Peek at the Long Playing Effort to Create an Ombuds Office at Auburn University

In August 2004, Interim Auburn University President Ed Richardson announced steps to make diversity initiatives a higher priority on campus. The initial changes were to include strengthening the role of the provost in most efforts toward diversity enhancement and establishing an ombudsman position in the President's Office to address diversity matters that fall outside established channels. (News Release.) In December 2005, Lin Inlow met with a number of Auburn administrators and other. (Inlow is Director of Conflict Resolution Education and Training at the Consortium on Negotiation an Conflict Resolution at Georgia State University’s College of Law and was University Ombuds at GSU for five years.) Since then, there has been little progress, despite persistent inquiries from the academic senate. (Just a few of the many Auburn Senate Minutes available on line: 9/9/03; 5/11/04; 6/7/05; 10/4/05; 2/4/06; 6/22/06; 1/17/07.) Although this process is not remarkable, it is unusual to see it so publicly.