UC Law San Francisco Selects Ombuds

Theodore ("Teddy") Albiniak has been hired as the Ombudsperson for the University of California's law school in San Francisco (formerly known as UC Hastings College of Law). In this new, part-time position, Albiniak will establish a program to serve faculty, staff, and students, practicing to IOA standards. He comes to the position from San Francisco State University, where he currently serves as the Interim Ombuds (since January 2024) and Director of Strategic Initiatives.

David Heaton: Former Ombuds for Ohio University

David Heaton, who served as the University Ombudsman for Ohio from 1982 to 1991, passed away last month at the age of 88. Heaton joined the faculty at OU in 1969 and retired in 2004. In addition to his work in academia, he was a forty year member of Klanwatch and The Southern Poverty Law Center, and served as President of the Southeast Ohio Chapter of the ACLU for over a decade. Heaton was selected as the first recipient of the California Caucus of University and College Ombuds' Pete Small Award. (Ohio News.)

Job Posting: Grinnell College

The small, private liberal arts college in Iowa seeks its next Ombudsperson. The search will fill a position held by Grinnell's inaugural Ombuds, Chinyere Ukabiala, CO-OP, who will retire in June 2024. The full-time position will serve all members of the campus community following IOA standards and reports to the college president.

Inaugural Ombuds for Lewis & Clark College Announces Retirement

Valerie White, who established the Ombuds program at the liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, in 2008, has announced that she will retire at the end of June this year. The college says that White handled over 4,000 cases, involving 5,756 people, during her tenure. Lewis & Clark's President, Robin Holmes-Sullivan, said, “We are all deeply appreciative of how she has shaped campus culture during her many years here.” 

U.S. Department of Education Acknowledges Confidentiality of Ombuds

The Education Department has issued updates to Title IX, the 1972 law that bars gender discrimination in federally-funded schools and, for the first time, clearly stated that Ombuds are a confidential resource for students. The inclusion of this language is a victory for the International Ombuds Association, which has advocated strongly for modifications to Title IX’s definition of confidential employees in order to better protect students, faculty, staff and other stakeholders.

CERN Welcomes New Ombuds

Marie-Luce Falipou has been named the new Ombuds for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (Organisation européenne pour la recherche nucléaire) in Switzerland. She is CERN's fifth Ombuds since the office was founded in 2010 and follows Laure Esteveny, who is retiring.

IOA Announces 2024 Honorees

At its annual conference last month, the International Ombuds Association announced its 2024 Trailblazer and President’s Award recipients. “There are so many talented ombuds serving their communities in so many vital ways,” said Alicia Booker, 2023 IOA President. “We are thrilled to honor them for all that they contribute to our profession, and for their extraordinary leadership,” added Sarah Klaper 2024 IOA President.

NASA Retains Two Ombuds Consultants

Brian Bloch and Elaine Shaw, CO-OP, have been selected to provide consulting services for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ombuds program. Together, they will provide training, develop materials and reports, manage a case management system, creating/analyze surveys, and provide policy and procedure support to 25-30 mostly collateral duty Ombuds. Their work comes through a contract between NASA and the McCammon Group, an ADR service provider that has recently added a panel of Ombuds, based in Richmond, Virginia. (McCammon PR.)

Job Posting: Clemson University

The public research university in Upstate South Carolina will expand its Ombuds office with the addition of an Associate Ombuds. The new, full-time position will report to the University Ombuds, Tessa Byer, CO-OP, and assisting in providing dispute resolution to faculty, staff, and students. (Gordon Halfacre is also a member of the office as the University Ombuds for Faculty and Students, and has a separate reporting line to the provost.)

Pan American Health Organization Selects Ombuds

In January 2024, Fernando Navarro Sánchez was appointed the World Health Organization's Regional Ombudsman for PAHO. He follows Bernardin Ndashimye and will serve an initial, renewable two-year term. As the Ombuds, Sanchez reports to PAHO's Deputy Director in Washington, DC, and provides services to employees in 27 country office following IOA standards.

Job Posting: Pennsylvania State University

Penn State has opened a search for an Assistant/Associate Dean for Graduate Student Academic Affairs and Professional Development. In addition to overseeing graduate student affairs, the position will also serve as "the university-wide ombudsperson, ensuring impartial and confidential resolution of student concerns." This broad description makes in unclear whether the position will replace the the Acting University Faculty Ombudsperson (Lisa Gatzke-Kopp, who was named in January) or the Graduate Student Ombuds (three faculty have served as collateral duty Ombuds for grad students since 2021: K.H. Fong, Deb Kerstetter, and Patrick Lee Plaisance). For the last two years, Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences has designated eight faculty as Ombuds for its graduate students and postdocs.

Carle Illinois College of Medicine Appoints First Ombuds

Ron Brewer has been introduced as the inaugural Ombudsperson for the "engineering-based" medical school of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He will serve over 200 students in the growing medical school. Brewer adds Ombuds duties to his continuing work as a Clinical Associate Professor of Biomedical and Translational Sciences. Brewer's office is only the second at UIUC; the Grainger College of Engineering has had an Ombuds since 2021.(Carle SOM Ombuds.)

ETH Zürich Adds Two Ombuds

According to an updated webpage, Jonas Nakonz and Annette Spiro have joined the Ombuds program at the public research university in Switzerland. The join Kathrin Teuscher and Margrit Leuthold, and fill positions vacated recently by Martin Hohmann (an External Ombuds), Gerhard Tröster, and Peter M. Frischknecht. Together, they serve over 30,000 faculty, staff, and students, and practice to IOA standards. (ETH Ombuds.)

Meet the Ombuds for One Acre Fund

Abah Etieno was appointed the inaugural Global Ombudsperson/Mediator for the Kenya-based nonprofit organization in February 2022. In this role, Etieno serves an international staff of more than 8,00, who support agricultural development programs in six Sub-Saharan African countries. She also serves on the DEI Council.

Job Posting (RFP): UN Funds and Programmes

The United Nations is seeking bids for a consultant to provide a review of Office of the Ombudsman for UN Funds and Programmes. The office is one of three components of the integrated Office of the United Nations Ombudsman and Mediation Services. It is a small office funded based on a cost-share agreement among the five participating UN organizations and currently has some staff presence in New York, Istanbul, Bangkok, and Dakar.