by Marcia Martínez-Helfman, JD, MSW, 2019-2020 IOA President

Greetings, Colleagues –

I want to share with you this letter I received from the National Academies' Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education acknowledging the IOA as a founding member of this very important effort to address sexual misconduct in academia. IOA has made a four-year commitment to this effort. Hats off to Jessica Kuchta-Miller, IOA Board member and Government & Policy Committee Co-Chair, for bringing this opportunity to the IOA.

The Action Collaborative will host an annual summit every fall in a different part of the country. The Summit is an opportunity to gather information, engage in a dialogue, gain diverse perspectives on how to effectively prevent sexual harassment and abuse, and ultimately identify and elevate promising practices for preventing sexual harassment and abuse. This year's Summit will be held November 19 - 20, 2019 at the University of Washington in Seattle, and is free and open to the public. Jessica Kutcha-Miller and Chuck Howard will be attending on behalf of IOA, and will be sharing information about the value and effectiveness of ombuds programs with Summit participants.

Hello, IOA — from your Volunteer Coordination Committee (VCC)!

IOA is a volunteer-driven organization, and there are so many great individuals already contributing their time, skills, and energy to advancing work within IOA, but there are still phenomenal volunteer opportunities that await eager individuals!

The Volunteer Coordination Committee (VCC) is excited to share the following open IOA volunteer opportunities. We encourage you to review the below opportunities and get involved with IOA!

By Roy Baroff, COOP® , Faculty/Staff Ombuds, NC State University

Hello, IOA -- from your Strategic Alliances and Partnerships Committee (SAPC)!  

We wanted to provide a quick update and extend an invitation. This is still a fairly new committee, and we’ve been working to build relationships to promote, provide member services and protect the ombuds profession. One project is to firm up connections with like-minded organizations, and we are working to confirm and document reciprocal agreements around conference invitations and exhibiting. Two are right around the corner, and you are invited to say hello and stop by IOA tables next week at the USOA conference in Hawaii (Liz Hill - Associate Director of the Ombuds Office, University of Colorado Boulder ) and ACR in Tucson (Caitlin Hendrickson – Ombuds Program Director, University of Arizona). Many thanks to Liz and Caitlin for representing IOA. If you are attending and want to help staff the table, then please contact them directly.

By Marcia Martínez-Helfman, 2019–2020 IOA President & Lee Twyman, Chair, Executive Director Search Committee

Dear IOA Members & Supporters,

The selection of an executive director concludes IOA’s organizational transition to a hybrid management model. We are pleased to have received a large number of very strong applicants deeply interested in the work of the IOA. Earlier this year, finalists were interviewed and the IOA Board of Directors unanimously agreed to offer the Executive Director position to Chuck Howard. Chuck will officially begin on 1 September 2019.We are delighted to announce that Charles (Chuck) Howard has agreed to serve as the inaugural Executive Director for the International Ombudsman Association.