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CHAPTER THREE: 3820
EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION CONCERNING FACULTY AND
STUDENTS
July 2009
3820
OMBUDS OFFICE
PREAMBLE: This
section describes the office and duties of the Ombuds
Office. Under its original title, “Faculty Ombudsman,” it
was added to the Handbook in July of 1992 and, as its title
suggested, was restricted to faculty. In July 1999 the
section was rewritten, and retitled, so as to include the
entire university community. In July 2005 the section was
revised to reflect national standards of practice and
current terminology. In 2009 the section was again revised to include students. Unless otherwise noted, the text is as
of July 1999. More information may be obtained from the
Faculty Secretary's Office (208-885-6151). [ed. 7-00, 7-05, 1-09]
CONTENTS:
A. Introduction
B. Duties of
the Ombuds Office
C.
Qualification and Nature of the Appointment
D.
Nomination and Selection Process
E. Evaluation and
Renewal
A. INTRODUCTION.
A-1. The
establishment of an ombuds office is predicated on the
following premises: (1) disagreements are inevitable in
human organizations; (2) unresolved conflict inhibits
productive enterprise and disrupts interpersonal
relationships; and (3) an impartial third party may afford
insights and informal processes for conflict resolution.
[rev. and ren. 7-99, rev. 7-05]
A-2. The
office is staffed by two ombuds: one part-time position
appointed from tenured faculty ranks, and one part-time exempt position. Both ombuds report to the
provost.
[add. 7-99, rev. 7-05, 1-09]
A-3. The
office provides a voluntary, informal mechanism to
facilitate communications between individuals in dispute,
to help clarify issues involved, and to suggest avenues
for dispute resolution. The office’s role complements
existing formal procedures. The processes initiated by the
office do not substitute for or become part of other
institutional processes. Individuals retain their right to
use any formal procedures ordinarily available to them
[see FSH section
3.8]. Contact with the office does not
constitute nor is it regarded as notice to the university. [rev. and ren. 7-99, rev. 7-05]
A-4. The
ultimate success of the office is highly dependent on the
assurance of impartiality, independence, informal
processes and procedures, confidentiality, accessibility,
expertise in mediation, and integrity. The environment in
which an ombuds can be effective is one where
administrators, faculty, staff and students recognize and respect
the appropriateness and usefulness of the ombud's role in
enhancing the goals of the individual members of the university community. [rev. 7-05, 1-09]
A-5. The
university prohibits any employee or student from discouraging or
limiting another employee from accessing the office, or
intimidating, threatening, coercing, retaliating, or
discriminating against any individual because that
individual raised an issue or participated in dispute
resolution through the office. [see 3810]. Employees will
be allowed reasonable time away from work to access the
office. The university also prohibits any employee or student from intimidating, threatening, coercing,
retaliating, or discriminating against the ombuds, or their staff for performing the duties
of the office. [rev. and ren. 7-99, rev. 7-05, 1-09]
B. DUTIES OF
THE OMBUDS OFFICE.
B-1. The
ombuds listen to concerns of any
employee or student at the UI and use informal means to facilitate
resolution of disputes. The ombuds do
not act as advocates for a single party. Rather, they seek
to find a reasonable and equitable solution for all
parties to a problem or conflict situation. Any employee
or student in the UI community can bring a concern to the office, so
long as it relates to the role and experiences of
the workplace or university life. [rev. 7-99, 7-05, 1-09, ed.
7-01]
B-2. The
office conducts discussions, makes inquiries and keeps
quantitative information about caseloads in a confidential
manner, and is discreet in dealing with comments or
inquiries from those not involved in the dispute or its
resolution. With respect to confidentiality, all contacts,
conversations, and information exchanged with the office
are confidential to the fullest extent allowed by law, unless release is authorized by all parties involved
as well as the involved ombuds person. There are limits to
confidentiality, such as when necessary to protect someone
from harm, or as otherwise required by law. No case
records, documents, or copies of documents are kept, unless doing so is
legally mandated.
Working notes, which are regarded as confidential and
ephemeral, are shredded along with documents at
approximately two week intervals or at the conclusion of a
case, whichever comes first, unless retaining these documents is legally
mandated. In order to preserve the
confidentiality and impartiality so essential to the
successful conduct of the ombuds function, the standards
and practices of the profession preclude participation by
ombuds staff as witnesses in formal proceedings on or off
campus, unless subject to a subpoena or other order from a court of competent
jurisdiction. [rev. 7-99, 7-05, 1-09]
B-3. The
office is impartial and its primary purpose is to help
employees and students find resolutions to problems affecting or
involving them. The office is well versed in the policies,
procedures, and processes that exist at the university for
handling complaints or concerns. The office
will listen to the concern, make appropriate inquiries,
involve appropriate other parties, make suggestions to the
employee(s), student(s) and other parties involved (including but not limited
to formal and informal procedures that could be used), and conduct mediation
as needed. The office has the authority to make reasonable arrangements for
meetings of appropriate people involved in a dispute to try to achieve a
resolution. Ombuds may attend these informal meetings to help facilitate
communication among the parties through mediation. Ombuds may serve as designated
neutral observers at formal meetings and may provide
recommendations regarding processes and procedures.
