By Steven Prevaux, JD, CO-OP®
IOA Vice President

IOA successfully launched a new Leadership Onboarding Program (LOP) with more than 30 IOA volunteers participating on 23 September 2020 using a virtual workshop format. We enjoyed an open dialogue with a meaningful exchange of diverse viewpoints and perspectives. A dynamic discussion of IOA leadership roles considered aspects of our “value proposition” through the lens of a focus question: “Why IOA?” Those two words sparked a range of honest, robust, and constructive responses from IOA leaders past, present, and emerging. To get a good sense of these timely and essential concerns check out the following video montage that includes thoughtful wisdom from a half-dozen veteran IOA leaders. 

On October 9^th, the U.S. Department of Education rescinded the guidance in its 2016 Clery Act Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting. This is good news for those college and university Ombuds who have been compelled or who are under the threat of being designated “campus security authorities” by their institution. Read the full announcement and the new guidance from the Department of Education here.   Read on for a memorandum with analysis from the IOA Government & Policy Committee, or download it below.

Download the Memo

GPC MEMORANDUM

To:                   All IOA Members & the Ombuds Community

From:               IOA Government and Policy Committee

By IOA's Community Connections Task Force

2020 continues to be the year that just won’t stop. However, this past spring/summer IOA found a way to pivot from our canceled 15th Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon to a series of well-received and well-attended mini-events. This included discussions on how members were managing personally and professionally during COVID, important networking opportunities, interesting topical presentations, moving Petcha Kutcha presentations, and an opportunity to recognize the 2020 Distinguished Alumni, Janet Hill.

"As we have all learned over the past six months, everything is new and a work-in-progress."

By IOA Executive Director, Chuck Howard

Today, on this 3^rd Annual Ombuds Day, IOA Executive Director Chuck Howard was honored to speak during the virtual event Ombuds Day – A Recognition of the Ombuds Profession & the Value of Ombuds, presented by the ABA Dispute Resolution Section Ombuds Day Committee.

By Eliane Markoff
Ombuds - Bentley University

This reflection describes initiatives launched by my Ombuds Office to create a platform for faculty and staff to be empowered to address challenging situations in a timely and constructive manner. In addition, these initiatives create an infrastructure to proactively ensure practicing core values of collaboration and caring. The initiatives are referred to as Reach Out initiatives. The first initiative launched, Reach Out to Resolve a Conflict, outlined steps and best practices in addressing and resolving a conflict. 

The idea and inspiration came to me as I spoke with members of our community who wanted to resolve an issue or a conflict but were hesitant when too much time has passed or were a bit uncertain on the best way to proceed. During a dedicated week, members of our community were encouraged to reach out to those they have or had a conflict with.  Other initiatives focused on expressing appreciation, on apologizing and on requesting and providing constructive feedback.

By Mary Rowe

Hello IOA,

I have been studying how peers and bystanders are being encouraged to support community values with respect to COVID. I continue to study peers and bystanders because I have come to believe that peers and bystanders are the principal constraints on unacceptable behavior in our society. (And I believe that this is especially true in constraining the unacceptable behavior of people who have a lot of power in any context.) 

By Hector Escalante, Ed.D, MFA
Ombudsperson - Pacific University

What are the top suggestions ombuds can use to show value to leadership? What tools can they use to make a case that their office deserves to exist? Recently, Chuck Howard, IOA’s Executive Director formed a team led by Randy Williams and Ronnie Thompson to address these key questions. The Ombuds Effectiveness Project’s mission is “to equip ombuds offices with guidance, research tools, and training to measure and present effectiveness of their programs relevant to the stakeholder’s goals, in alignment with their organization's mission and values”.

In today’s uncertain and unstable environment, this mission is critically important for ombuds offices. Many ombuds offices may be at risk for closure. I recently experienced the possibility of my office being closed because of new leadership and extreme budget cuts. Fortunately, with the help of IOA, close ombuds colleagues and my university stakeholders, I was strategically able to convince our new leader that the ombuds role brings tremendous value to him as a leader and to the greater university community.

