New Virtual Course

The Nuts & Bolts of Setting Up an Ombuds Office

Registration Details

Pricing: $195 members | $475 non-members

Course Limit: 30 participants

This course has sold out. Please join the waitlist to be notified of available spaces and future courses.

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About the Event

Part One 17 November
9:00 AM – 11:00 PM PT | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET | 4:00 PM – 6:00 GMT

Part Two 19 November
9:00 AM – 11:00 PM PT | 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM ET | 4:00 PM – 6:00 GMT

This is a two-part online course for new ombuds. IOA members have been working to create a new course that will introduce new ombuds to the fundamentals of setting up an efficient and successful organizational ombuds office.

Participants will be provided a cursory introduction to IOA’s Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics as well as the basic competencies and functions of organizational ombuds. Other topics will include creating a charter that supports your organization’s mission and value, as well as developing proper intake processes, data collection, logistics and marketing. Chuck Howard author of The Organizational Ombudsman and current Executive Director of IOA, will also be contributing his expertise. Facilitators will provide best practices for all topics and there will be a Q&A session as well. This course is best used as a supplement to IOA’s most popular Foundations Course. This course may be most valuable for new ombuds who have not yet taken IOA’s most popular Foundations course.

Participants will:

• Identify Ombuds competencies and role expectations
• Establish a Term of Reference/Charter
• Define a data management structure 
• Distinguish logistics and marketing plans
• Understand available resources and additional training

Professional Development Hours (PDH)

Each part of this course has been approved for 2.5 Professional Development Hours (PDH) towards the Candidate for CO-OP® and CO-OP® credentials, for a total of 5 PDH for the full course.

Facilitators

Susan Casino, Ombudsman
United Nations

Susan Casino is a coach and ombuds consultant. She currently serves the United Nation’s World Food Programme as an ombudsman. In this role, she provides mediation, training, coaching and consultation on a wide array of workplace issues. Prior to her work with the UN she was elected to create the first ombuds office for Apollo Education Group and served for a decade as the Director. She has more than 20 years of experience in the field of conflict resolution and leadership development. Ms. Casino holds a BA in Psychology, MBA and is an alumna of Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation.

Her previous experience includes child abuse investigations, creating and delivering leadership training as well as teaching mediation coursework. She has presented at conferences and symposia on topics of leadership and conflict resolution, taught peer mediation workshops through ACR and has trained on international platforms. She is currently Chair of the Professional Development Committee for the International Ombudsman Association and has been an active member since 2006. LinkedIn_ SCasino

Don Greenstein, University Ombuds
Brandeis University

Don Greenstein has a background in conflict management, law, facilitation of difficult communications, organizational development and creative dispute management processes. He has over 32 years of experience working with an array of technical issues and creating conflict resolution processes.  Don’s work has involved conflict assessment, facilitation, mediation and ombuds services for business, work place, family, end of life, private, community and interpersonal issues. His passion is helping people and entities with ongoing and long term relationships work through differences.

Don is the managing director of the Brandeis University Ombuds Office since 2017.  The office serves the entire Brandeis community (student, faculty, staff, and alumni) as well as anyone with a Brandeis concern or issue. He is an affiliate of Boston Law Collaborative, an adjunct Professor with the MA General Hospital Institute for Medical Professionals, a Senior Affiliate of the MA Office of Public Collaboration (MOPC), and is a retired reservist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in disaster response matters. Don is a member of the following mediation panels: American Health Lawyers Association, Udall Foundation Environmental Roster, CHI Resolution’s Department of Interior’s Workplace Roster, and the Boston Law Collaboration Workplace Roster.

Jennifer Smith Schneider, Student Ombuds
University of South Florida

Jennifer Smith Schneider opened an independent Student Ombuds Office at the University of South Florida (USF) in February 2015. The office now serves over 500 undergraduate, graduate, and professional students each year. Jennifer teaches graduate-level courses in USF’s College of Education and serves on several doctoral committees. She is currently developing a doctorate-level course on conflict engagement for aspiring and practicing college and university administrators. Prior to her current role,  Jennifer held various administrative positions at USF, the University of Central Florida, and at Polk State College. She also spent over ten years teaching in the public K-12 system.

Jennifer earned a bachelor of arts degree in Deaf education from Flagler College, a master of arts degree in special education and a doctor of philosophy degree in higher education administration from the University of South Florida. She has completed county court mediation training and has also earned the Florida Attorney General’s Victim Services Practitioner Designation. Jennifer has been an active IOA volunteer since 2015. She has served on the Research and Assessment Committee as part of the Practice and Compensation Survey team and was a member of the Communications Committee, where she served as editor of The Independent Voice, IOA’s newsletter/blog.