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Reports out of the National Hockey League reveal that players are concerned about the recent ouster of Paul Kelly, the Player's Association Executive Director, and the role of the Ombuds. Kelly was fired August 31, 2009 after the NHLPA Executive Board heard criticism from several sources, including interim Ombuds Buzz Hargrove. Since then, it has been revealed that Hargrove reviewed private emails between Kelly and a player, allegedly a violation of the union's rules. In his defense, Hargrove said that the emails were provided by a union employee as evidence of Kelly's misconduct. Moreover, Hargrove explained that reading the emails were an appropriate part of his investigation as the Ombuds. Nonetheless, media outlets are speculating that Hargrove will be asked to resign soon. (Boston Globe-Bruins Blog; Toronto Globe and Mail; Toronto Star;
The Hockey News.)Prior post: Hockey Players Oust Director With Input From Ombuds.
Trustees for the nonprofit university consortium will take up the creation of an Ombuds program at its next meeting on October 12. According to the agenda for the meeting, UCAR trustees will be asked to approve an Ombuds Charter and nominees to fill the position. The organization began considering an Ombuds program as early as 1999, but there has been little progress until recently. Further details regarding the proposed program have not been made public. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmospheric Research and related programs for the geosciences community and has a total staff of about 1,500. (UCAR Board of Trustees Agenda, Oct. 12-13, 2009; UCAR Staff Announcement, 11/11/99.)
At yesterday's press briefing, a United Nations spokesperson announced that 45 UN Ombudsman and Mediation Services staff moved from the Secretariat Building to 380 Madison Avenue. The UN occupies 600,000 square feet in the commercial office tower and has been using the location to relocate staff during the seven-year, billion dollar renovation of the iconic Secretariat Building. (UN Noon Briefing Highlights; ISRIA.)
The provincial Ombudsman for British Columbia will become the Ombudsperson under a new law introduced by the BC legislature. "This name change is about better reflecting the era in which we live," said Attorney General Michael de Jong, who introduced Bill 12 amending the Ombudsman Act. "Societal norms have evolved since this office was first established in 1979. Workplace diversity has come a long way, and this change reflects our sensitivity to the names of public offices." The bill changes only the name and does not otherwise affect the mandate of the BC Ombudsperson to oversee the administrative actions of government authorities. (BC Ombudsman Amendment Act, 2009 (first reading); Victoria Times Colonist; CTV News.)Related posts: Linguist Finds "Ombuds" Usage Shifting Slowly; Former ESPN Ombuds Explains Why She Was Not an “Ombudswoman”.
The Forum of Canadian Ombudsmen is sponsoring a workshop on "unreasonable" complainant behavior -- a situation faced by all types of Ombuds. Chris Wheeler, Deputy Ombudsman for New South Wales, Australia will cover topics including:- What is (and what isn't) unreasonable complainant conduct? - definitions and categories;
- What leads complainants to act unreasonably? - motivations and triggers;
- How to determine whether conduct is unreasonable - what are the criteria?;
- General strategies (and some particular techniques) you can use to prevent and manage unreasonable conduct;
- When you should apply those strategies; and
- What are the responsibilities of agencies and staff to prevent and manage unreasonable conduct.
The one-day workshop will be offered in four cities across Canada, but due to strong demand, there is space remaining only for the session in Victoria. Please note, tthat the language of instruction for this course is English. (FCO Announcement.)
McGill University Ombuds Spencer Boudreau said that 40% of the visitors to his office last year were graduate students. This is significant because grads comprise roughly one-fifth of McGill's population. Boudreau, who based his report on data collected before his appointment last month, explained the imbalance as an effect of the highly intense nature of graduate students’ worries about supervision. “If something goes wrong during your graduate degree, the stakes are so high,” Boudreau said. He was unable to comment on the trend of concerned grads. The full Ombuds report has not been posted yet. (McGill Daily.)Related post: McGill Names New Ombuds for Students.
Reports out of the National Hockey League reveal that players are concerned about the recent ouster of Paul Kelly, the Player's Association Executive Director, and the role of the Ombuds. Kelly was fired August 31, 2009 after the NHLPA Executive Board heard criticism from several sources, including interim Ombuds Buzz Hargrove. Since then, it has been revealed that Hargrove reviewed private emails between Kelly and a player, allegedly a violation of the union's rules. In his defense, Hargrove said that the emails were provided by a union employee as evidence of Kelly's misconduct. Moreover, Hargrove explained that reading the emails were an appropriate part of his investigation as the Ombuds. Nonetheless, media outlets are speculating that Hargrove will be asked to resign soon. (Boston Globe-Bruins Blog; Toronto Globe and Mail; Toronto Star; The Hockey News.)
