Relay Graduate School of Education Opens Ombuds Program

The private graduate school for teachers based in New York City has created a Student Ombudsman Service for its 5,000 enrolled students. According to a new webpage, the Relay Ombuds serves students with "institutional and academic concerns, clarification of policies, and other challenges that impact academic progress." Notably, Relay does not identify the person serving as Ombuds on its website, which is unusual for an Organizational Ombuds program. (Relay Ombuds.)

Peralta Community College District Names First Ombuds

The Peralta Community College District has established an Office of the Ombuds, with Kohya Lu serving as its first Organizational Ombuds. The full-time position serves approximately 850 employees, including classified professionals, faculty, and administrators, across the District's four colleges in Northern California's East Bay. Until very recently, Lu had served as the inaugural Ombudsperson at College of San Mateo since August 2023. (PCCD Ombuds.)

Davidson College Debuts Ombuds Office

The private liberal arts college north of Charlotte, North Carolina, has selected its first Ombuds: Jerry Nuesell. As a temporary, part-time consultant, he is launching a program to serve the college's faculty and staff will lead the program's initial setup including the creation of a website, formal policies, and outreach materials. Nuesell continues as the Ombuds for Wake Tech, where he also established the office in 2017. (Davidson Ombuds.)

Framework for Open and Reproducible Research Training Launches Ombuds Program

FORRT, a decentralized, international, volunteer-based community that advances open and reproducible research practices, has established a Confidential Advisor and Ombuds program. The inaugural Confidential Advisor is Ruth Van der Hallen and the inaugural Ombuds is Thomas Rhys Evans. Together, they will provide confidential and informal support for members of the organization and help address concerns affecting the FORRT community. (FORTT Confidential Advisor & Ombuds.) 

Stony Brook University Adds Second Ombuds

The State University of New York at Stony Brook has expanded its Ombuds Office with the appointment of Alexis Rodgers as Stony Brook Medicine Ombuds. She joins Donna Buehler, who has served as University Ombuds since 2014, creating a two-person office serving distinct constituencies across the institution. Rodgers will serve Stony Brook Medicine, including hospitals, research facilities, and clinics, while Buehler will continue to serve the main campus and the rest of the university community. The two Ombuds will collaborate on workshops and other educational resources for the university.

Jefferson Lab Selects External Ombuds Provider

The Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility, the DOE lab in Newport News, Virginia, has launched an Ombuds program, nearly a year after issuing a request for proposals seeking an external provider. The new program will be provided by Bultman Wilson Consulting, a Maryland-based human resources consulting firm led by Wiltina Wilson. The new Ombuds program will provide IOA-compliant services to about 700 lab employees and other scientific users for an initial initial contract term of five years. 

University of the Pacific Appoints Ombuds

Brooke Wichmann, CO-OP has been hired to reestablish the Ombuds Office for the private Methodist-affiliated university in Stockton, California. As the full-time University Ombuds, she will reopen a program that closed in 2022 when the inaugural Ombuds, Hector Escalante Meza, moved to the University of California, Merced. Wichmann will serve about 10,000 faculty, staff, and students across three campuses. 

Meet the Inaugural Faculty Ombuds at Missouri S&T

Missouri University of Science and Technology appointed Sahra Sedigh Sarvestani as its first Faculty Ombuds in June 2023. (The webpage for her office went live this week.) The public research university in Rolla, Missouri established the part-time position to serve its 400 faculty members with workplace concerns and resolving conflicts. 

Job Posting: U.S. Secret Service

The federal law enforcement agency within the Department of Homeland Security is hiring an Organizational Ombudsman. Based within the USSS Office of the Director, the Ombuds will (re)establish and manage a new Ombudsman Program for internal stakeholders to provide confidential and impartial assistance to employees and managers, informal conflict resolution, identification of systemic workplace issues, and advising agency leadership on organizational improvements. 

