African Educator Calls for University Ombuds

In the wake of student riots at several prominent universities in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa, a leading educator is recommending that campuses adopt Ombuds programs.

Goolam Mohamedbhai, the former Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities, the former President of the International Association of Universities and the former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mauritius, says there are many reasons for the unrest after years of neglect and under-funding. He offers several solutions and called in particular for "Campus Ombudsmen" to listen to student grievances and avert major crises. Mohamedbhai cited the positive effect of Ombuds programs at American universities and the UK Office of the Independent Adjudicator.

In response to the article, Boubakar Barry (Coordinator of the Research and Education Networking Unit at the Association of African Universities) pointed out that there are several African universities with Ombuds programs, including Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar, Senegal which has had an Ombudsman for about seven years. (Inside Higher Education.)

Related posts: Ombuds Training in Tunisia; Stellenbosch University Names New Ombuds.

Growing Business for Workplace Chaplains

Last night, the NBC Nightly News profiled a service more employers are adopting to care for their employees: office chaplains.  "Finding someone to listen – really listen – to your personal concerns is not what most offices are known for but some folks are trying to change that, with chaplains at work." (NBC Nightly News.)

The largest supplier of the service is Marketplace Chaplains, USA, a nonprofit headquartered outside Dallas. According to their website, the service is "voluntary, confidential, neutral from company operating structure, [and] available to ALL employees." The operating principles are based on the U.S. military chaplain program. Marketplace Chaplains currently serves nearly half a millions individuals at 418 companies. The company has recently started expanding its multi-denominational service to companies in Canada, Europe, Puerto Rico and Mexico. (Marketplace Chaplains.)

Related post: Journal of IOA Publishes Second Volume ("Military Chaplaincy and Ombudsing").

Job Posting: Kaiser Permanente

KP is hiring a Health Care Ombuds/Mediator for their facility in Fresno, CA. The Kaiser HCOM "functions as a trained alternative dispute professional offering patients, family members, staff & providers a conflict management program to resolve patient/provider healthcare disputes early thereby improving patient safety & reducing the costs of health care dispute resolution."

People who have applied for these positions confirm that Kaiser requires extensive clinical or health care management experience. No salary or closing date indicated. (Kaiser Permanent Careers, Job No.: 035622.)

Photos From New Orleans Conference

Trey Reckling has posted photos from the International Ombudsman Association's conference April 7-10, 2010. (Southern Sports Photo.)

I can't believe I didn't post this earlier.

Related post: IOA Annual Conference Marks Fifth Anniversary With Promise of Rebirth, Rebuild and Respond.

LSU Ombuds Office Faces Elimination Under 2011-12 Budget

Louisiana State University has outlined $46 million in possible budget reductions for the 2011-12 fiscal year in anticipation of severe cuts to higher education. A committee divided campus units into three categories and the Ombuds Office is in the first category targeted for cutbacks.

The proposal would eliminate the halftime Ombuds position that was established in 2006. Kirsten Schwehm is the LSU Ombuds and helped organized the most recent IOA conference in New Orleans. (LSU Plan Announcement and Level 1 Cuts; WAFB News.)

New Research Confirms Cost of Workplace Conflict and Reveals Benefit of Venting

Research by economists at the University of Nottingham has revealed that feuding opponents will continue to retaliation even when they realize their efforts are damaging their own interests.  Fortunately, the likelihood of vendettas is mitigated by giving participants the opportunity to vent their anger.

The study looked at the development of vendettas in games where participants were allowed to ‘steal’ a proportion of the others’ probability of winning. Researchers found that protagonists often pursued the conflict well beyond the reasonable limits of self-interest: 70% of the games showed ‘tit for tat’ stealing which resulted in both party’s chances of winning reducing below 10%, thus ending the game. The study thus confirmed earlier research that workplace conflict is often economically irrational.

More relevant to the work of Organizational Ombuds was the additional observation that the number of mutually destructive games fell when players could vent their feelings between rounds. Researchers found that the more open subjects were in venting their negative emotions state, the less aggressive they were in pursuing vendettas. “This research has obvious potential applications for attempts to reduce the level of conflict in settings such as the workplace,” said co-author Dr Jonathan Tan, of Nottingham University Business School.

We found venting provides an opportunity for people to channel their feelings, which is an alternative to engaging in destructive behaviour. Providing non-destructive ways for workers to channel such emotions could therefore be used to cut aggression in the workplace.

(Friedel Bolle, Jonathan H.W. Tan and Daniel John Zizzo, "Vendettas," (Discussion Papers 2010-02, The Centre for Decision Research and Experimental Economics, School of Economics, University of Nottingham, 2010); People Matters; Bulletin Academic.)

Ombuds everywhere are nodding in agreement.

University of Missouri–Kansas City Appoints First Faculty Ombuds

UMKC has named long-time professor Nancy Day as its first Ombuds for faculty matters. The announcement seems to indicate that Day will be available to all faculty rather than just faculty from the School of Arts & Sciences as initially contemplated.  She begins a two-year term on September 1, 2010.

Day joined UMKC in 1991 and is currently a tenured associate professor in human resources and organizational behavior. She earned her PhD in social psychology with an emphasis in organizational psychology from the University of Kansas, and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from UMKC. In addition to her teaching duties at UMKC, Day has serves in a variety administrative positions including a stint as director of the Executive MBA program and interim associate dean of the business school, the Bloch School. Her research focuses primarily on compensation and diversity. Day has been active in several professional associations, including WorldatWork, the Midwest Academy of Management, and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.  (UMatters.)

Prior post: University of Missouri, Kansas City, Will Create Ombuds for Some Faculty.