Milwaukee Area Technical College Selects Ombuds for Staff

The public vocational-technical college in Wisconsin has appointed four Employee Ombudspersons: Saadia Ahmad, Kerry Egdorf, Sarah Farrukh, and Sue Theiss. Together, they will provide Ombuds services to MATC's faculty, staff and administrators and report to the college's Climate Committee. The Employee Ombuds supplement the work of the Student Ombudsperson, Yolanda Hodges.

Ahmad has worked in a range of conflict resolution jobs over the past decade, including as a mediator, conflict coach, dialogue facilitator, and instructor. She graduated from Providence College (where she is also an adjunct professor of conflict resolution) and earned a Master’s in conflict resolution from the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Egdorf was the Ombuds at Marquette University from 2007 to 2019 and also was an Assistant Professor of Practice for 24 years. She earned her Bachelor's and Masters from the University of Oklahoma, and a PhD from Ohio University. She has been a very active member of IOA and the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds, including a stint on the IOA Board of Directors.

Farrukh has worked in law and dispute resolution since 2012, most recently as the Program Manager for the Center for Conflict Resolution in Chicago. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and earned a JD with certificate in ADR at Marquette University Law School.

Theiss began her work as an Ombuds 25 years ago when she co-chaired a team of Ombuds at the University of Arizona. Later, she lead the Ombuds offices at the University of Arkansas and Oregon State University. She has also been an active speaker at IOA and Cal Caucus events.

(MATC Employee Ombuds.)

Related posts: Milwaukee Area Technical College Sets Up Ombuds Office; Job Posting (RFP).