American Bar Association Endorses Ombuds Again

At its Midyear Meeting last week, the ABA House of Delegates adopted a resolution supports the use of Ombuds for early dispute resolution. Although brief, the measure underscores the association's continued acknowledgement and support for Ombuds as ADR providers.

College of San Mateo Debuts Ombuds Program

Kohya Lu has been appointed the inaugural Ombudsperson for the public community college in the California Bay Area. In this new, full-time role, he will serve a student body of about 10,000 and practice to IOA standards. The position was created by the College's former President as part of an Education Master Plan created in 2022. 

CSM is part of the San Mateo County Community College District, which last year created a concerning hybrid role of Chief Diversity Officer and Ombuds. The District recently rebranded that program as the Office of Collaborative Resolution, which will serve only District employees. The new San Mateo College Office of the Ombuds is a separate program. 

Job Posting: University of Luxembourg

Université du Luxembourg has opened a search for an Ombudsperson. The position will expand the university's Ombuds Service, which was established by Brent Epperson in February 2021. (Initially a full-time Ombuds, Epperson is now part-time.) The new full-time, permanent position reports to the University's Governing Council.

Job Posting: Montgomery County Public Schools

The Montgomery County Board of Education in the DC suburb of Rockville, Maryland, is hiring an Ombudsperson. This full-time position reports to the school board of Maryland's largest school district and serves parents, community members, 28,000 employees, and 160,000 students. Ryvell D. Fitzpatrick has served in the position since October 2021.

UC Davis Rounds Out Ombuds Team

Katie Ranney has joined the Ombuds Office at the University of California Davis as an Assistant Ombuds. She joins Senior Associate Ombuds, Jason Karim-Baker, who was hired in December, and reports to Director Lauren Bloom, CO-OP, along with Senior Associate Ombuds Lindsey Ensor, CO-OP, Associate Ombuds Jenny Vaccari, CO-OP, and Ombuds for Special Projects, Catherine Langlois.

University of Connecticut Adds an Assistant Ombuds

Cinnamon Adams has joined Jim Wohl in the UConn Ombuds Office. As the Assistant Ombuds, Adams will initially focus on serving graduate students and postdocs and move into serving faculty and staff. She comes to the position after serving as Director of Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Support.

Job Posting: Queen's University

The public research university in Kingston, Ontario, is seeking its next University Ombudsperson. The position leads an office which provide services to nearly 45,000 students, staff, and faculty. The position reports to the Board of Trustees with oversight by the University Culture Committee and Faculty Senate. The search will fill a position held by Lavonne Hood since 2019. (She moved to a DEI position at Queen's last summer.) Meanwhile, Heather Trojek, who joined the office in December 2022, has been promoted to Interim University Ombudsperson.

College of Charleston Ombuds Retires

Evie Nadel, who has been the Ombudsperson for South Carolina's oldest public university, retired recently. Nadel had worked for CofC for two decades, initially as Director of Community Relations and then in 2018. During her tenure, the university removed the Ombuds' collateral duties. There has not yet been an announcement regarding the future of the Ombuds program. (CofC Today.)

University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Debuts Ombuds Program

The scientific research center within the University System of Maryland has created an Ombuds program for its 300-500 employees. UMCES has contracted with the McCammon Group, an ADR consulting business headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Jacqueline Villafañe and Tahirih Varner are the inaugural, part-time Ombuds and will practice to IOA standards. 

New Ombuds Joins Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology

An updated website indicates that Zohar Granot-Mayer has joined Jeff Wickens in the OIST Ombuds Office. Granot-Mayer follows Evan Economo as a part-time Assistant Ombudsperson. Her LinkedIn page indicates the transition occurred in October 2022. The two Ombuds serve as a resource for all employees and students of the highly-ranked, graduate research institute (Okinawa Kagaku Gijutsu Daigakuin Daigaku).

