The Ombuds Blog: Catch Up with the Blog: Informed Informality

July 24, 2025

Catch Up with the Blog: Informed Informality

David G. Schwartz has been the Ombuds for the University of Nevada Las Vegas since 2021 and also is remarkably prolific in many other areas. In addition to being a full professor at UNLV, he has written and edited a dozen 12 books on the history of gaming (the polite euphemism for gambling in Nevada) and many more articles, consults on a wide range of projects, and is a featured speaker. He contributed a chapter for the recent IOA book, published an article in JIOA, and co-chaired the 2025 Conference Committee. On top of all that, he has also written a blog for over a year that draws on his Ombuds work: Informed Informality.

In his most recent blog post, "When Reconciliation Is More Important Than Truth," Schwartz evaluates how his work as an Ombuds differs from the formal disposition of complaints. One particular sentence was especially insightful. "Working with an organizational ombuds ... prioritizes what is going to make the future better over assigning blame." Schwartz generally posts to his blog about once or twice a month. (Informed Informality.)

1 comment:

Liz Hill7/24/2025 5:44 AM
I am also pleased to share that David (along with Shannon L Burton), will serve on the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Book Publishing Board starting September 1, 2025. 😊
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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:

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany/Austria -- Ombudspersonen and Ombudsleute

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

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