[rev. 7-99, 7-05, 1-09]
B-4. The
role of the office is not to make judgments on the merits
of a particular situation or complaint, but rather to
create an environment in which the individual concerned
and the others directly involved come to a clearer
understanding of the situation and reach reasonable and
mutually satisfying agreements. The office is neither an
advocate for any party nor a final judge of a situation,
rather it facilitates a resolution determined by the
parties. In specific instances, the ombuds may offer
opinions and recommendations and may comment on a process
or procedure when they believe it is not functioning
well. [rev. 7-99, 7-05, 1-09]
B-5. The
ombuds staff will have access to the Office of the
General Counsel for legal counsel and representation.
Upon request by the ombuds staff to the Office of the
General Counsel, the university may provide access to
independent counsel for their consultation and
representation. [add. 7-05, ed. 1-09]
B-6. The
ombuds are encouraged to comment on
policies, procedures, and processes with an eye to
positive future change. These observations should be
shared with the administrators and bodies with
jurisdiction over those policies, procedures, and
processes. The ombuds author an annual report including
aggregate data on the types of matters handled and
narrative reflecting the character of the year’s
activities. The report is submitted to the president,
provost, faculty senate, and staff affairs committee on
or before September 30 of each year. The annual report and
other educational programs are means for proffering advice
and comment on policies and procedures. [rev. 7-99, 1-09, rev. and ren. 7-05,
ed. 7-09]
C.
QUALIFICATIONS AND NATURE OF THE APPOINTMENT.
C-1. One ombuds will be selected from among the tenured faculty at
the UI (a faculty member in a non-tenure track position,
or who has not achieved tenure, may be considered for the
position under exceptional circumstances). Another ombuds will be an exempt
staff position. Both serve at the pleasure of the
president, but considerable independence and autonomy,
confidentiality, impartiality, and informality are
afforded to ensure the ombuds’ effectiveness in keeping
with national standards for the office. The ombuds
positions are part time. The term of service is for 2 years
and is renewable, upon evaluation and review by the
president. The terms of the ombuds will be staggered so as to ensure there
is always an experienced incumbent in the office. [rev.
7-99, 7-05, 1-09]
C-2. The
qualifications of the successful candidate for ombuds
should include:
a. excellent communication and interpersonal skills,
b.
characteristics which lend themselves to facilitating
problem solving,
c. demonstrated ability to handle confidential information
and use discretion in sensitive matters,
d.
respect of his or her colleagues for professionalism and
integrity,
e.
familiarity with university policies and procedures,
especially those pertaining to grievances and records. [rev. 7-99, 1-09, ed. 7-05]
D. NOMINATION
AND SELECTION PROCESS.
D-1. Ombuds
selection.
a. The
chair and vice chair of the Faculty Senate propose to
the senate for appointment two Faculty Senate members
to serve on a nine-member ombuds committee. The chair
and vice chair of the Staff Affairs Committee (Staff Affairs)
propose two Staff Affairs members to the Staff Affairs for appointment. The
president and vice president of ASUI select two students, one graduate and
one undergraduate. The
committee is composed of the provost, the director of
Human Resources, the six aforementioned members and
the outgoing ombuds (without vote), and has the
responsibility for nominating people for the ombuds
position. [rev. and ren. 7-99, ed. 7-05, 7-09, rev. 1-09]
b. The
advertisement is drafted by the committee and reviewed
and approved by the president. The committee advertises
the position, accepts and solicits applications and
nominations, and interviews candidates. The committee
functions in a confidential manner. [rev. and
ren. 7-99]
c. The
committee provides a list of at least two nominees to
the Faculty Senate, Staff Affairs and ASUI, forwards the list to the
president along with a portfolio and statement of
rationale for each nominee. The president reviews the
files and interviews the nominees. The president selects
the ombuds from that list. [rev. and ren. 7-99,
rev. 7-05, 1-09, ed. 7-09]
E. EVALUATION AND
RENEWAL.
E-1.
Ombuds review. The president conducts an annual review of
the ombuds. During the latter half of the second year of each two-year term,
an in-depth evaluation is conducted by the president. Included in the
evaluation are assessments by the provost, the Faculty Senate, Staff Affairs, ASUI and a
self-evaluation by the ombuds. These confidential
evaluations are submitted to the president for review and
discussion with the incumbent by February 15 in the second
year of service. Renewal of the appointment of the ombuds will be based on
these evaluations and requires mutual consent of the Faculty Senate, Staff
Affairs and the president. [rev. and ren. 7-99, ed. 7-00, 7-09, rev. 7-05, 1-09]
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