The 2015 Ombuds Blog Annual Top Ten List, Part I

This is the fifth annual survey of the top Organizational Ombuds stories.  A list of the most important news from 2015 will come in installments over the next three weeks.  Before getting to the list, there are a few notable items that didn't make the list:


Runners Up

• Transitions -- Several notable Ombuds retired in 2015, including: Catharine Porter (UMass Amherst); Roxanne Schreiber (University of Idaho); Tom Sebok (University of Colorado); Kristen Robillard (Concordia University); Yeworkwha ("YB") Belachew (Oberlin College); and Howard Gadlin (National Institutes of Health). Long-time Ombuds who passed away were Maile Sagen (University of Iowa) and Carolyn Streiber (Michigan State University).


• Popular Articles -- Job postings continued to be the posts with the highest number of views.  (In 2015, the Blog posted 58 jobs; the position at Southern New Hampshire University was viewed 500 times.)  Among the non-job posts, "Blog Post Offers New Insights, Data on Effectiveness of Organizational Ombuds" on June 23 drew this most hits (358).


• Milestones -- The Ombuds program at Simon Fraser University marked its 50th anniversary and the International Ombudsman Association celebrated its 10th year.

Top Stories, Part I

10. Precedent Avoided -- In settling a wrongful termination lawsuit in October, the University of Iowa avoided a direct challenge to the confidentiality of its Ombuds Office.  The plaintiff in the case explicity sought to depose the University's Ombudsman. The University's attorney, the State Attorney General, refused and asserted that the Ombuds has a duty of confidentiality.  But for the settlement, the issued would have been resolved by the court.

Part II of the top ten list -- stories seven, eight, and nine -- will be posted next Wednesday, December 16, 2015.

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.