EEOC Complaint Against Binghamton University References Ombuds

According to the NY Times, a fundraiser for Binghamton University has complained to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over “egregious acts of sexual misconduct” by two senior athletic department officials. Elizabeth Williamson, a major gifts officer for Binghamton athletics, said she was marginalized in her role after reporting the situation to university officials a month ago. “I saw a couple of top administrators, an ombudsman, a union representative, and they said: ‘I’ve seen people go through this before. It’s athletics. It doesn’t end well,’ ” Williams said. (NY Times.)

Balloting Begins for IOA Board

IOA has announced the slate of candidates for the board of directors. Balloting will take place electronically. In addition to the candidates' statements provided by IOA, additional public information for some candidates is available from the Internet:

• Wayne Blair (UNC News; UNC Gazette; Daily Tar Heel; UNC Ombuds Office)
• Nick Diehl (Princeton Weekly Bulletin; Princeton Ombuds Office)
• Diane Dorion (RBC Ombuds Office)
  
• Gordon Halfacre [incumbent] (HR Magazine)
• Francine Montemurro (Pipe Dream; Inside BU)
• Carolyn Noorbakhsh (UCB Ombuds Office Annual Report; HR Magazine)
• Trey Reckling (Campus Chronicle)
• David Talbot (IOA Speaker Bio)
  
• Mike Turpenoff (FSA Ombudsman News)
• Margo Wesley [incumbent] (Berkeleyan; UC Berkeley News; Berkeley Parents Network)
• Ted Williamson

Five board members will be chosen. Results will be announced after balloting closes March 7.

IOA Elects Six to Board in 2012

The International Ombudsman Association has announced the results of its recent board election. The following individuals who have been elected to serve three-year term as Directors starting on April 14, 2012: Ilene Butensky, Doris Campos-Infantino, Isabel Calderon, Indumati Sen, and Ted Williamson. In addition, Nora Farrell, was elected to a two-year term as Associate Member Representative.

Prior post: Election Opens for 2012 IOA Board of Directors.

CO-OP Board Announces First Class of Certified Ombuds

The Board of Certification for Certified Organizational Ombudsman Practitioners has announced the names of the first Ombuds to become certified. Nineteen individuals from 12 different organizations have now passed the examination and have demonstrated they have at least a year of experience and practice to the IOA Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice.

• Evan R. Arrowsmith, Eaton Corporation
• Thomas W. Barnette, American Express
• Carol L. Breslin, Chevron Corporation
• Victoria Brown, University of Central Florida
• Ilene Butensky Brehm, Eaton Corporation
• Mary Chavez Rudolph, University of Colorado Denver
• Melissa Connell, University of Colorado Denver
• Joan Elaine Engel, Career Concepts, Inc.
• Sylvia L. Powlis Garvin, Career Concepts, Inc.
• Sharon Lanier, Munroe Regional Medical Center
• Bathabile K. S. Mthombeni, Columbia University
• Lisa M. Neale, University of Colorado Denver
• David Richardson, Kaiser Permanente
• Janis Schonauer, AllianceBernstein
• John A. Simonetti, Eaton Corporation
• Albin W. Swenson, Chevron Corporation
• Marc Vaucher, United Nations
• Richard G. Wall, Chevron Corporation
• Theodore R. Williamson III, The Coca-Cola Company

The next CO-OP examination will be offered during the IOA annual conference in New Orleans, April 8, 2010. (CO-OP Directory of Practitioners.)

Update 3/14/10: One Name Added to the List of First Certified Ombuds.

Related posts: IOA Unveils Certification Program for Organizational Ombuds; First Ombuds Certification Exam: 96% Pass Rate.

Reposting: Public Invited to Comment on Proposed SEC Ombuds Office

Originally posted July 27, 2010.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is calling for public commentary on proposed regulatory initiatives under the Dodd-Frank Act, including the new Ombuds for the Office of the Investor Advocate. Members of the public can express their view by email or an online form.

The new SEC Ombuds will be named by the head of the Office of the Investor Advocate, who is appointed by the SEC Chair. The Investor Advocate will be responsible for assisting individual investors confidentially with issues involving the SEC or other self-regulatory organization. 

Since the Dodd-Frank Act did not specify any guidelines for implementing the new Ombuds program, the SEC will rely in part on public commentary in setting up the program. The public comment period will remain open for 30 days, following publication of the comment request in the Federal Register. (SEC Press Release; Public Comment Form.)

Related post: Financial Regulatory Reform Will Create New Ombuds Programs.

Commenting on the initial posting, John Zinser said...

Colleagues -

I am writing today to encourage you to comment on the SEC Ombudsman proposed under the Dodd-Frank Bill.

The opportunity exists here for at least education and at best actually shaping a program that could have significant impact and visibility.

Please take a few minutes to access the web based comment form and:
1. Encourage the SEC to base the program on existing Standard, Codes and guidelines.
2. Suggest that the program offer service to the public as required, but also be augmented to serve the workforce at the SEC. and
3. (if you really wish to be courageous) Ask the SEC to consider requiring to-code organizational ombudsmen in all regulated firms of more than 500 people as a mechanism to enhance ethical behavior and effective cultures. (Some potential language for this last can be found at: http://conflict2benefit.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/ombudsman-as-an-answer-to-the-financial-meltdown/.)

Please take a few moments today and write the SEC.
Could make a huge difference to this Agency, the field and the investing public.

Thanks.

John

As of September 30, comments had been submitted by:

• Theodore R Williamson, III, Ombudsman, The Coca-Cola Company
• Tom A. Kosakowski, The Ombuds Blog
• Jim Augustine, PhD, University Ombudsman
• Donald Noack, Corporate Ombudsman, Sandia National Laboratories
• Tom Ward, Ombudsman for Staff, Clemson University
• David E McNabb, LLM, Ombudsman, Toronto

(SEC Comments.)

Election Opens for 2012 IOA Board of Directors

The International Ombudsman Association has announced the slate for the 2011 Board of Directors election. As it has in the past, the Ombuds Blog provides links to public information about the candidates to supplement the official ballot statements.

Nominees for the five open directors positions are:

• Bernard Anderson -- LinkedIn; Ombuds Blog;
• Ilene Butensky -- Eaton Corp.; Ombuds Blog;
• Isabel Calderon (incumbent) -- LinkedIn; Ombuds Blog;
• Doris Campos-Infantino (incumbent) -- Interamerican Development Bank;
• Dolores Gomez-Moran -- George Mason University; Ombuds Blog
• Reto Meister -- LinkedIn;
• Indumati Sen (incumbent) -- International Baccalaureate; Ombuds Blog; and
• Ted Williamson -- LinkedIn; Ombuds Blog.

The nominee for the single associate member representative position is:

• Nora Farrell -- Ryerson University; Ombuds Blog.

Voting, which is open only to IOA members, closes Monday, December 12, 2011 at 5pm Pacific Standard Time (8pm EST). Results of the election will be sent out via email in January, and a formal announcement to members will be made at the IOA conference in April.

Related posts: IOA Announces Board Nominees (2008); Slate for 2009 IOA Board Election; IOA Voids Election Results, Reopens Voting; IOA Announces Board Election Results (2010); IOA Opens Balloting for 2011 Board of Directors.