The Ombuds Blog: Botany 2018 Featured an Ombuds for Attendees

August 02, 2018

Botany 2018 Featured an Ombuds for Attendees

The annual, international meeting of botanists, held this year June 24-28 in Fort Worth, Texas, offered an Ombudsman for the first time. Sherry Marts served as the Ombuds and was available as an independent and confidential resource for any attendee with concerns about violations of the Botany Conference Code of Conduct. The newly adopted conduct code prohibits a range of unacceptable behavior including offensive speech and unwanted attention.

Sherry Marts is a consultant in private practice who offers herself as a neutral Ombuds for harassment complaints at professional meetings. Her clients include several professional scientific membership associations. (Botany 2018 Code of Conduct; SMarts Consulting.)

Related posts: Ombuds Year in Review: 2017 (Special Interest Groups Begin Appointing Ombuds to Protect Members); National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine Endorses Ombuds for Higher Ed's Sexual Harassment Problem.

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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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August 02, 2018

Botany 2018 Featured an Ombuds for Attendees

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