this model requires a high degree of cooperation and collaboration with other key offices in the organization such as the EEO office, HR and training.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will take comments from the public until April 12 on the revised Ombudsman Framework. The ICANN Ombuds program is based on the standards for Organizational Ombuds, but serves only external constituents. According to the Framework, the Ombuds has no jurisdiction over complaints concerning internal administrative matters or personnel issues. The ICANN Ombuds also loses jurisdiction if a complainant initiates a formal complaint process or legal proceeding. The ICANN Ombuds is authorized to issue written reports on individual matters and may waive confidentiality if necessary to further resolution of a complaint. Organizational Ombuds will be interested to compare these and other differences in their practice. (ICANN Announcement; Draft ICANN Ombudsman Framework.)
Virginia L. Behr, the Ombuds for the Food and Drug Administration Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, has issued her report for 2008. Drawing on practices from IOA, USOA and COFO, the CDER Ombuds works to informally resolve complaints from the regulated pharmaceutical industry, consumers and FDA employees. In 2008, Behr’s office received 833 communications, a 26% increase from the prior year, although most of the increase was due to a coordinated campaign by consumers seeking approval of a specific drug. In 2008, the CDER Ombuds Office transferred some responsibilities to a newly hired Product Jurisdiction Officer. (CDER Ombuds 2008 Report.)
Ronnie Wilson, the former Ombuds at the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, is scheduled to testify today before the House Committee on Science and Technology’s Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee. The focus of the hearing is on how the Health and Human Services agency produced a flawed and misleading report on the health hazards of formaldehyde exposure from housing trailers provided to survivors of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Wilson served as ATSDR’s first Ombuds from 1999 through 2008. The scope of his expected testimony has not been disclosed. (Washington Times; House ATSDR Report; AP: Inside Washington; Subcommittee Assignments.)
Adrienne Clarke, UWO Ombuds, has published her report, "Forwarding Fairness," covering the 2007-08 academic year. In addition to a statistical summary, the report also discusses the issue of unreasonable delays in administrative decision-making, including their impact on the institution’s reputation for fairness, and highlights the importance of providing reasons in written decisions. (Western News; Forwarding Fairness 2007-08.)
The $410 billion omnibus spending bill signed by President Barack Obama included $1 million to fund the Ombuds program for disputes arising under the federal Freedom of Information Act. Anticipating the funding, the National Archives and Records Administration has already initiated a search for the director. (National Journal.)
The University of South Florida has cut millions from its budget and laid off staff, but still gave bonuses in January four high-level employees. The third highest bonus went to the university’s Ombuds, Les Miller. Miller, who also serves as the community relations director, earned a bonus of $6,500 on top of his $90,000 salary.
Miller defended the additional money and said that he had taken on “a tremendous increase in responsibility at the university.” He pointed of that he’s been in charge of a program to help students in danger of dropping out because of financial problems, in addition to other student and community relations programs over the past three years. (Tampa Bay Online.)
Peter Deines, who served as the University Ombuds for Penn State from 2006 until health concerns lead to his retirement in January 2009, passed away on February 2. (Senate Council Minutes; Geosciences Tribute.)
Peter Deines has resigned as Penn State's faculty Ombuds due to health reasons. David (Duff) Gold, who served as the first University Ombuds from 1998-2006, will serve out the remainder of Deines' term. Before stepping down, Deines reported handling 46 cases in the 2007-08 academic year. He also recommended replacing the usage of “Ombudsman” with “Ombuds.” (PSU Senate Record; PSU Ombuds Report 2007-08.)
The faculty Ombuds for the University of Texas at Austin reported assisting 35 faculty, lecturers and instructors during the 2007-08 academic year. The report indicates that the vast majority of the cases were resolved through mediation and informational counseling, and very few of the cases were referred to the Grievance Committee. Professional activities included a meetings with other Texas Ombuds and consultations with other Universities about their planned Ombuds offices. (UTA Faculty Ombuds Report.)
The Washington Office of the Education Ombudsman has an immediate opening for an office intern to work closely with staff in projects related to conflict resolution intake, public information, data collection, research and public relations. The internship in Seattle is not paid interns must commit to work a minimum of 20 hours per week for at least 3 months. Positions are available year round. (Washington OEO.)
In its latest report on corporate responsibility, TD Bank Financial Group boasts that, “Each of our Ombuds team members belong to the International Ombudsman Association and subscribe to its code of ethics.” (TD Bank 2008 Corporate Responsibility Report.)
This endorsement of IOA in a sign of the growing professionalization of the Ombuds field and the importance of organizations for Ombuds. In addition, it is an indication of how entities will embrace Ombuds certification once available.
In his annual report to the TTU staff senate, Ombuds for Staff Nathanael Haddox said that the name of his office had been changed from “Ombudsman” to “Ombuds” to avoid gender issues. Haddox also reported that his office would be establishing a new phone number as part of an expanded marketing and outreach campaign. In related TTU news, the AAUP Chapter reaffirmed its commitment to hiring the campus’s first Faculty Ombuds. (TTU Staff Senate Minutes; TTU AAUP Report re Ombuds.)
Tarion Warranty Corp., the regulator of Ontario’s new home building industry, announced that Ian Darling will serve as its first Ombuds. Darling reports directly to the CEO and his office serves as an impartial and independent resource for those with concerns about procedural irregularities or Tarion policies. For the past eight year, Darling was the Ombuds at Fanshawe College. He also is the vice-president of the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman. (National Post.)
This week, the ADB Ombudsperson’s Office introduced the Values Promotion Champions Programme to support outreach and conflict resolution in the bank’s 23 field offices. The goal is to create a network of local peers trained to provide confidential and informal support to colleagues facing unethical behaviors and other types of workplace stress. The new program supplements the work of the Ombuds, which is often provided via phone and email from Tunis. Participants completed a four-day training with the ADB Ombuds and staff from the World Bank. (AfDB Interview.)
PPL Corp., formerly known as Pennsylvania Power and Light, has promised several changes to improve communication between workers and management. The reforms were prompted by a letter from the Nuclear Regulatory Agency in January and include the creation of an Ombuds position to resolve disputes. Although PPL indicated that an Ombuds was already in place at its Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, no details have been published. (Penn. Times Leader; TMC News.)
The Berkeley Staff Ombuds Office reports that it advised 625 individuals between fiscal years 2006 and 2008. According to the report, which was recently published online, the office conducted 12 mediation sessions involving 26 individuals, including two-person and multi-party sessions. The two-Ombuds office also offered 42 workshops to 765 participants on a wide variety of topics. (UC Berkeley Staff Ombuds Annual Report 2006-2008.)
In fall 2006, Boston University created a Council on Faculty Diversity and Inclusion to identify the key issues around diversity and inclusion. After two years of study, the council has released a report recommending changes in the areas of hiring and retention, compensation, University leadership and governance, and family policy. The group also endorsed an Ombuds for the campus.
In addition, the Council recommends that the University hire a full-time professional Ombuds with substantial academic experience, to serve faculty, staff, and students. The Ombuds will allow the confidential and supportive voicing of opinions, and may help individuals understand their options in difficult situations.
An article on college students struggling with financial problems notes the relief program at USF and quotes the student Ombuds, Les Miller. (USA Today.)
