The Ombuds Blog: School of the Art Institute of Chicago Debuts Ombuds Program

December 22, 2023

School of the Art Institute of Chicago Debuts Ombuds Program

Patrick Spence has been named the inaugural Ombudsperson for the private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago. He was appointed in March and a website for the service went online this week. In this new role, Spence provides services to faculty, staff, and students following IOA standards, and reports to SAIC's President.

Spence has worked at SAIC since 1999 in a variety of student affairs positions. Most recently, he has been the Associate Dean of Student Affairs for Campus Life for over 13 years. He graduated from Hendrix College and earned an MA at Texas A&M University and PhD at Loyola University Chicago. (SAIC Ombuds; LinkedIn.)

Prior: Job Posting; Job Re-Posting.

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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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