MD Anderson Ombuds Posts Annual Summary

The Ombuds Office at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center has released its report for the 2008 fiscal year. A total of 458 visitors brought 297 cases to the office. Seventy percent of the visitors were staff, and 57% of the concerns involved strained workplace relationships, most commonly between supervisor and staff. (MD Anderson Ombuds, 2008 Report.)

Related post: New Websites Offer Resources for Ombuds.

University of North Carolina Ombuds: Employee Visits Up Fourfold

Wayne Blair, UNC's University Ombuds, said that issues employees have brought to his office have quadrupled since last summer. Speaking at a staff retreat, Blair said anxieties rose last fall when growing budget shortfalls made it clear that some layoffs in 2009 were inevitable. Now those layoffs are starting to take place, and Blair said the stress for both the employees affected and the managers who have to authorize the layoffs was real. (UNC Gazette.)

Baylor Defers Consideration of Staff Ombuds

The Staff Council at Baylor University, which has been considered creating an Ombuds for Staff since 2005, has put the project on hold pending the appointment of a new HR Director. According to recently published Staff Council minutes, the Ombuds Committee put the discussion on hold until a new HR structure is in place. In addition, it noted that the are still questions about the reporting structure for the proposed Ombuds position. Baylor has had a Faculty Ombuds since 2003. (Baylor Staff Council Minutes 2/14/06, 9/12/06, 4/14/09; Baylor Faculty Ombuds.)

Related post: Baylor Names Faculty Ombuds.

NY Senate Considering Ombuds to Oversee Federal Stimulus Money

A New York State Senator and Assemblymember have introduced legislation to create a dedicated federal Stimulus Ombudsman’s office. The position would be an independent watchdog charged with ensuring the expected $27 billion in federal stimulus money is spent properly in the Empire State. (NY S5879 bill Tracking; Senator Serano Announcement.)

New Ombuds at American Red Cross

Kevin Jessar has been appointed the new Corporate Ombudsman for the American Red Cross. He will head a four-person office that was created by federal statute in October 2007 as part of sweeping governance modernization reforms at the Red Cross. Jessar brings a wealth of Ombuds experience to the position. He is the immediate past president of IOA and was an Ombuds at the National Institutes of Health since 2000 and served as NIH Deputy Ombudsman from 2007-2009.

Prior posts: First Red Cross Ombuds Promises to Strengthen "Sacred Trust" With Public; Red Cross Ombuds Publishes Inaugural Report and Announces Cut-Backs; Is Red Cross Ombuds Stepping Down?; Red Cross Appoints Interim Director of Ombuds Office.

Job Posting: Kaiser Permanente San Francisco

Kaiser is accepting applications for a HealthCare Ombudsman/Mediator in San Francisco. This is a part-time position, 32 hours/week, day shift. Extensive clinical health care experience (10+ years) and Ombuds training or experience is required. No closing date or salary indicated. (KP Careers.)

ABA Dispute Resolution Conference Call for Proposals

The ABA Section on Dispute Resolution has issued a call for proposals for its annual meeting in April 2010 in San Francisco. The conference planners put a priority on proposals that introduce new and innovative concepts, demonstrate diversity of presenters’ backgrounds, include 2-4 presenters with demonstrated expertise, and provide significant depth of coverage of the subject matter. Proposals are due by August 24. The quality of presentations and number of attendees makes this the leading dispute resolution conference in the country. Unfortunately, it conflicts with the IOA conference. (ABA DR Conf Call for Proposals.)

Brown University Ombuds Office is Latest Closure

Recently published minutes from a Brown Faculty Executive Committee meeting reveals that the University's Faculty Ombuds Office "is temporarily closed effective July 1, 2009 and will reopen in the foreseeable future." The minutes also state that, "In the meantime, Valerie Wilson (new Director of Institutional Diversity effective July 1), Dean Vohra or the FEC can hear faculty’s concerns depending on the situations." A call to the the Office of the President confirmed that the Ombuds Office has closed and that Flora A. Keshgegian, who served as Faculty Ombudsperson since August 2006, was no longer with the University. The telephone number for her office has been disconnected. (Brown FEC Minutes, 4/28/09; Brown Ombuds Webpage.)

Related posts: Brown University Ombuds Issues Second Annual Report.

Other recent university Ombuds office closures: Pepperdine University; California Institute of Technology; Smith College; Pace University.

