New Program:
The Board of Certification approved a new individual certification model for organizational ombuds. The following are requirements under the new certification program:
Experience
31 January 2025
We know that so many in our US Government and US Higher Ed communities are being upended by uncertainty and the impact of new policies. We also know you may need to justify your roles and offices now more than ever. To help support you, we wanted to share some resources, including some talking points that may be useful:
First and foremost, please know we are here for you. Please reach out to IOA (President Sarah Klaper, members of the Board, Executive Director Ellen Miller) or your ombuddies if you need support, a sound board or just a friend. If there is something you need, please do not hesitate to let us know.
Earlier this month, U.S. District Court in Kentucky vacated the U.S. Department of Education’s Title IX regulations published in August 2024. This means the 2020 regulations are back in force (or remain in force for those institutions who didn’t make the change).
The 2020 revised regulations limited the ways in which an institution “knows or reasonably should know” of incidents of sexual harassment to give notice to the Title IX coordinator or an “official with authority to institute corrective measures.”
What does that mean for Ombuds?
As we begin 2025, many of our ombuddies are faced with extremes related to weather and other world events. While much of the US has been impacted by severe cold, snow and ice this week, our colleagues in Los Angeles County are facing tremendous uncertainty related to devastating wildfires. Their homes and the homes of their friends, family, colleagues and stakeholders have been impacted. If anyone would like more information on how to support, please reach out to our friends at Cal Caucus and particularly Serena Young at [email protected] for more details. What makes our community special is our connections and support of each other. Please keep these ombuddies in your thoughts and prayers.
Starting February 6, we will hold space for a quarterly community wellness check-in on the first Thursday of the 2nd month of the quarter at 8 am Pacific: 6 February, 1 May, 7 August, and 6 November. To join us, please use this link to access the space.
If there is anything IOA can do to support you, as always - please reach out and let us know.
We wanted to update the IOA Community regarding the status of Program Accreditation and its impacts on individual certification.
As we have previously shared, a Joint Task Force was established in 2022 to explore the development of a program accreditation model. This was the natural next step based both on IOA’s current Strategic Plan and the Board of Certification’s recommendations. To support the Task Force’s work, IOA hired a subject matter expert to review and benchmark our certification program against others. The consultant made a series of recommendations that matched the thinking of the Joint Task Force and also confirmed the direction we needed to go.
One of the recommendations was to stand up a Program Certification model, not a Program Accreditation model, so the Joint Task Force focused on what a properly structured office would need to look like, and how an office can be structured to allow the ombuds to adhere to the Standards of Practice. Many offices and organizations have expressed an interest in Program Certification to help demonstrate and highlight the importance of both the ombuds function and a properly structured office. Certain sectors i.e. higher education, government, healthcare, biomed research, also have a culture that values certification and accreditation, so this additional certification will be especially important for those offices.
IOA's Internationalization Task Force finished its work earlier this year and recommended a series of priorities to guide international activities. This included regional education, greater clarity for the four Regional Advancement Communities (RACs) and exploring how best to advocate and protect the OO model in Europe.
This prioritization identified Canada as the next area of focus internationally. As a result, we have increased our outreach to this important community, developed a Canadian focused Foundations curriculum, and teed up a regional Foundations instructor team going forward. We also participated in a special Ombuds Symposium convened by the University of St. Paul’s Center for Informal Dispute Resolution in May, and held our first Foundations in Ottawa this September.
Did you know that Canada is home to IOA’s second largest group of members? Did you also know that the Canadian Public Sector Ombuds are the largest population of organizational ombuds in Canada with over 120 and counting? There are currently 50 federal government ombuds offices supporting the federal public sector and the community is robust and organized. They have just completed an introductory video building on IOA’s Modern Ombuds video that is available in both English and French for Canadian offices. These videos were shared at the Forum for Canadian Ombudsman (FCO’s) Annual Conference in October:
IOA launched our Organizational Values and Community Norms, and the Concern and Complaint Policy for all IOA participants back in 2023.
It has been about 18 months since these were approved by the Board of Directors, and we would like to hear your perspectives on their impact via this short survey. If you prefer, please feel free to reach out to me, or our our Ombuds team.
Together, we will build and nurture the community we want at IOA.
The European Group of Ombuds and Mediation Representatives, a gathering of professionals from large European and international organizations is meeting at SAPs headquarter in Walldorf for their annual conference. This annual event offers a unique opportunity to come together, share best practices, and collaborate on the evolving role of Ombuds in today’s world.
"At SAP, we’re excited to not only share our own 15 years of experience as Ombuds in the IT and High-Tech sector, but also work with this group of professionals on topics like AI and tools and best practices in a series of Breakout Sessions throughout the 3-day event," says Carsten Pöschl, Global Ombudsperson at SAP. At next week's gathering, attendees will dive into workshops, discussions, and explore how technology and innovation can support the Ombuds community in addressing todays and future challenges. A highlight will be welcoming Sarah Klaper, President of IOA and other Ombuds professionals on stage for panel discussions with the group of 60 experts expected from across Europe.
IOA would like to extend our thanks to the European Ombuds and Mediator Group co-chairs Jutta Reitmeier at Mars and Diana Vermeul, at HarmoniKon and Carsten Pöschl and SAP for their sponsorship and support of this conference.
12, June 2024
As you may have heard, Lindsay Jennings - our fabulous Managing Director and Vice President of Business Development at SBI Association Management – has accepted the position of Executive Director of the Orcas Island Community Foundation. This is a very exciting opportunity for Lindsay, as she will have a direct impact in the community she calls home. We find ourselves both celebrating for her and feeling very sad for IOA.
Lindsay has been integral to the growth of IOA since 2018 and was on the transition team right from the start. She quickly learned all things IOA, devoted 50% of her time to IOA and beautifully managed her team at SBI to support us. She also helped shepherd two executive directors, which is no small task. We have all come to rely on her calm and wise demeanor, sage counsel, and authenticity. So, this will be hard.
IOA was handed a big win today! Revisions to Title IX were released Friday, 19 April and IOA is thrilled to see the US Department of Education's inclusion of Organizational Ombuds as employees who may be designated as confidential employees for Title IX purposes.
Since 2012, IOA has actively commented on proposed regulations and other guidance that addresses both Title IX and Clery Act. In 2022, we upped our game. In May 2022, we participated in an Executive Order (EO) 12866 Meeting on Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities to begin planning seeds. In the Fall of 2022, we filed comments on the formal Notice of Proposed Rulemaking proposal to changes in Title IX. Post filing, we spent several months lobbying US Members of Congress involved in education and safety committees. This resulted in a bipartisan letter that was sent to the Department of Education, supporting our position that Organizational Ombuds may be designated as confidential employees.
Some Sections from the Commentary:
