The 2015 Ombuds Blog Annual Top Ten List, Part II

The fifth annual survey of the top Organizational Ombuds stories continues with entries nine through seven.





9. New Offices Continue to Open -- This story seems to make the list every year. And yet, every year the number of new programs far outnumbers the closures. Here is a list of the Ombuds offices that opened in 2015 (in roughly chronological order):

• Oslo and Akershus University College
• Northeast Ohio Medical University
• University of Utah Health Sciences
• Rowan University
• University of South Florida (reopened)
• University of Vermont
• University of Johannesburg
• European Molecular Biology Laboratory
• University of Stavanger
• Ole Miss
• Alliance of Divine Love Church
• Defense Intelligence Agency
• University of Tromsø
• Cal Maritime
• Washington University in St. Louis (staff)
• Mississippi State University
• Grand Valley State University
• Darton State College
• Midwestern University
• North Carolina State University (faculty)
• Norwegian School of Economics

8. Holocaust Claims Conference Ombuds Goes Public After Termination -- In early 2012, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany names Shmuel Hollander as its first Ombudsman. Hollander had an impressive resume, having worked for Israeli Prime Ministers, and it was hoped that his appointment would address long-standing complaints that the Claims Conference was culpable of mismanagement and fraud. Shmuel was fired in 2015 after reporting detailing the embezzlement of tens of millions funds. Even after his firing, which he claimed was retaliatory, Shmuel continued to tell the press about “systematic failings and problematic organization behavior.”

7. ENOHE Takes on New Initiatives -- In its twelfth year, the European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education took two bold steps to assrts its relevance as a professional organization. During its largest conference in May, ENOHE members adopted a motion endorsing "the cardinal principles of operational independence of university ombudsmen and their legitimate protection from arbitrary dismissal." Later in the year, the organization helped survey campus Ombuds about the diversity of their practice.

The next installment of the top ten stories will be posted on Wednesday, December 23.

Related post: The 2015 Ombuds Blog Annual Top Ten List, Part I.