October 15, 2015  |  News & Events, Timely Announcements

Colleagues,

I share with you an Ombuds Council update for Fall 2015, from Nadya Fouad, Special Assistant to the Provost for Conflict Resolution.

Ombuds Council Fall 2015

Welcome back to the 2015 academic year.  We know we are facing a difficult year in dealing with the budget cuts and other issues.  In uncertain times, conflict situations can rise up more easily. We want to make sure all faculty and staff know that the Ombuds Council members are available to help informally resolve such situations.   We also want to take this opportunity to re-introduce ourselves, talk about changes in the volunteers who make up the Ombuds Council and provide some answers to questions we often receive.


Q.  What is the Ombuds Council?

A.  The Ombuds Council is made up of a group of eight volunteers representing a wide group of faculty and staff on campus, listed below.  Nadya Fouad, chair of Educational Psychology, Special Assistant to the Provost for Conflict Resolution, leads the Council.   The key criteria for our work as ombuds is that we are:

  • Neutral/impartial—we don’t advocate for any one party or take sides in a conflict.
  • Informal—we are solely charged with helping individuals informally resolve conflicts.  We are not an office of notice and cannot take part in any formal grievances.
  • Confidential—conversations with Ombuds Council members is entirely confidential, except for cases when there is any concern about harm to an individual or others, including cases of sexual assault or where a child may be harmed.
  • Independent—we are independent of any other office on campus.  We keep no records.   While overall patterns of concerns are reported to the Provost, no individual is identified or named.


Q. What types of services do Ombuds provide?
A.

We listen and help visitors consider options
We can bring parties together to informally resolve conflicts
We can talk to someone on a visitor’s behalf (with permission)
We can bring a department (or unit) together to talk about conflicts
We can conduct a climate survey for a department or unit and
report the results back to the unit
We refer visitors to other services/options on campus

Ombuds Council Members

Ann Dietrich Ben Schneider Christine Wolf David Pate
Jacques Du Plessis Jeanne Wagner Margie Anunson Nadya Fouad

Visit our website for more information:  https://uwm.edu/ombuds/.
Take care,

Johannes

Johannes Britz
Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

 

Date: October 15, 2015