Applicants must have a Bachelor's degree, at least two years of professional experience, and basic ADR skills. An advanced degree, three to five years of Ombuds or similar experience, and knowledge of OSU are preferred. Applications should be submitted by November 11, 2023, for full consideration. No salary range indicated. (OSU Posting.)
Related posts: Oregon State University Names First Ombuds; Oregon State University Hires Assistant Ombuds and Adopts Ombuds Charter; IOA Selects Next Ombuds; Seattle University Selects Ombuds; Transitions at Oregon State University Include New Associate Ombuds; Oregon State University Announces Next Ombuds.
Salary range is posted btw: $60,288 - $105,420
ReplyDeleteThanks! I somehow overlooked that.
DeleteEvery time a salary range is posted an angel gets its wings. (Thank you! I will die on this hill this should be mandatory for all roles!)
DeleteI agree totally. This is critical information for all of us.
DeleteAnd every time a job posts with a low salary, the entire profession would do well for people to reach out to the organizations to tell them that the low salary is why they will not apply. At Michigan State, for example, ombuds salaries are 50-60 % that or garden variety employee relations positions. This role is harder and has more of an effect on organizational effectiveness.
ReplyDeleteHi Ombuds Community,
DeleteI am the University Ombuds at OSU and the hiring manager, so I thought I would clarify the salary range for prospective candidates in response to this post and remove any confusion.
HR gave a wide salary range because they didn't have similar position benchmarks for a narrower range. However, they informed me that someone with a few years of relevant experience will probably land in the $85,000 to $95,000 range. According to public records, the University Ombuds at Michigan State (who I do not know) made $113,190 in 2022. Let's say the Associate Ombuds here lands at $90,000, which is very plausible. They will be making 25% less than the Michigan State Ombuds.
But that isn't the whole story. This is an Associate Position. Based on my research of public records and my personal experience as an Associate Ombuds at a public university, associates usually make about 25% less than the lead ombuds. This makes sense.
Therefore, the salary for our Associate Position should fall right in line with industry standards for a public university and my own salary experiences as an Associate Ombuds. Furthermore, the salary does not factor in OSU's benefits, which are considerable. We have the lowest monthly cost for healthcare in the country, for example, and a generous pension program.
Of course, salary is only one piece of the puzzle. There is the role itself. I have only been here two months, but I have been deeply impressed by OSU's commitment to access to education for all Oregonians and to a successful Ombuds Office. I encourage anyone who is interested to apply, go through the process, and make up their own mind.
Best,
Michael
Though I would be the first to accept more money you have to admit that if that is what we wanted only we would probably pursue other professions. I'm not saying we shouldn't get paid more but for an associate making close to 100k (with the right experience) that's not too shabby. Personally, I've always thought Ombuds should make 25% of what the highest paid leader makes. President makes 1 million we get 250k.
ReplyDeleteMichael. That all sounds good. The real issue is not the salaries being paid to you or your associates. The problem is ombuds salaries relative to positions of comparable positions within a given institution. To draw upon your Michigan State example, sorry Shannon, the same year that the university ombuds was earning 113k employee relations folks were earning 187k to 215k.
ReplyDeleteFirst off, I agree that generally there is room for growth in the Ombuds Sector in terms of salary. No argument there. But if we want to make our case, facts matter. Which HR positions paid 187k-215k at Michigan State? I looked, and the highest HR position I could find paid was the Assistant Director, who was paid 128k. That isn't unreasonable. The folks who were doing Employee Relations work seem to be paid maybe 90k? They don't use the Employee Relations title, but HR Manager seems to be close. Maybe I am missing something? Here is the link. https://msu.edu/-/media/assets/msu/docs/state-transparency/sec245fy22salarylist.pdf
DeleteIf I got it wrong please let me know.
And who knew Michigan State would get so much attention. And sorry Shannon! I only used your salary as an example because the anonymous poster all but stated what it was already.
I think that we, as a profession (and association), are partly to blame for salary issues in our field. Aside from the standards/principles, we don't have a framework for the work we do. We don't have a clear description of job responsibilities and we don't explain the differing scopes of ombuds roles and programs; some ombuds do a lot with data analysis and provide meaningful, data-informed upward feedback to leaders. Some ombuds meet with leaders and managers to provide valuable coaching services. Some develop and offer organization-wide training. Some provide services for units to help diagnose conflict through assessments and provide workshops. Some ombuds don't do this type of work and instead receive inquiries and meet with visitors and provide core services and that's about it. These are vastly different roles with completely different levels of responsibility. While I would say that all areas of ombuds work add value, the truth is that some ombuds should receive pay on par with leadership and some ombuds roles are not at that level. Our profession could and should do more to make clear the different types of work that ombuds can offer, BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, should set some guidelines related to training and qualifications for ombuds. All ombuds work should require advanced training in mediation, facilitation, and coaching - it is the core of what we do. Advanced ombuds work should also require education in data analysis, organizational conflict, employment law and other legal aspects of the work, DEI experience and skill, etc. We can't expect to be paid well if we haven't completed education/training and developed our expertise and ability in these areas. Then, perhaps, ombuds could get paid what they are worth.
ReplyDeleteEverything in the ombuds field is based on "years of experience." Plenty of ombuds with years of experience aren't ombudsing well. Let's actually establish some set guidelines for our work and make it a credible profession.
I wanted to hop on here after sitting with this and say how much I agree with this post. IOA has come far, but still has so far to go in terms of structured guidelines or even policies that drive the organization itself. If ombuds are all over the place in terms of services offered how can we jump all over these job postings in regards to pay, job duties, or reporting structure? IOA should have guidelines for different role types to help with these types of concerns.
DeleteTo: 10/19/2023 @ 9:34 Amen! Ten years experience or 1 year of experience 10 times? There is a profound difference.
ReplyDelete"Though I would be the first to accept more money you have to admit that if that is what we wanted only we would probably pursue other professions."
ReplyDeleteWith all due respect--bull$hit! Work is an economic relationship. Any assertion that the wam and fuzzy feelings one gets from work is more important than the economic aspect of the job is naive. While money is not necessarily the only part of job satisfaction, compensation is the measure of worth to organizations. As long as ombuds allow themselves to get paid at the levels many seem comfortable with, this profession is doomed.
Not sure what your solution would be then. I've turned down opportunities because they didn't pay as much. My stand though didn't exactly bring a wave of enlightened organizations suddenly bumping up what they were offering Ombuds.
ReplyDelete