The Ombuds Blog: Update: Town of Chapel Hill Will Involve UNC Ombuds in Creating New Office

January 31, 2011

Update: Town of Chapel Hill Will Involve UNC Ombuds in Creating New Office

The Daily Tar Heel is reporting that the Town of Chapel Hill will work with Wayne Blair to establish a new Ombuds Office for municipal employees. Blair moved to Chapel Hill in 2005 when he was hired to create an Ombuds Program for the University of North Carolina. Town council members have also asked Blair for help in recruiting and training an Ombuds. Blair said the search would be national. (Daily Tar Heel.)

Prior post: Town of Chapel Hill Explores Ombuds for Employees.

1 comment:

Tom Kosakowski1/31/2011 9:16 AM
I read a lot of half-baked proposals for Ombuds programs and the conflicting descriptions of the Chapel Hill program might be a sign of trouble under different circumstances. In this case, the town could have no better advisor and role model than Wayne Blair. This single factor is sufficient basis to be very optimistic about the outcome.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

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

Comment Policy

Content and Relevance

Stay on topic: Comments should be relevant to the post.
Be respectful: Personal attacks, insults, profanity, inflammatory language, and discriminatory or harassing comments will not be tolerated.
No self-promotion or spam: Comments should contribute to the conversation and not be used to for commercial purposes.
No confidential information: Do not share confidential information about your organization or visitors.

Length and Format

Keep it concise: Comments should be clear and to the point. Excessively long comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Use appropriate formatting: Do not use all caps unnecessarily. Comments may include HTML formatting for readability.

Other Considerations

Be professional and respectful: Please be mindful of your content, even when commending anonymously.
Comments may be edited: I reserve the right to remove or edit any comments that violate these guidelines. My edits will be noted.
Complaints about IOA: This is not the appropriate forum to lodge formal complaints against the International Ombuds Association.
Guest editorials: Please email me directly to discuss a guest editorial offering a longer, more in-depth perspective on a topic related to the organizational ombuds profession