Share Your Insights & Feedback

Dear Colleagues,

Nearly a year ago, in July 2020, the IOA Board of Directors unanimously voted to extend the IOA Pilot Ombuds Program for one year. As we are nearing the end of this term, our IOA Ombuds, Elaine Shaw, CO-OP®, has proposed a process for evaluating the effectiveness of the program. This process will provide support for the IOA Board’s decision-making about whether to continue the IOA Ombuds Program beyond the current agreement expiration in October 2021.

As a first step, the Board would like to invite all IOA members and supporters, whether or not you have used the IOA Ombuds Program, to complete a brief survey. This is intended to assess:

• Awareness of the program
• Belief and opinion about the effectiveness of the program
• Belief and opinion about the effectiveness of the ombuds
• Perception of the overall value of the program in improving the IOA

Take Survey

The deadline to complete the survey is 8 July 2021.

For your reference, the original rationale for the establishment of the IOA Ombuds Program is provided below and memorialized in the IOA Ombuds Charter:

• To support the IOA’s goal to be a professional association that is as supportive, inclusive, and accessible as possible for members and registrants for its annual conference, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnicity, religion, employment status, or status in the field.
  
  
• To model the concept of association ombuds to demonstrate the ability of an organizational ombuds to improve the conduct and climate of a professional association with aggregate data and anonymized feedback on trends and recommendations from the ombuds to association sponsors.

IOA Ombuds Program Analysis & Timeline

The Board will also convene a small panel to review the Program, who will:

• • Meet with the IOA Ombuds to review the program and the IOA Ombuds’ practice, evaluate compliance with the IOA Standards of Practice & Code of Ethics, and determine whether the ombuds is compliant with the service agreement.
  • Review results of the survey mentioned above.
  • Present findings to the full Board and encourage dialogue concerning the program’s functioning in accordance with the IOA Ombuds Charter and the ombuds’ practicing in compliance with the service agreement (which requires the ombuds to comply with adhering to the IOA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics).
    
    

The Board will then have the information necessary to establish a permanent program based on its current operations, make changes, or discontinue the program. 

Thank you for taking the time to share your insight and feedback.

Melanie Jagneaux, JD, MBA, CO-OP®

2020-2021 IOA President