By Mary Rowe,

The survey team has been preparing many reports from the 2020 Practice and Compensation survey report. Here are the first two reports. Information is coming next about compensation. And more is coming about OO Practice in addition to the attached articles. Hi Colleagues, we enormously appreciate all who participated in the IOA survey by sharing your insights and information. Through your contributions, the world - and we - are able to understand the functions, boundaries, and impact of organizational ombuds (OO) with greater clarity. Thank you, thank you!

The first report helps provide information to a confused world about what OOs actually do and do not do - and how we fit into the whole world of all ombudspeople.

Celebrate Our Profession October 8, 2020

The primary goal of Ombuds Day is to improve public awareness of ombuds. 

Our actions are intended to

• Educate the public about the role of ombuds
• Explain the wide variety of services that ombuds provide
• Encourage greater use of ombuds programs and services
• Highlight the value ombuds bring to the institutions and constituents they serve.
  
  

With all of that in mind. How can you participate this year while keeping safe and healthy? Here are some helpful suggestions from Ken Skodacek, representing the ABA Ombuds Day Subcommittee.

By Shannon Burton
JIOA Editor

Dear IOA Colleagues,

The Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) has been busy these past few months!  Please visit our website if you have not done so recently.  There are new articles and book reviews posted.  These include:

By Michael Green

With #OmbudsDay 2020 around the corner, I received a ‘challenge’ from a few colleagues and members of IOA. They, knowing of my passion for creating meaningful playlists, suggested I curate a list of songs for this event taking place on October 8th, 2020. I took this informal invitation as an opportunity to craft some songs for personal reflection and professional development. Using the lens of an ombuds, with an eagerness to serve communities and listen to the issues facing organizations, institutions, and everyday people, I developed the playlist that follows.

It was my intention to utilize art, in this case music, as a mechanism for awareness into the lives of the people who walk through the doors of ombuds offices. I attempted to absorb the complexities and dynamics that various populations are being forced to face during this turbulent year and mold that into a list of songs that could provide insight for those of us working with those populations. I believe that being intune with the culture of our constituents is vital to our impact. It is my hope that my fellow ombuds (former, current, and aspiring) can use this playlist to reflect on the past year, enhance their current practice amidst major societal shifts, and as a means to inspire transformation as we move forward. There is much work to be done, but I think if we listen intently to those we serve we will be better ombuds, better global citizens, and better human beings.

by Melanie Jagneaux, CO-OP®, IOA 2020-2021 President

In July of 2020, the IOA Board unanimously approved the establishment of a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Task Force. This task force will help IOA internally evaluate itself on aligning with anti-racism practices and racial justice. It will also define parameters for ensuring IOA cultivates a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment that supports membership belonging and connection within the organization.

Initial work of the DEI Task Force will be to propose a position statement for IOA regarding racism and racial injustice and recommending any changes to the Terms of Reference for the task force that will better articulate its purpose, composition, authority, and role in relation to the IOA Board of Directors. More importantly, the task force will be critical in the process of profound reflection and examination of how our organization may have contributed to the perpetuation of racial injustice, whether intentional or unintentional. Ultimately, the work of this new task force must be focused on action—that is, doing our part to dismantle the structures, processes, and practices that have reinforced racial injustice—and then building a way forward that advances racial justice, belonging, diversity, equity, and inclusion.

By James Laflin and Robert Werth

This article was originally published in the 2020 XVIII edition of the Journal of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds, (CCCUO). The article is shared in its entirety here with permission of the Journal of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds, (CCCUO). Please check the link above to access the full archive of this beneficial journal.

The Premise

Given the times we're living through and all the voices that need to be heard, the premise of this essay is that we need to get much better at listening to those voices; everyone's.  And we need to do it now; one conversation at a time.  So, what would that look like?  Here are a few small but challenging suggestions.

By Shannon Burton
University Ombudsperson, Michigan State University
JIOA Editor

Do you have broad interest in ombuds work?

Do you want to help the profession advance intellectually and pragmatically?

