The Ombuds Blog: Meet the New Ombuds for Richland School District One

January 07, 2025

Meet the New Ombuds for Richland School District One

Last July, Basil Harris was named the Ombudsman for the public school district for Columbia, South Carolina. (The website for his office was updated this week.) As the Ombuds, Harris provides services to parents, students, district employees, and community members with school-level issues and concerns that interfere with teaching and learning and a positive school climate.

Harris has nearly 35 years of professional experience in the education field, including 21 years with the South Carolina Department of Education. He has deep ties to Richland One, having been a student himself and later a science teacher and principal. (MidlandsBiz; LinkedIn.)

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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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