Florida Gulf Coast U Adds Part-Time Ombuds

The FGCU Ombuds Office has appointed Katherine Hale as a part-time assistant Ombuds for faculty issues, working with the University Ombuds, Charles W. McKinney. Hale is a professor in the College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Communication. She earned a Ph.D. from the University of Oklahoma, and Masters and Bachelors from Abilene Christian University. Hale has over 300 hours of additional specialized education and training in conflict intervention, including facilitation, multi-lateral negotiation, mediation, training, intercultural conflict and negotiation, dispute resolution system design, and a number of specific conflict content areas. (FGCU Press Release.)

IOA Annual Conference Keynote Speakers

The International Ombudsman Association has released details of the keynote speakers for its Third Annual Conference in Boston, April 13-16:

• Dr. Ricard E. Lapchick will provide the first keynote address, "A Bridge Across the Racial Divide." He is the director of the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport and has written extensively on racial equality in sports. (Biography; Sports Business Journal article; ESPN article.)
• Ambassador Harriet Elam-Thomas will keynote the second day on "Cultural Competencies and Diversity in 21st Century Diplomacy." The Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Senegal was the 2007 recipient of the U.S. State Department's "Director General's Cup for the Foreign Service." (Biography; Jet profile.)
• Dr. Paul Barreira is the final keynote speaker and will speak on "The State of College Mental Health." Berreira is director of Harvard’s Department of Behavioral Health and Academic Counseling and an associate professor of psychiatry at the Harvard Medical School. (Harvard Crimson editorial, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal article.)

(IOA Conference Brochure.)

APPLICATION OF INSTRUMENTED FALLING DART IMPACT TO THE MECHANICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THERMOPLASTIC FOAMS

J. I. VELASCO*, A. B. MARTINEZ

Departament de Ciencies dels Materials i Enginyeria Metal.lurgica, Escola Tecnica Superior d’Enginyers Industrials de Barcelona (ETSEIB), Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC), Avda. Diagonal 647, 08028 Barcelona, Spain. E-mail : JVELASCO@CMEM.UPC.ES

D. ARENCON

Centre Catala del Plastic (CCP), Vapor Universitari de Terrassa. C/Colom 114, 08222 Terrassa, Spain

M. A. RODRIGUEZ-PEREZ, J. A. DE SAJA

Departamento de Fisica de la Materia Condensada, Cristalografia y Mineralogia, Universidad de Valladolid, Facultad de Ciencias. Prado de la Magdalena s/n, 47011 Valladolid, Spain.

The applicability of instrumented falling weight impact techniques in characterizing mechanichally thermoplastic foams at relatively high strain rates is presented. In order to try simulating impact loading of foams against sharp elements, an instrumented dart having a hemispherical headstock was employed in the test. Failure strength and toughness values were obtained from high-energy impact experiments, and the elastic modulus could be measured from both flexed plate and indentation low-energy impact tests. The result indicate a dependence of the failure strength, toughness, and the elastic modulus on the foam density, the foaming process, and the chemical composition. This influence was found to be similar to that of pure nonfoamed materials and also to that observed from low-rate compression tests. The results also indicate that the indentation low-energy impact tests were more accurate in obtaining right values of the elastic modulus than the flexed plate low-energy impact tests usually used to characterize rigid plastics. The foam indentation observed with this test configuration contributes to obtaining erroneous values of the elastic modulus if only a simple flexural analysis of plates is applied.

© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers

Traditionally, impact tests have been employed to measure the ability of a sample or a finished part to absorb a shock or impact. Falling weight impact tests stand out among the different types of impact tests because the simply supported or fixed (clamped) sample receives the collision of a mass falling from determined height. These tests have advantage of multiaxiality and the possibility of working with finished articles, if they are properly fixed.

The noninstrumented (analogic) impact tests give neither qualitative information about the energy required for the fracture initiation nor the information about the mechanical behavior of the material. These tests give only statistical plots as a relationship between the probability of failure or survival of the sample according the strictness of the test.

UMass-Amherst Ombuds to Coordinate Impartial Observers

The University of Massachusetts Amherst has asked its Ombuds Office to maintain a list of staff and faculty who would be willing to serve as impartial observers during certain campus events where students and campus police are present. In the unlikely circumstance that any disruption should occur where students and police have to interact, observers are there to validate what actually occurred. “In no case would an observer participate in any part of the activity,” said Catharine Porter, University Ombuds. “This system of observers is in place to assure fairness and accuracy in reporting what transpired.” (UMassAmherst: In the Loop.)

Related posts: U of Arkansas Office of Student Mediation Changing Name to Ombuds Office; Texas Tech Ombuds to Help Administer Student Relief Funds.

UGA Student Newspaper Endorses Ombuds Office Proposal

The Red and Black, the independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia, is backing a proposal to create a campus Ombuds office. The newspaper cited recent concerns about sexual harassment policies, and called upon University President Michael Adams to make good on his promises:

It is apparent the University is in dire need of an ombudsmen office, and The Red & Black hopes the delegate appointed should be independent of the University.

We want this office established before the beginning of the next school year to handle all complaints from students, faculty and staff.

(Red and Black.)

Related post: UGA President Agrees to Consider Ombuds for Staff and Students.

UK Researcher Advocates Legislative Support for Ombuds Programs

David Esplin, a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Hertfordshire Business School, finds that there is a compelling evidence to justify a increased use of ADR methods in dealing with employment disputes in the UK. In his paper, "Employment Dispute Resolution In Great Britain, The Case For Change, An International Perspective," Esplin draws on ADR programs in various countries including the Ombuds programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the National Naval Medical Center, the Transportation Security Administration, and the World Bank. Citing research by Mary Rowe and Carole Houk, he concludes that Ombuds lower litigation costs and increase stakeholder satisfaction.

Esplin recommends statutory changes to promote the growth of Ombuds in the UK:

[C]onsideration should be given to creating some form of legislative provision to encourage employers to use mediation structures similar to the USA Ombudsman and [integrated conflict management] systems as a replacement for grievance style hearings in the resolution of employment disputes.

(Esplin, Employment Dispute Resolution in Great Britain, see pp. 15-19.)

Lehigh Appoints Two Ombuds

Lehigh University has announced that Rosemary J. Mundhenk and Charles R. Smith will replace Vince Munley, who served as University's Ombuds since October 2002. Mundhenk has taught at Lehigh since 1973, and has published on John Milton, George Eliot, and Charles Dickens. Smith has taught at Lehigh since 1978, and his research focuses on the fundamental fluid and heat transfer behavior of turbulent and generally unsteady flows. (Lehigh News.)