A recently published decision by a California appellate court detailed the involvement of the Ombuds at the University of California Irvine. The case arose out of a decision by the UCI History Department denying advancement to a Ph.D. student. When the student sought assistance, the Ombuds “intervened” with the department. In an email the Ombudsman posed a number of specific questions to Department Chair,“meant to revisit the decision in the interest of procedural fairness [regarding] first-year review and not the substance of the discussion leading to the outcome during the first-year review.” Essentially, the Ombudsman made clear he was questioning the process, and was not attempting to second-guess the academic decisions of the faculty. Many of the questions were focused on whether students were being given adequate notice of what was expected, and given the earliest possible notice of deficiencies.
The History Department renewed its recommendation that the student be awarded a terminal master's degree, but offered him a second chance on certain conditions. Ultimately however, the student was terminated from the University and filed suit. The appellate court upheld summary judgment for UCI in part and returned a few remaining claims to the trial court. Subsequently, the case settled. (Lachtman v. Regents of Univ. of Cal., 158 Cal. App. 4th 187, 70 Cal. Rptr. 3d 147, 2007 Cal. App. LEXIS 2063 (Cal. App. 4th Dist. 2007).)As a published decision, this case may be cited as precedent by California courts. Although the court did not address the propriety and scope of the Ombuds' limited involvement, readers may question how the Ombuds’ email came into evidence.Related post: UC Irvine Appoints Ombuds Office Director.
Four years after Mohammed Ahmadi filed an application to adjust his status with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS), the FBI still had not completed its background check. Ahmadi filed suit in U.S. District Court and alleged unreasonable delay in the processing of his application and requested that the Court compel adjudication of his application. In a decision published this week, the Court denied the Government's motion to dismiss the suit for lack of subject matter jurisdiction and for failure to state a claim. The Court found that CIS's decision to wait for the FBI to complete its check may be unreasonable and pointed to the CIS Ombudsman's 2007 Annual Report to Congress. That report by Prakash Khatri said that "[T]he FBI name check process has limited value to public safety or national security, especially because in almost every case the Applicant is in the United States during the name check process, living and working without restriction." (Ahmadi v. Chertoff, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96178 (N.D. Tex. Nov. 27, 2007) [subscription required]; CIS Ombudsman's 2007 Annual Report.)
Although this decision of a trial court does not create precedent, it is reassuring to see an Ombuds report cited as credible evidence of the need for transparency and reasonableness in the Executive Branch.
Related posts: Lawsuits Seeking Immigration Reform Cite Ombuds Report; US Immigration Officials Rejects Ombuds' Reform Proposal; Immigration Ombuds Cites FBI Delays as Major Immigration Problem; Summaries of Forums Hosted by Immigration Ombuds Available Online.
Catharine Porter, the University Ombudsperson for the University of Massachusetts Amherst issued her 2006-07 Annual Report. According to the report, Porter's office assisted 456 faculty, students and staff with 506 matters. (Annual Report.)
Related post: UMass-Amherst Ombuds Comments on Student's Lawsuit.
Stanford University has appointed Keith I. Smith as Ombudsperson for the School of Medicine. Smith, who was Stanford's HR Manager for Employee & Labor Relations, will fill the position vacated by Martha McKee in early 2007. (Stanford SOM Ombuds Office; Dean's Newsletter.)Prior job post: Stanford School of Medicine.
In response to a petition from 1,029 students and staff, University of Georgia President Michael Adams promised to form a committee to explore the possibility of creating an Ombuds Office. Adams said he had read an online petition asking for the UGA administration to take a stronger stand against sexual harassment and to be "more active, reliable and transparent" in enforcing harassment policies on the UGA campus. (Red and Black; Athens Banner-Herald.)Prior post: University of Georgia Petitions for Staff Ombuds
On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved a bill that would toughen regulation of the student loan industry and simplify the process of applying for federal financial aid, among many other things. The House bill (H.R. 4137), known as the College Opportunity and Affordability Act, encompasses a broad range of issues and programs, and includes the creation of a new federal Ombudsman to intervene in disputes related to accreditation. (Inside Higher Ed; HR 4137 History; Bill Text.)Prior post: House Bill Would Create College Accreditation Ombuds.
Standard & Poor's, the financial services and publishing company, announced changes to bolster confidence in credit markets and the firm's analytical integrity. A highlight of the plan is the establishment of an Ombuds to address concerns about transparency and potential conflicts of interest in the rating process as well as analytical and governance processes that market participants may raise. (Wall Street Journal; Bloomberg; RTT News.)Market pressures are pushing the financial services industry to become more responsive, transparent and ethical. These forces will certainly create additional opportunities for Organizational Ombuds. The announcement by S&P is just the latest example of the trend. (See these related posts: Job Posting at Merrill Lynch; SEC Affirms Role of NASD Ombuds; Lawyers Advised Wall Street Journal Owners to Hire Internal Ombuds; NASDAQ and Banking Lobby Endorse Ombuds for Accounting Oversight.) It would also seem that financial institutions are (or should be) reassured by existing Ombuds programs at Alliance Bernstein, American Express, The Hartford, Putnam, Royal Bank of Canada, ScotiaBank, and TD Bank Financial Group.