If so, then please consider applying to serve as a Peer Reviewer for the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA). The Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) is a peer-reviewed online journal for scholarly articles and information relevant to the ombuds profession. As members of a relatively new profession, we continually strive to understand, define, and clarify the role and function of the professional organizational ombuds. Serving as a Peer Reviewer for the JIOA is a great way to learn more about academic writing and research and gain new insights into the field as well.

Position Description: 

The journal’s reviewers use their expertise to comment and provide feedback on manuscripts submitted to the JIOA. Reviewers conduct blind reviews and are expected to complete them within eight weeks. As part of the review process, reviewers will recommend the manuscripts are accepted with no revisions, accepted with revisions (minor or major), or rejected.

By Tiffany Chen, Eastern Michigan University 
IOA Volunteer Coordination Committee

The IOA has always been both a passion and volunteer driven organization. We as part of the Volunteer Coordination Committee, but also IOA, would like to recognize the efforts of our volunteers that keep everything running. It is through our collective efforts that our organization has been able to develop and grow to what it is right now and more importantly what it will become in the future.

This Spotlight Post is to not only recognize some of our fellow IOA members, but also to make a shout-out to their amazing team that helps consistently push research for our work as ombuds on the edge and in the forefront.

By The Virtual Foundations Team

IOA is proud to announce we are expanding our popular Foundations of Organizational Ombuds Practice course to a virtual platform. We will be launching our first course in October 2020!

In late May, a small team of IOA volunteers—which includes experienced Foundations instructors and subject matter experts— began working with Springboard International, a consulting firm with e-learning expertise. The group began modifying and updating the Foundations format for success in an online environment. This work is currently ongoing and involves reviewing and updating existing content, identifying new modes for instruction, and developing asynchronous learning elements such as videos and reflection prompts. 

By Lee Twyman, IOA Treasurer

The IOA 2020 budget has been significantly impacted by the cancellation of the IOA2020 Annual Conference and pre-conference professional development courses, cancellation of four planned Foundations courses (two at the conference and two scheduled for July of this year) as well as cancellation of one pre-conference core course. The current projected deficit for this year is $254,000. An important footnote here, over the past 5 years, IOA has worked diligently to build financial reserves and those reserves have provided a buffer for this year’s financial downturn and may provide additional reserves to draw upon for a couple more years.  However, just as in personal savings, we do not want to deplete the reserves any more than is absolutely necessary.

The Board and Finance Committee are working closely to remedy this budget deficit and bring IOA back to a positive net revenue within three years (if not sooner). All IOA Committees have been asked to voluntarily defer non-critical spending for the remainder of 2020, and we are looking for ways to gain back lost revenue.

By Melanie Jagneaux, 2020-2021 IOA President

Dear IOA Members,

After a successful pilot program, the IOA Board unanimously voted to extend the IOA ombuds program. Our inaugural IOA Ombuds, Elaine Shaw, CO-OP®, informed the Board that she received calls from all sectors and across the globe. In addition, Elaine presented three ‘upward feedback’ concerns that inspired action of the Board concerning updates to members. Elaine also presented a written report to the Board on the program’s performance for the pilot period, which gave the Board the information necessary to review the program’s performance. The report was favorably received by the Board as it presents ombuds case information in a way that is both informative and reader-friendly. Given the quality and contents of the report, the Board unanimously agreed that IOA members would appreciate receiving the report. 

By Chuck Howard, IOA Executive Director

We wanted to give you an update on the progress of revisions to the IOA Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics.  After the Professional Standards and Ethics Task Force presented its recommendations to the Board in fall 2019, some additional revisions were recommended. Earlier this year, the Board considered those recommendations and approved a plan to develop additional documentation to provide more background information for members to have in considering the work that went into developing the revisions. Unfortunately, that process was hampered and slowed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The good news is that we are moving on to the next in the plan.

By Ken Skodacek
CDRH Deputy Ombuds

Ombuds Day 2020 is scheduled for October 8, 2020, only 3 months away!  

As a reminder, the theme for Ombuds Day 2020 is "Ombuds: Unusual name. Important service."  The primary goal of Ombuds Day is to improve public awareness of ombuds. 

Our actions are intended to: