Job Posting: Springfield College
The private college in Western Massachusetts is hiring its first Ombudsperson. The part-time position will establish a program to serve about 5,000 faculty, staff, and students, following IOA standards. As currently defined, the Ombuds will be "reporting to the Director of Human Resources with oversight by the Audit and Compliance Committee of the Board of Trustees." There is no public information about the motivations for creating an Ombuds position.
Applicants must have relevant Master's degree and one to three years of directly related experience, and be CO-OP (or eligible). No salary or closing date indicated. (Springfield Posting.)
Reporting to HR? Yea, what could be wrong with this? IOA needs to start sanctioning universities who set up such reporting relationships.
ReplyDeleteRight, that's definitely inconsistent with the goal of an IOA-compliant office. My hope is that experienced ombuds will apply and be very candid during the interview process that the reporting relationship would need to change.
DeleteAccreditation of programs has been a powerful tool for DEIB efforts. The same can likely be true for accrediting ombuds offices, as opposed to co-op which focuses on individuals: https://www.jamesgmartin.center/2023/01/when-discipline-specific-accreditors-go-woke/
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