Ombuds Blog Marks First Anniversary

The Ombuds Blog launched in November 2006. Since then, it has posted 422 items of news and information for organizational ombuds. The site has garnered 14,000 hits from 5,800 visitors. The majority of visitors (59%) return and 70 people have signed up for daily email updates via Feedblitz. Reflecting the growth in the profession, 50 ombuds jobs have been posted and 14 new ombuds announced. The site also features links to 281 ombuds offices in corporations, higher education, government, health care, NGO's and school districts.

The highest number of hits came on June 18, which featured stories about:

• A Federal District Court respecting the confidentiality of the ombuds office at Marquette University;
• The governor of Tennessee moving ahead with hiring an open records ombuds;
• The Ombudsman for Citizenship and Immigration Services criticizing FBI delays in reviewing immigration applications;
• Public outcry over the ombuds at Eastern Michigan University withholding details of a murder investigation;
• A profile of the new ombuds at University of South Florida; and
• A job posting for the ombuds office at the Stanford School of Medicine.

(The increased traffic was also due to a story posted two days earlier revealing that a prestigious law firm had secretly advised owners of the Wall Street Journal to consider an ombuds to protect the paper's independence and integrity if it was sold to Rupert Murdoch.)

In its first year, the Ombuds Blog also tracked legislation to:

• Create a federal ombuds for accounting oversight;
• Require intellectual diversity ombuds for several state universities;
• Implement a federal open records ombuds;
• Establish an ombuds office for the Red Cross;
• Create a privilege for ombuds in Texas;
• Open an ombuds office for the Department of Defense;
  
• Defund the Centers for Disease Control ombuds office; and
• Establish an ombuds for college accreditation issues.

Thanks again for all of your support. Please do not hesitate to submit items that have been overlooked.