Job Posting: U.S. Department of Energy

The department responsible for U.S. energy and nuclear safety policies is hiring an Ombudsman Specialist. This is a new position for the DOE Office of the Ombudsman and it is intended for recent graduates at either a GS-9 or GS-11 level with room for promotion up to GS-13 The Ombudsman Specialist will join a team led by Director Tonya Mackey and including Associate Ombuds Lexi Wolfe, Stephanie Garner, and Jeff Anderson. The job is approved to work remotely "within a realistic commuting distance of the DOE Worksite (125 miles)." Some travel is required.

Job Posting: University of Pittsburgh

The Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (the liberal arts college at Pitt with  12,000 students) is hiring its first full-time Ombudsperson. The school previously had a collateral duty Ombuds, Philippa Carter, who served only graduate students. The new position will serve faculty, postdocs, staff, and students. The job is eligible for hybrid work.

Job Posting: University of Massachusetts Boston

The public research university in Boston seeks an Ombuds Graduate Employee. The part-time, hourly position will support the activities of the new Office of Ombuds Services "with a focus on undergraduate student outreach and assistance" under the direction of Martha Nelson Patrick, CO-OP.

University Ombuds in Central Europe Convene for "Little Olomouc Summit"

Recently, the two board members of the Czech School Ombuds Platform (ŠOP), Jaroslav Šotola and Michaela Antonín-Malaniková, both Ombuds at Palacký University in Olomouc, Czech Republic, met with Josef Leidenfrost, the immediate past president and former coordinator of the Austrian Ombuds Network. (Antonín-Malaniková and Leidenfrost also both serve on the ENOHE Board and ENOHE International Relations Committee.) The bilateral talks focused on current developments in their respective countries and across Europe.

Podcast: Ombuds Reviews Options for Working with Campus Protesters

Law and politics researcher İdil Elveriş has another podcast with an Ombuds for her podcast ,"We can Find a Way" (Anlaşabiliriz). This time, she interviews Tom Kosakowski, a University Ombuds and publisher of this blog. He talks about whether and how Ombuds can work with students engaged in protests over the war in Gaza that have been sweeping campuses in the U.S.

Job Posting: Loudoun County Public Schools

The public school district in Northeast Virginia is hiring a part-time Associate Ombuds. The new position will report to the FCPS Ombudsman, Carey Williams, who established the office in 2022. The Associate Ombuds will serve families, employees and community members of the district which enrolls 84,000 students. This position is on an as needed basis, up to 5 hours per month.

Florida SouthWestern State College Names Next Student Ombuds

April Palmer has been appointed the FWS's Student Ombudsperson. She follows Gail Murphy, who served in the position since 2021. In this role, she Palmer serves 14,000 enrolled students at the college's main campus in Fort Meyers and satellite locations in Southwest Florida. She holds the title of Assistant Vice President of Student Life. Palmer earned her Bachelor's and Master's degrees at Clemson University and her EdD from William & Mary. (FSW Ombuds.)

University of Utah Seeks Two Internal Candidates for Ombuds Role

The U of U has opened an internal search for two Ombuds. One will work with staff and the other faculty, and both will work collaboratively with the two current health sciences Ombuds to make up the university’s Ombuds Office. The search will fill a role recently vacated by Maureen Condic, who will beome the inaugural Ombuds at the Catholic University of America. The two positions are quarter time and open only to current university employees. (At the U.)

ENOHE Publishes 2024 Yearbook

The European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education has published its first yearbook. Discussions about creating a yearbook started in the mid-2010s, and plans became concrete when the network transitioned into an association. This initiative was included in the ENOHE Annual Work Plan 2024. The 2024 Yearbook is the first to offer reviews of emerging topics in Ombuds work and examine pending developments and issues related to the profession. Contributions come from colleagues across four continents, reflecting ENOHE’s international reach beyond Europe.

University of Tennessee Knoxville Ombuds Shares 2023 Annual Report

The Office of Ombuds Services at UT Knoxville reports that it assisted 513 visitors with 339 cases in 2022-23 academic year, with staff comprising almost 50% of visitors. Campus Ombudsperson, Lisa Yamagata-Lynch, Associate Ombudsperson, Brooke Wichmann, and Educational Program Coordinator, Duren Thompson, significantly increased their outreach. Workshops and other events counted 950 participants, a two-fold gain from the previous year.

Internship: World Intellectual Property Organization

The United Nations agency which promotes the protection of intellectual property is offering an Internship opportunity with the WIPO Office of the Ombudsperson in Geneva. The fulltime position will last at least 6 months, extendable to 12 months, and offers the opportunity to gain practical skills working for an international organization. The intern will report to the WIPO Interim Ombuds, Rahele (Stoessel) Malanca. The expected start date is September 2, 2024.

