The international NGO that provides development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean is seeking a temporary, contract Ombuds for a three and a half month appointment. The contractor will independently perform visitor case work, execute projects, conduct research, and provide technical support as needed on various activities. The IADB Ombuds Office is located in Washington, DC.
Then Department of Defense agency that provides external intelligence services has established its first Organizational Ombudsman Office. Eddie McCormack was selected to serve as the new Ombudsman and Dale Vergott will serve as the Deputy Ombudsman. Together, they will both serve an organization of over 15,000 employees worldwide from DIA hedquarters in Washington, DC. The new office reports to the DIA Chief of Staff and will operate according to International Ombudsman Association and Standards of Practice.
The newest UC campus (established in 2005), is hiring an Ombuds. (The search will fill the position held by the first Ombuds, De Acker, who has moved into a different position at UC Merced.) The Campus Ombuds serves as a resource for students (currently 6,200 and expected to reach 25,000), faculty, staff and other university stakeholders. The incumbent will inherit an IOA-compliant office with established support staff and other colleagues in the UC system.
The sprawling UC system (with 10 campuses, 238,700 students, 19,700 faculty members, 135,900 staff members), has made significant revisions to its sexual misconduct policies. In addition to other changes, the new policy specifically protects the confidentiality of disclosures made to any of its Ombuds. The new policy was prompted in part by an investigation by Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and a report by the California State Auditor.
UMKC's Faculty Ombudsperson, Nancy E. Day, has launched a blog "to provide ideas and information to faculty about work-related issues." Her first post starts with tongue-in-cheek advice on "How to Escalate Conflict." (For example: Be brutally honest; Defend yourself; Blame the other person.)
The Journal of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds is seeking scholarly articles for its 2015 edition. Articles should be focused the varied aspects of Ombuds work in academia, The Journal publishes original theoretical and empirical articles dealing with national and international issues, case studies, op-eds, conference session abstracts, and book reviews.
Visitors to the Ombuds Office at the applied arts and technology college in Toronto rose 35% in 2014 according to George Fry, the College Ombudsperson. His annual report outlines and describes his activities, and presents a statistical summary for the past three years.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is celebrating the tenth anniversary of the University Ombuds Office. Ombuds Wayne Blair, Associate Ombuds Laurie Mesibov, and program specialist Victoria Dowd together have created a program that now serves more than 40,000 faculty staff and students.
“You have to give credit to University leaders because it took a leap of faith to allow an ombuds program to run true to form,” Blair told the UNC Gazette. “From the chancellor on down, there was a real commitment to make it work.”
The Red Cross Office of the Corporate Ombudsman has opened a search for an Assistant Ombudsman. The position provides confidential and informal dispute resolution assistance to the American Red Cross community, which includes employees, volunteers, service recipients, donors, suppliers, partners, and the general public.
The department responsible for U.S. energy and nuclear safety policies is hiring an Associate Ombudsman. The position is based in the DOE Office of the Ombudsman in Washington, DC, and serves all DOE federal employees, world-wide. There are limitations on who may apply, but the search is not a restricted as previously when only DOE employees were eligible.
Virginia's largest, public research university has updated its Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Policy to reflect the recent changes in the legal and regulatory climate. Under the new policy, GMU's Office of the Ombudsman will be explicitly confidential and not an office of notice.
On June 20, 2015, the Board of Trustees of the interfaith religious group appointed Randy Fillmore to serve as the first Ombudsman. In this role, Fillmore will support the group's affiliated ministers pursuant to a written charter that follows IOA standards of practice. Fillmore, who has been an ADL minister, will have a four-year initial term as the Ombuds.
Prompted by new federal, legislative and regulatory requirements and guidance, the University of Colorado has revised its sexual misconduct policy. Among the clarifications to the policy, which applies to all faculty, staff and students, is a designation of the Ombuds office as a confidential resource not subject to reporting requirements.
In a letter to the American Red Cross earlier this week, Senator Charles Grassley, as Chair of the Committee on the Judiciary, demanded an explanation of how the organization spent nearly half a billion dollars raised after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The large community college in downtown Dayton has just opened a search for its next Ombudsman. Unfortunately, the position description is seriously out of line with IOA standards (which are followed nearly universally in U.S. higher education).
The initial agenda for the Association for Conflict Resolution's Annual Conference included several current and former Ombuds. The final program, set for October 7-10, 2015 in Reno, Nevada, includes several additional programs for and about Ombuds. These now include:
The University of Mississippi has hired Brett Harris to be its first Employee Ombudsman. She will report to the Office of the Chancellor and provide services to graduate assistants, staff, and faculty. The announcement of her appointment on the Ole Miss Blog includes an interview in which she talks about her transition from working as a mediator and attorney in Idaho.
North Dakota's oldest and largest university has re-opened the search for its first permanent Ombudsperson. Reporting to the Office of the Provost, the part-time (0.45 FTE) full-time with benefits position will establish an office to serve the entire campus.
In a letter to the board of the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, former Ombudsman Shmuel Hollander said that earlier reports of $57 million embezzled funds was actually significantly higher. Hollander also said that his contract was not renewed by the board in retaliation because he helped expose “systematic failings and problematic organization behavior” that allowed the losses.
Shannon Lynn Burton, the Assistant University Ombudsperson at Michigan State University, shared her typical day as part of an on-going series with the Student Affairs Collective. She obviously loves her work.
At the most recent annual meeting of the European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education, members passed a motion supporting the independence of University Ombuds. The resolution was recently posted at the ENOHE website.
The State Department has opened an internal search for an Ombudsman. The position will serve the entire Department, including all Foreign Service and Civil Service employees, supervisors, managers and senior executives as well as locally employed staff and DoS contractors, utilizing "generally accepted ombudsman techniques."
Shannon Lynn Burton, the Assistant University Ombudsperson at Michigan State University, shared her typical day as part of an on-going series with the Student Affairs Collective. She obviously loves her work.
