The Ombuds Blog: Lois Price Spratlen: Former University of Washington Ombudsman

April 17, 2013

Lois Price Spratlen: Former University of Washington Ombudsman

Lois Price Spratlen, the longtime UW Ombuds, passed away on March 30 at the age of 81. According to the university, she was the first female Ombudsman at the UW, serving in that position from 1988-2009. In 1998 she was honored as Ombuds of the Year by the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds. She developed Price-Spratlen Ombudsing (PSO) Model to provide services in the areas of conflict management, dispute resolution and mediation in the nursing field. (UW Office of Minority Affairs and Diversity News; Washington State Nurses Association Hall of Fame.)

Related post: Grad Student's Perspective on Visiting Ombuds.

2 comments:

Anonymous11/01/2013 7:19 PM
She was a wonderful person and a incredibly effective ombudsperson. She would be so sad that the effective powers of her office have been turned over to the lawyers at UW Risk Management. This happened after her retirement. I think the university has no idea how many cases she settled 'out of court' with both parties walking away from the table feeling that justice had been done. She was worth a 100 lawyers.
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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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