OhioRISE Unveils Ombuds Program

Ohio's statewide, Medicaid behavioral health plan for children and youth has created an Ombuds Office. (Aetna administers the program for the state.) The Aetna OhioRISE Ombuds Office provides independent, confidential, impartial, and informal assistance to members, families, caregivers, providers, and community partners. It's new website references the IOA standards. Members of the Ombuds team are not identified on the website. (OhioRISE Ombuds.)

UC Davis Onboards New Ombuds

The Ombuds Office at the University of California Davis welcomes Jason Karim-Baker as a Senior Associate Ombuds. He will focus on the UC Davis Health campus and joins a team includes Director Lauren Bloom, CO-OP; Senior Associate Ombuds Lindsey Ensor, CO-OP; (recently promoted) Associate Ombuds Jenny Vaccari, CO-OP; Ombuds for Special Projects, Catherine Langlois, and Interim Assistant Ombuds, Kyra Coke Duffy.

MIT Marks Half Century of Mary Rowe's Service

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is celebrating fifty years of service by adjunct professor and former Ombuds, Mary Rowe. In 1973, she became the institute's first "Special Assistant to the President" (a role that evolved into the Ombuds) and coined the term "micro-inequities." She continues to study and write about the profession. (MIT Sloan Newsletter.)

Job Posting: Utah Valley University

The public university in Orem is seeking its next Assistant Director - Conflict Resolution/Ombudsman. The search will fill a position recently vacated by Talatou Abdoulaye, who served in the role for the past five years. The full-time position is located in the Students Rights & Accountability department and serves a student population of about 37,000. The position generally practices to IOA standards.

Job Posting: Cal Poly Pomona

California State Polytechnic University in Pomona is hiring a Director of Conflict Resolution Services and University Ombuds. The position will lead the development of a new program for students, faculty, and staff as "part of the newly created organizational unit of People, Culture, and Institutional Affairs." The position reports directly to the university's president. (Cal Poly Pomona's last Ombuds, Lavada Austin, retired in 2020 after nearly a decade in the role.)

Call for Papers and Posters: ENOHE 2024 Conference

The European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education seeks presenters for its 19th annual conference at Universidade da Beira Interior in Covilhã, Portugal, on June 12-14, 2024. Proposals are due by January 10, 2024. 

Full details from ENOHE: 

Utah Valley University to Pilot Faculty Ombuds Program

The public university in Orem has opened an internal search for its first Faculty Ombuds. Located within UVU's Academic Affairs, the new program will serve nearly 3,000 faculty members, beginning next semester. (The search will not fill the Student Ombuds position recently vacated by the inaugural, Talatou Abdoulaye, who recently moved to the public school system in Eugene, Oregon.)

Job Posting: University of Miami

The University Miami/UHealth Department of Faculty Affairs is seeking an Associate Ombudsperson. The full-time position reports to the Ombudsperson, Helen Bramlett, as the initial point of contact for visitors and "plays an important administrative role in the Office." Among other duties, the Associate Ombuds will work to increase awareness of the office at the undergraduate medical education, graduate medical education, graduate, postdoctoral and faculty levels. 

Auburn University Names First Associate Ombuds

Dona Yarbrough has been hired as the first Associate Ombuds at Auburn. She will will report to Auburn University Ombuds, Kevin Coonrod, CO-OP, and provide services to all campus stakeholders, including faculty, staff, and students. Yarbrough comes to the position from Emory University, where she has worked since 2008, most recently as the part-time Student Ombuds and Special Assistant to the Dean of the Graduate School. 

European Ombuds & Mediators Group Restarts

Last month, the European Ombuds & Mediators Group convened for its first meeting in almost four years. The in-person meeting took place in Munich and the IOA Board of Directors joined for the morning session. The group was established in about 2005 by Steve Cordery and Willem Kweens. Now, Jutta Reitmeier (Regional Ombudsman for Europe & CIS for Mars, Inc.) and Diana Vermeul (Respectful Workplace Advisor for the World Bank Group, and Consulting Ombudsperson) have stepped up to manage the group as co-chairs.