NPR's Ombuds Has the Loneliest Job in the Newsroom

As the neutral intermediary between public radio listeners and staffers, NPR’s Alicia Shepard says she has “the loneliest job in the newsroom.” This and other observations will sound familiar to Organizational Ombuds. For example, Shepard says it took the first six months of her two-year contract just to learn how NPR works.

It’s no doubt hard to justify spending money on an ombudsman when the newsroom budget is being slashed. And it’s easy to dismiss an ombudsman’s defense of his value as simply self-interest. But there’s a difference between having citizens point out errors and flaws, and having an independent observer inside a news organization with “a hall pass and a platform,” as New York Times executive editor Bill Keller describes an ombudsman.

Ombudsmen like [the Washington Post’s] Alexander and Shepard may never be beloved, but they do play an important role. Their presence is a clear signal that the news organization cares about the public’s concerns and will take steps to respond. And they can also serve as a deterrent. The knowledge that someone is watching, someone with the authority to draw public attention to errors and ethical missteps, may help keep them from happening in the first place.

(Advancing the Story.)

Related posts: More Thoughts on the Decline of News Ombuds; News Ombuds to Meet in Washington; News Ombuds Also Vulnerable to Budget Cuts.

OO Blogger: The "Due Care" Process

Clayton Gilman's latest post discusses a recent case involving a young Canadian couple who sought his intervention with the Ontario Ombudsman. Using a “due care” process, Gilman determined the validity of the complaint -- checking facts and gathering information from other sources. Ultimately he did not intervene, but served primarily as a sounding board for the couple. (Organizational Ombudsman Blog.)

Innovations in Collaboration and Conflict Resolution

The Center for Public Policy Dispute Resolution at the University of Texas at Austin offers several courses that may be of interest to Ombuds, including:

• Staying with Conflict: Working with Ongoing Disputes - Dr. Bernie Mayer, Professor at the Werner Institute at Creighton University;
• Creating Value Through Negotiation - Melissa Manwaring, Director of Curriculum Development at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School; and
• The Public Policy Facilitator's Toolbox: Designing Processes for Multi-State Initiatives - Bill Potapchuk, President of Community Building Institute.

The two-day courses are offered as part of the Skills Enrichment Institute, July 29-31, 2009. (Innovations in Collaboration Info).

How to Become the Next Immigration Ombuds

Immigration Daily says that there are three informal requirements for anyone interested in a presidential appointment to the post of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Ombudsman:

1. Be a card-carrying Democrat for at least 5 or 10 years, preferably longer;
2. Be active in participating in local/state Democratic party; and
3. Be sponsored by one of the 3 members of their Congressional delegation.

The leading immigration publisher believes that several members of the immigration bar would qualify based on these criteria. The CIS Ombudsman position is co-equal with that of the USCIS Director and is empowered "to really shake things up for immigration benefits." (Immigration Daily.)

The CIS Ombuds position is not currently vacant and no job search has been announced yet. Immigration Daily may have better information.

Related posts: Immigration Ombuds Tenders Resignation; Immigration Ombuds Issues Annual Report; Job Posting (Deputy Director); Leading Immigration Lawyer Urges Obama to Retain USCIS Ombuds.

NPR Interviews New FOIA Ombuds

Bob Garfield interviewed Miriam Nisbet, Miriam Nisbet the new director of Office of Government Information Services, aka the FOIA Ombuds, for NPR's show On the Media. Nisbet said that if her office could not resolve FOIA disputes informally through mediation, it would issue an advisory opinion, "that certainly would be part of the administrative record going to court if the case did go to court." In addition, her office will make recommendations for ways to improve the FOIA process. (On the Media.)

Related post: FOIA Ombuds Appointed.

USOA 30th Annual Conference in Colorado

The United States Ombudsman Association has announced the details of its 2009 meeting in Estes Park, Colorado, "Navigating the Rocky Divide: Ombudsmen at the Summit." The conference on September 29-October 2 continues USOA's tradition of offering training focused on skills, as well as sessions on current Ombuds issues. Topics of particular interest to Organizational Ombuds include:

• Know Thyself: Understanding and Utilizing Conflict Styles presented by Mary Chavez Rudolph, University of Colorado Denver, and Tom Sebok, University of Colorado at Boulder;
• Conflict Resolution From the Trenches: Changing Our Institutions by Advancing Our Practice presented by Johnston Barkat, United Nations Ombudsman & Mediation Services; and
• Distance Dispute Resolution: Traversing the Far Reaches presented by Frank Fowlie, Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers.