Yale University Names First Ombuds

Dawn Osborne-Adams was named the inaugural University Ombuds for Yale according to an announcement from the University President today. Osborne-Adams will set up a program to serve more than 45,000 faculty, staff, and graduate and professional school students across the university and report directly to the President. She will start on September 1, 2026.

American University Selects Inaugural Ombuds

Alison Chrisler has been named the first Faculty Ombudsperson for the private, federally-chartered, research university in Washington, D.C. She will serve all of American's full-time faculty (about 850) and report jointly to the Provost and to the Faculty Senate Chair. She takes on the role and continues as the Director of Undergraduate Programs in AU's Department of Health Studies. 

German BioImaging Appoints First Ombuds

Gesellschaft für Mikroskopie und Bildanalyse e.V. (GerBI-GMB), the scientific society for light microscopy and image analysis across Germany, has appointed its first Ombudspersons for good scientific practice. Christian Feldhaus and Nina Schulze, were appointed at the 2026 General Assembly for three-year terms. The move follows the organization’s alignment with the German Research Foundation’s Code of Conduct and the adoption of internal Ombuds regulations as part of its governance framework.

Southwest Mississippi Regional Medical Center Appoints First Ombuds

In November 2025, Billie Jo Alexander became the inaugural Ombuds for the not-for-profit, acute care hospital in McComb, Mississippi. She provides providing services to over 1,100 staff, clinicians, and administrators aligned with IOA standards. 

Palacký University Olomouc Appoints First Ombuds

On February 1, 2026, Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, the second oldest university in the Czech Republic, named Jaroslav Šotola as its inaugural University Ombudsman. In this new role, Sotola serves faculty from eight schools, staff, and 23,000 students, with concerns including bullying, discrimination, abuse of power, sexual harassment, and other conflicts. As the Ombuds, he provides confidential consultations and informal resolution support but does not adjudicate academic or employment matters. 

Society for Cinema and Media Studies Names Conference Ombuds

Bathabile K. S. Mthombeni will serve as the on-site Ombuds for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies' conference on March 26-29, 2026, in Chicago. Mthombeni will serve as a resource for conference participants who have questions about the professional association's Code of Conduct. She will be available up to a year after the event. Mthombeni has been the Ombuds for Binghamton University since 2015, and has also served as conference Ombuds for Root & Shoot and the American Anthropological Association. (SCMS Ombuds.)

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine Selects First Ombuds

AWSOM, the five-year-old, private, allopathic medical school in Bentonville, Arkansas, has appointed Kami Gollhofer as its first Ombuds. In this new, part-time role, she will serve a growing student body of almost 400 students and report to the Associate Dean of Student Affairs.

American Psychology-Law Society Names First Conference Ombuds

David Carver has been selected to serve as the Conference Ombuds for the professional association also known as Division 41 of the American Psychological Association. He will offer Ombuds services to approximately 900 attendees during the AP-LS meeting in Reno, Nevada, on March 12-14, 2026. While serving on the American Psychological Association Council of Representatives, Carver led the successful effort to create an Ombuds Program for Council members in 2022. 

Prince George's County Public Schools Names Ombuds

Thea Wilson has been appointed the new Ombudsperson for the large school  district in Maryland. She will reopen an office that has been dormant for several years. In the full-time position, Wilson will serve as a neutral intermediary for PGCPS and the broader community, including more than 130,000 students and their families. As the Ombuds, she reports to the District Superintendent's Chief of Staff.

University of Innsbruck Appoints Ombuds

Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck has appointed Milan Ončák as Ombudsperson for PhD students. The appointment establishes a new Ombuds function at the large research university in capital of Austria's Tyrol county. 

SAP Adds an Ombuds for India and Asia-Pacific

SAP has appointed Ranju Gupta as its first Ombudsperson for India and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, based in Bengaluru. The appointment expands the reach of the SAP Global Ombuds Office, which is headed by Carsten Pöschl and also includes Danillo Alves for SAP Americas and Agnes Eising for EMEA.