After Cal Poly Humboldt Spurns Offer from Ombuds, Student Issue Goes Public

The California State Polytechnic University Arcata has a housing crisis. Many students, unable to afford rent in the small town, have been living in campers, vans, and other vehicles in a campus parking lot. When the university decided to begin enforcing a ban on overnight parking the week before Thanksgiving, the students turned to the University Ombuds to seek a meeting with administrators. According to an email from the Ombuds, the administrators refused to meet. Now, the local issue has been picked up by the mainstream media, including the Los Angeles Times. (LA Times, via Yahoo; Lumberjack; Reddit.)

George Mason University Hosts Regional Ombuds Meeting

On October 20, 2023, GMU's University Ombudsperson, Kimberly Davidson, hosted a meeting of Academic Ombuds from around the region. Most of the attendees were from the higher education sector, but there were a few other practitioners who participated. A news item about the gathering also revealed that GMU formally adopted an Ombuds Charter one year ago, in October 2022. (GMU News, GMU Ombuds Charter.)

Job Posting: European Southern Observatory

The European Organisation for Astronomical Research in the Southern Hemisphere has reopened its search for an Ombuds, a position established by Camilo Azcarate in 2019. Although ESO is headquartered near Munich, the position is primarily based in Santiago, with frequent visits to various observatories in Chile and at least three months per year in Munich.

Eugene School District 4J Selects First Ombuds

Talatou A. Maiga has been appointed the first Ombuds for the public school district in Western Oregon. He comes to the position after serving as the first full-time Ombudsperson at Utah Valley University since 2017. In this new position, Maiga will establish an Ombuds program for over 16,000 enrolled K-12 students and their families, district employees, and community members. He is expected to practice to IOA standards and report to the district superintendent.

Prince William County Schools Ombuds Shares 2023 Report

In her fourth annual report as the PWCS Ombudsman, Monique Bookstein says that cases rose 54% in the 2022-23 school year. Overall, there has been an 89% increase in visitors since she established the program in 2019. Employees made up over 78% of visitors. Bookstein uses the IOA's Uniform Reporting Categories to classify her case issues. (PWCS Ombuds 2023 Report.)

San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis Continues Ombuds Program

Susan Kolodny has served as the Ombudsperson for the psychoanalytic research, training, and education facility for the past two years. Last month, the SFCO Board of Trustees accepted her offer to stay on for up to a year.

ENOHE Webinar to Examine Data Management for Ombuds

On December 4, 2024, the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education will offer a webinar on data management software for Ombuds Offices, with insights from three Student Ombuds at the University of Beira Interior: Afonso Gomes; Miguel Manteigueiro; and Pedro Inácio.

Job Posting: Department of the Interior

The Department of the Interior's Office of Collaborative Action and Dispute Resolution ("CADR") is hiring an Organizational Ombuds for a four-year appointment in Arlington, Virginia. The position will join a team of Organizational Ombuds, including: Sigal Shoham; Tahirih Varner; Mary Chavez Rudolph; and Vikram Kapoor. The position is eligible for telework and travel of up to 25% may be required.

American Economic Association Remakes Ombuds Program

AEA, the leading professional society for economists, has contracted with MWI for a revamped Ombuds program. The association initially opted for a Classical Ombuds model in 2019 and Leto Copely served in the role until recently. (Notably, AEA's president specifically reassured members that information obtained by Copely would not be transferred to the new MWI Ombuds.) The contract with MWI explicitly adopts IOA standards. The move brings AEA in line with most professional associations in the U.S., who have opted to follow NASEM's recommendation for Ombuds. 

Job Posting: Concordia University

The public university in Montreal is hiring a full-time Associate Ombudsperson for a parental leave replacement contract until February 14, 2025. The position will report to Concordia's Ombudsperson, Amy Fish. The search will fill a position held by Dorothée Beaupré-Bernier. Nicole Marie Macoretta served as the prior Interim Associate Ombuds for a little over a year.