Elsbeth "Beth" McKeen who has served as the Hawai'i Board of Education Ombudsman since July 2004, claims she was terminated without explanation on January 23. According to McKeen, school board Executive Director Galen Onouye, gave her the option to resign or be fired. "It was a surprise. I was shocked," McKeen said. "I have a lot of positive feedback from people I have served." She said Onouye would tell her only that school board leaders chose to eliminate her position. McKeen said she averaged more than 300 calls each year, mostly from parents dissatisfied with how schools addressed concerns ranging from bullying to complaints about teachers. (Honolulu Star Bulletin; Hawai'i BOE Ombuds Site; Hawai'i BOE Audit Committee Minutes re Ombuds Report.)
An opinion piece in today's New York Times calls on Congress to resist the President's efforts to eliminate the newly-created Ombuds for Freedom of Information Act disputes.Rather than fulfilling Congress’s bipartisan mandate to establish the ombudsman at the respected National Archives, the Bush budget attempts a shell-game switch of the new watchdog to the Department of Justice. Mediator? This is the very administration-friendly agency already responsible for defending agencies against lawsuits by citizens denied their information requests.
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The ombudsman’s independence is at the heart of repairing the information law. Congress must strike down the president’s end-run and keep the new watchdog at the National Archives, alert to the public’s understandable suspicions about its government.
(NY Times.)Prior post: Bush Defunds FOIA Ombuds Program.
The 2008 International Ombudsman Association 3rd Annual Conference, "Making a Difference — The Ombudsman Impact," will be held in Boston, April 14-16, 2008. Pre-conference trainings set for April 13, include a full-day course on conflict coaching, and half-day courses on IOA Standards, interviewing skills, challenges to informality, and current legal issues. Details on keynote addresses and speaker bios are forthcoming. A commendable improvement this year is the availability of speaker presentations on-line prior to the conference. Early bird rates are available on or before Friday, March 14, 2008. (IOA 2008 Annual Conference.)
Hundreds of staff and students at the University of Georgia are calling for administrators to become "more active, reliable and transparent" in enforcing sexual harassment policies. The petition, which has already garnered more than 700 signatures, calls on UGA to establish a campus ombuds office to help "contribute to a shift in campus culture" and provide information and help to staff and students who have been harassed. The petition was precipitated by mounting complaints against a UGA professor who has been accused of sexually harassing female undergraduates for nearly two decades and the university's decision to allow the professor to continue teaching. The petition likely will be presented at Thursday's meeting of UGA's University Council, a faculty legislative body that advises UGA President Michael Adams on policy. (Athens Banner-Herald; Chronicle of Higher Ed.; UGA Community Petition.)Related post: University of Georgia Names Ombuds.
Missing from the President's 2009 budget is funding for the newly-enacted Freedom of Information Act Ombuds. The ombuds office at the National Archives and Records Administration was seen as the centerpiece of legislation passed by Congress last year and signed by Bush on Deccember 31. The budget confirmed fears that the White House had eliminated the job at the archives transferred responsibility for FOIA dispute resolution to the Justice Department. Daniel J. Metcalfe, who ran the DOJ Office of Information and Privacy before retiring voiced his concern. “Ironically, this is so transparent: OMB and Justice seek to avoid complying with this FOIA amendment by instead merely proposing its alteration, and through an appropriations process that of course won’t conclude until near the end of the year, if even by then,” Metcalfe said. “Meanwhile, existing law is flouted, a terrible example is set for FOIA implementation, and ‘the clock is run out’ by this administration. Congress should see through this and not tolerate it.” (Austin American-Statesman; GovernmentExecutive.com.)Prior posts: Are Ombuds the Solution to FOIA Disputes?; Coalition Advocates Federal FOIA Ombuds; Bill to Create FOIA Ombuds Goes to President;
After two years as the Ombuds for San Diego State University, D.A. Graham has announced he will step down February 15 to become the Associate Ombuds at Princeton University. "It's been wonderful," Graham said. "SDSU has been a very rewarding experience because of the professional staff and faculty that I have had the opportunity to work with. Specifically, I enjoyed working for student needs and achieving monumental mediations and significant policy changes as well. This decision was a hard one." Graham will fill the position vacated by Nick Deihl who moved to the National Institutes of Health. (SDSUniverse; The Daily Princetonian.)Related Job Post: Princeton.
On April 25, 2007, just days after tragedy struck the campus, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University announced the creation of the Graduate Student Ombudsperson's office and the appointment of Ennis McCrery. McCrery earned her MFA candidate in poetry from Virginia Tech and has served as the Graduate Representative to the Board of Visitors, the governing authority for the University. This week, the website for her office went on line. (VT Grad School Announcement; VT English Dept Newsletter; VT Grad Student Ombuds Website.)
Kiwi mediator Geoff Sharp (who writes the popular blog "mediator blah...blah...") recently forwarded a paper by Professor John McMillan, the Commonwealth Ombudsman for Australia. The paper, "Persistent Complaints to Ombudsman Offices" was presented at the 2006 National Administrative Law Forum in Australia in June 2006. The work of classical ombuds in Austrialia differs fundamentally from that of organizational ombuds. Nonetheless, ombuds of all types spend a disproportionate amount of time working with querulent visitors.
Professor McMillan identifies five different causes of problem behavior: unreasonable persistence, unreasonable demands, unreasonable lack of cooperation, unreasonable arguments, and unreasonable behavior. He urges that ombuds offices implement flexible strategies to deal effectively with unreasonable visitor conduct and retain control over the ombuds process. (AIAL 2006 Administrative Law Forum Papers.)