Texas A&M University–Kingsville Opens Internal Search for First Ombuds

TAMUK, the southernmost campus of the Texas A&M University System, has opened an internal search for its first Faculty Ombudsperson. The half-time position had the backing of the Faculty Senate begins in the Fall semester. The new Ombuds will report to the University President and practice to IOA standards. The position is open only to tenured TAMUK faculty and applications are due by July 2, 2024. The role will carry an administrative stipend of $400/month for the nine month appointment. (TAMUK Ombuds Solicitation.) 

Cal Poly Pomona Offers Educational Series to Prepare for Ombuds Search

California State Polytechnic University in Pomona continues its search for a Director of Conflict Resolution Services and University Ombuds. The search, which began in November 2023, will restore a program that has been dormant for over four years. The university has announced a series of campus events to educate its stakeholders about Ombuds. These events will feature Dawn Osborne-Adams, Ombuds for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Andrew Larratt-Smith, the Campus Ombuds at the University of California Riverside.

Job Posting: Georgia Institute of Technology

The public research university in Atlanta has opened a search for its next Ombudsman. (Georgia Tech consolidated its faculty, staff, and graduate student Ombuds programs in 2009, but it appears that all have been defunct since early 2012.) The full-time, hybrid position will single-handedly serve a total population of about 38,000, including faculty, staff, and students. 

UC Berkeley Contracts with MWI for Staff Ombuds Office

In a surprising announcement to the campus last Friday, UC Berkeley's Chancellor said that MWI had been hired to "relaunch" the Staff Ombuds Office. In January 2024, Sara Thacker retired after 16 years as the Director, leaving Shatika Ricketts as Assistant Ombudsperson and uncertainty about the future of the office. MWI will provide a team of three experienced Ombuds: Tera Bisbee (former Ombuds at Cal State University San Bernardino); Ralph Johnson (former America Ombuds at McKinsey & Company); and Jen Sims (former Staff Ombuds Office at the University of Texas). The full announcement has many more details:

Czech Network of Ombudspersons in Higher Education Launches Website

Školská Ombuds Platforma came together as an independent nonprofit organization in 2023 and provides support and connecting for the rapidly expanding number of University Ombuds in the Czech Republic. The organization's two dozen members are led by a committee comprised of Jaroslav Šotola, Chair (Deputy Ombuds at the University of Applied Sciences in Olomouc); Pavlína Junová, Vice President (Ombuds at the Film and Television Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague); Petr Polák, Secretary (Ombuds at the Theatre Faculty of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague); Pavla Špondrová, Member (Ombuds at the Faculty of Arts of Charles University); and Michaela Antonín Malaníková, Member (Ombuds at the Faculty of Arts, Palacký University, and ENOHE Board Member). 

Catholic University of America Announces Inaugural Ombuds

The private Catholic research university in Washington, D.C., has appointed Maureen Condic as its first Faculty Ombudsman and Mediator. According to an announcement from Catholic University, Condic "will be charged with providing faculty guidance on policies, rules, and laws pertaining to their positions as well as advising the University's administration on faculty trends. She will also handle, when necessary, mediations with faculty members, students and the University’s administration." 

Catalan Institute of Human Paleoecology and Social Evolution Names First Ombuds

Francisco ("Paco") Zapater has been appointed the first Ombudsperson for IPHES (Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social), the transdisciplinary research institution in Catalonia, Spain. In this new role, he will serve as a resource for IPHES staff, including affiliated employees of the Research Centers of Catalonia (CERCA, Centres de Recerca de Catalunya). Regulations adopted in 2022 state that the Ombuds "will act with complete discretion and be guided by the principles of neutrality, independence, and confidentiality, with more auctoritas than power, more justice than right, and more humanism than bureaucracy." 

Central New Mexico Community College Unveils Ombuds Program

The public community college in Albuquerque, formerly known as Technical Vocational Institute (TVI), has created a Student Ombudsman office for its 22,000 students. The scope of services is generally consistent with other Ombuds programs in higher education, except that the website invites students to "report any concerns you may have." (Ombuds who practice to IOA standards do not act as an agent for notice and do not receive complaints for their organization.) The new Ombuds is located within the Dean of Students Office. The Ombuds is not identified nor did they respond to an email request for more information. (CNM Ombuds.)

Job Posting: Inter-American Development Bank

The Latin American development bank is hiring its next Head of Ombuds & Mediation Services. The search will fill a position that has been held by Ellen Connors since early 2023. The position is based at IDB's headquarters in Washington, DC, are reports directly to the President for a five-year term.