Other sessions cover establishing a new office, outreach, effective Internet use, surviving budget cuts, and dealing with disaster. In addition to the main conference, USOA is offering a two-day New Ombudsman Training preconference workshop on September 28 and 29, and training CLEAR from its National Certified Investigator Training Specialized Program. (USOA Conference Packet.)

Related posts: USOA's 28th Annual Conference [2007]; USOA Annual Conference in Lexington [2008].

Obama Correctly Pronouces "Ombudsman"

During Tuesday night's Press Conference, President Obama teased a member of the press corps who tried to follow up on a colleague's unanswered question. Obama asked Jake Tapper of ABC News: “Are you the ombudsman for the White House press corps?” Ombuds around the country walked a little taller the next day. (White House Press Office Transcript; LA Times; Hat tip: JZ.)

Related post: Obama and the Future of the ADR Profession; Federal Observers Hope for New Era of Government Openness and Accountability.

University of Texas Staff Set Ombuds as Top Priority

With the election of officers, the University of Texas Staff Council identified its top seven issues for the coming academic year. These priorities include reviewing the need for a staff Ombudsperson. The campus already has Ombuds for faculty and students. (Austin American-Statesman.)

Update: DC Mayor Blocks Transfer of Public Schools Ombuds Office

Washington DC Mayor Adrian Fenty has used his line-item veto power to prevent the District Council from transferring oversight of the Public Schools Ombuds from his office to the State Board of Education. The Council has 30 days to override the veto with nine votes. (Washington Examiner.) Meanwhile, Interim DCPS Ombudsman Jeff Ross reports that his office continues to handle nearly 50 new cases a month. (March 2009 Report.)

Prior posts: DC Schools Appoint First Ombuds; DC Schools Ombuds Lasts Just 14 Months; Local Politics Threaten DC Schools Ombuds; Washington Post Conflates Ombuds Reporting Line With Neutrality.

Job Posting: Kettering Health Network

The Dayton area medical network is accepting applications for a part time Patient Relations Representative: "An ombudsman type service in which the employee acts as the liaison between patients and the institution." The position receives, facilitates and mediated patient concerns and provides upward feedback to hospital departments. A bachelor's degree is required and two years experience in a health care related environment are preferred. No salary or closing date. (Kettering Health Network Jobs, req. no. 09-0420.)

Not a true Organizational Ombuds job, but close in many respects.

ADR Prof: Closing Ombuds Offices is Short Sighted and Undervalues ADR

Jill Gross, who blogs for the ADR Prof Blog and is director of the Investor Rights Clinic at Pace Law School, considers whether Ombuds offices are expendable:

I just learned that my University is closing its Ombuds Office, to save resources in these tight times, and instead is spreading out its functions among various related offices (student complaints to Dean of Students Office; employee disputes to Human Resources, etc.). It seems to me that this economically-driven decision clearly undervalues dispute resolution. While those related offices are generally familiar with the subject matter of complaints, they are not trained in or equipped to use informal dispute resolution mechanisms to resolve these disputes in a quick, cost-efficient manner. Doesn’t seem so cost-effective a decision, in the long run, does it?

(ADR Prof Blog.)

Professor Gross is right on the money. The cost savings offered by Organizational Ombuds and other ADR programs is substantial. Unfortunately, only the costs are reflected in an organization's financial statement. The benefits--avoided litigation and improved climate--are hidden. The real mistake is assuming that other programs like HR, EEO, or EAP can fill in for an Ombuds. Although these programs may be familiar with the organization's culture, they cannot bring confidential, neutral, independent, and informal expertise to conflicts. Hopefully Ombuds programs will rebound with the economy and the growing acceptance of ADR.

Related post: Pace University Closing Ombuds Office.

UNESCO to Seek for International Ombuds for Higher Education

At a meeting in Bucharest last month, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Forum on Higher Education called for an international Ombudsman to uphold the "principles and values" of higher education. The group's proposals, which include creating a global index of academic freedom, will be submitted for validation at Unesco's 2009 World Conference on Higher Education in Paris next month. According to the "Bucharest Message," the Ombuds would have a mandate to "resolve conflicts related to principles and values of higher education." According to The Times of London discussions at the meeting focused on the need for an Ombuds, rather than the details of how it would work. (Unesco Bucharest Message; Times Higher Education; Unesco 2009 World Conference on Higher Education.)

Related posts: Students Call for Global Ombuds; UNESCO Conflict Resolution Library.