The Ombuds Blog: George Mason University Hires an Experienced Ombuds to Reopen Office

December 13, 2021

George Mason University Hires an Experienced Ombuds to Reopen Office

GMU has selected Kimberly Davidson as its next University Ombudsperson. She will restart an Ombuds program that has been dormant since 2017 and which will serve faculty and staff at the public university in Virginia. Fortunately, Davidson bring significant experience in higher education and as a conflict management expert. For the past four and a half years, Davidson has been the Ombuds for Oberlin College.

Prior to becoming an Ombuds, Davidson held a variety of positions at Oberlin, including student judicial coordinator, liaison for the student Honor System, ADA compliance coordinator, and volunteer mediator. She graduated from Spelman College and earned an MA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and PhD at Emory University. She was also a presenter at the latest Cal Caucus. (GMU News; LinkedIn.)

1 comment:

Paul Caffera12/14/2021 10:24 AM
Congratulations, Kimberly.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

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

Comment Policy

Content and Relevance

Stay on topic: Comments should be relevant to the post.
Be respectful: Personal attacks, insults, profanity, inflammatory language, and discriminatory or harassing comments will not be tolerated.
No self-promotion or spam: Comments should contribute to the conversation and not be used to for commercial purposes.
No confidential information: Do not share confidential information about your organization or visitors.

Length and Format

Keep it concise: Comments should be clear and to the point. Excessively long comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Use appropriate formatting: Do not use all caps unnecessarily. Comments may include HTML formatting for readability.

Other Considerations

Be professional and respectful: Please be mindful of your content, even when commending anonymously.
Comments may be edited: I reserve the right to remove or edit any comments that violate these guidelines. My edits will be noted.
Complaints about IOA: This is not the appropriate forum to lodge formal complaints against the International Ombuds Association.
Guest editorials: Please email me directly to discuss a guest editorial offering a longer, more in-depth perspective on a topic related to the organizational ombuds profession