Iowa State University Names Next Ombuds

ISU has appointed Deanna Clingan-Fischer as the University Ombuds Officer, effective August 7, 2017.  Clingan-Fischer has been Iowa's long-term care ombudsman since 2011.  She will become the university's first full-time Ombuds and succeeds Elaine Newell, who opened the office in 2008.

Job Posting: Dartmouth College

The private Ivy League college in New Hampshire has opened a search for its next Ombudsperson. The part-time position (0.6 FTE) reports to the college president and serves non-union staff and faculty.  The search will fill a position held by Sean Nolon since April 2015.

Job Posting: [Confidential Los Angeles Employer]

According to an exclusive posting on the IOA Career Center, " a greater Los Angeles area client [that] highly values the Ombuds role ... [is] seeking an Ombuds equally comfortable working with front line employees and Board members."  No other information regarding the organization is provided and no other posting for the position can be located online.

Internship: United Nations, New York

The Office of the UN Ombudsman and Mediation Services is accepting applications for an unpaid internship in its New York headquarters. The temporary position is full-time and will last just two months (as opposed to the usual three to six months). Duties will  depend on the intern's experience and needs of the program, but may include: outreach and advocacy; support preparing data and reports; and conducting research.

Paper Urges Academic Ombuds to Deal with Disparities in Practices

Tessa Tompkins Byer surveyed 111 Ombuds in higher education and interviewed 21 to learn about their practices. She presented initial findings at the IOA conference in 2016 and now has published a paper with more detail in Harvard's Negotiation Journal. "Yea, Nay, and Everything in Between: Disparities within the Academic Ombuds Field" is an insightful review of the field and should be valuable for practitioners and their professional association, IOA.

Job Posting: University of Cincinnati

The public research university in Ohio is hiring its next Ombudsman. The search will fill a position vacated by the retirement of Lillian Santa Maria who led the UC Ombuds Office for 23 years. The position directs a program that serves a population of more than 50,000 faculty, staff, and students. Kim Fulbright is serving as the interim Ombuds. 

Northeastern University Appoints an Ombuds

The private university in Boston has appointed Diane Levin as its next Ombuds for faculty, staff, and administrators.  Levin is a well-known mediator and ADR professional who, most recently, has worked as the Executive Director of Congregation Shirat Hayam on Boston's North Shore. She is also currently a Lecturer in Negotiations at Boston University Questrom School of Business.

University of Northern Colorado Considers an Ombuds Program

A committee looking at campus climate issues at the public university in Greeley has recommended the creation of a Organizational Ombuds program. Last month, the UNC Climate Working Group identified a range of recommendations from surveys of the community, including: 

University of Washington Ombud Posts 2016 Annual Report

The UW Ombud, Chuck Sloane, recently released his annual summary. Notably the office handled 588 cases in 2016, a 20% increase from the prior year. This growth builds upon a remarkable 81% increase in traffic since 2013 The report's opening letter was penned by Associate Ombud, Emma Williams.  The UW Ombud Office now has spaces for each of the university's three academic campuses and two medical centers.

Cal State San Bernardino Ombuds Signs New Charter

In June 2017, CSUSB's Ombudsperson Twillea Evans-Carthen and signed a new charter for the Office of University Ombuds Services.  The charter follows IOA standards with the exception of sexual violence cases (which all Cal State University Ombuds are required to report).  

Job Posting: University of California Berkeley

The Ombuds Office for Students and Postdoctoral Appointees at Berkeley is hiring an Assistant Ombudsperson for an 11-month appointment.  The position will report to Marcia G. Riley, Director and Ombudsperson, and fill in for Sunny Lee, Assistant Ombudsperson.

Caseload Declines Slightly for University of British Columbia Ombuds

In her latest annual report, UBC Ombudsperson Shirley Nakata says that her office worked with 441 students in 2016, a 9.8% decrease from the prior year.  Some of this decline was perhaps due to the closure of the Ombuds office at UBC's Okanagan campus early in the year.  Nakata noted that, "In 2016, the nature of student concerns and questions did not vary significantly from previous years; academic standing, appeals, graduate student supervision and misconduct matters were again common issues brought to the Ombuds Office."

NC State Expands Ombuds Service to Staff

North Carolina State University is launching an Ombuds program for staff.  Faculty Ombuds Roy Baroff will provide the service for a one year pilot program.  Baroff says that he handled 111 faculty cases last year.  (NCSU News.)

Norton Rose Fulbright Appoints First Ombuds

The international law firm has named Stephen L. Buchman as its first Ombudsman. From the firm's office in New York, Buchman "deals with issues including civility, harassment and discrimination, new employee evaluation practices, quality of life concerns, and other matters" from the 4,000 staff. His bio offers this further explanation of his work:

Journal of IOA Moves to Piecemeal Publication Schedule

In a move designed to lessen the pressures associated with biannual publication deadlines, the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association will now publish articles, "as soon as revisions are complete."  The turn away from a "bound" journal format (after nine years) includes fresh pagination for each article.  The first two articles under the new format have been posted:

U.S. Ombudsman Association Posts Agenda for 2017 Conference

USOA has announced that the details for its 38th annual conference, "The 21st Century Ombudsman: Big Challenges, Bigger Opportunities."  The event is set for October 4-6, 2017 at the Drury Plaza Hotel on the Riverwalk in San Antonio, Texas.  (USOA Conf Info.)

Landmark Study Compares University Ombuds Internationally

Rob Behrens, the former Independent Adjudicator and Chief Executive of the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education in England and Wales, has written a report about the role and status of University Ombuds in Europe, the Americas, Australasia, and elsewhere.  Published by the European Network of Ombudsmen in Higher Education, the paper "Being an Ombudsman in Higher Education: A Comparative Study," was released last week.

Job Posting: University of Massachusetts Amherst

The largest public university in New England is hiring an Assistant Ombuds through an internal search.  The position reports to Carol Booth and serves faculty, staff, and 30,000 students.  Only current university employees are eligible to apply.  The new position expands the office and will also work with Associate Ombuds Martha Patrick.

Katy Kolodziejski: Former UCLA Ombuds

Katy Kolodziejski, who volunteered for two decades with the Office of the Ombuds at UCLA, passed away on June 20, 2017 at the age of 95. She came to the Ombuds Office after 35 years on the faculty in the School of Social Work. She officially retired from Ombuds work in December 2016.

Internship: International Organization for Migration

The IOM Office of the Ombudsperson is seeking an intern for a six-month position. Reporting to the Ombudsperson, Rogelio Bernal, the intern will support his teamwork with other colleagues in the Field Missions and IOM Headquarters. The intern will provoide case management and assistance with the intake and follow-up of cases, including the compilation of statistics and the preparation of regular reports.

Job Posting: Kaiser Permanente Northern California

KP Northern California is hiring a full-time Health Care Ombuds/Mediator for its medical facilities in Roseville.  The Kaiser HCOM, "functions as a trained alternative dispute professional offering patients, family members, staff & providers a conflict management program to resolve patient/provider healthcare disputes early thereby improving patient safety & reducing the costs of health care dispute resolution."