Call for Presenters: USOA 2024 Conference

The United States Ombudsman Association is seeking speakers for its 43nd annual conference set for November 20-22, 2024, in Oceanside, California. Speakers should be interested in sharing their knowledge and experience relevant to the Public Sector Ombudsman profession—USOA membership is not required.

Job Posting: Scotiabank

The Canadian multinational banking and financial services company is hiring a Manager for its Staff Ombuds Office. The full-time, fully remote, and bilingual position "provides a safe, trustworthy and readily accessible source of early assistance for employees at all levels, contingent workers, retirees, and former employees when they have a workplace concern at Scotiabank or want information about where to seek assistance related to their work at Scotiabank."

Society for Personality and Social Psychology Renews Conference Ombuds for 2024

For the third year in a row, Kathleen Canul will serve as the Ombuds for SPSP's annual conference for social psychologists and personality psychologists. Canul is the former Campus Ombuds for the University of California Los Angeles and has served as conference Ombuds for several other professional associations. She is also a licensed psychologist. (SPSP Conf Program.)

UC Berkeley Staff Ombuds Set to Retire

Sara Thacker, the Director of UC Berkeley's Staff Ombuds Office, will retire at the end of January. A campus announcement from the Chancellor's Chief of Staff recapped Thacker's impressive Ombuds career and hinted at the next steps for the office:

Pennsylvania State University Appoints Interim Ombuds

Lisa Gatzke-Kopp has been named the Acting University Faculty Ombudsperson for Penn State. She follows Larry Catá Backer, who served in the role since 2022. Gatzke-Kopp previously served as the Unit Ombuds for the College of Health & Human Development. 

Job Posting: Atlanta Public Schools

The Ombuds Office for the public school system in Georgia is hiring an Organizational Ombuds. The office provides services to nearly 4,000 staff members and 55,000 enrolled students, families, and other stakeholders. The Organizational Ombuds team is part of the Center for Equity and Social Justice and reports directly to the Chief Equity and Social Justice Officer. It appears that the APS Ombuds Office has changed significantly since a similar pasting last summer. Deirdre Smith, who lead the office as the APS Organizational Ombuds, and Kyle Bolt, Coordinator of Multilingual Stakeholder Supports, are no longer with the office; only the Ombuds Specialist, Shonda Liddell, remains.

Cal State San Bernardino Shutters Ombuds Office

Earlier this month, California State University, San Bernardino closed its Office of Ombuds Services. CSUSB's Ombudsperson, Twillea Evans-Carthen, who had served in the role for nearly seven years, also quietly retired at the end of December 2023. (She plans to continue teaching a couple courses as a part-time instructor.) According to a message posted on the Ombuds Office's website, the closure was prompted by ongoing budgetary reductions. (CSUSB Ombuds; Precinct Reporter Group.)

Dispute Resolution Section 2024 Conference Registration Now Open

The American Bar Association has posted the agenda and opened registration for the Dispute Resolution Section's Spring Conference. The in-person event is touted as the world's largest ADR conference and will take place at the Westin hotel in San Diego, April 10-13, 2024. This year, the event includes a panel about Ombuds work:

Job Posting: Brookhaven National Lab

The U.S. Department of Energy laboratory located in Long Island, New York, is seeking its next Ombudsperson. (Susan Foster has served in the position since 2011.) The position serves all members of the Lab community, including employees, joint appointments from many universities, guests, and other onsite users. The full-time position reports to the Lab Director. 

Article Offers Guidance for Ombuds Giving Upward Feedback (Repost)

The Social Science Research Network has posted a new article by James Claxton, "Generic Options, Particular Challenges: Hazards of Ombuds Raising Workplace Issues for Anonymous Visitors." Claxton is an Ombudsperson Specialist with the Office of the Ombudsman for United Nations Funds and Programmes in Senegal and an Adjunct Professor of Law at Waseda University. The article examines a critical Ombuds function that has not been extensively examined in the literature.