By Shannon Lynn Burton, Ph.D.,
University Ombudsperson, Michigan State University
Dear IOA Colleagues,
The Journal of the International Ombuds Association (JIOA) has been busy this year! Please visit our website if you have not done so recently. There are new articles and book reviews posted.
The Journal for the International Ombuds Association (JIOA) has an opening for an Associate Editor! Associate Editors work directly with authors throughout the revision process. JIOA believes in a highly constructive revision process. Associate Editors are directly responsible for providing editorial support to authors to achieve that goal. Specific responsibilities of Associate Editors include:
The ideal Associate Editor will have excellent communication skills; tact and discretion; familiarity with academic research, writing, and conventions; digital fluency; the ability to multitask and meet deadlines; a highly cooperative spirit; and respect for academic integrity. Three years of experience within the Ombuds field is preferred.
The Journal of the International Ombuds Association
Special Issue Announcement
By Jennifer Swan and Shannon Burton
JIOA Special Issue Editors
Dear Colleagues,
The events of the past two years have brought issues of Social Justice front and center in the United States. Visitors bring concerns related to the complex issues of identity, marginalization, and inclusion impacting their lives in both the workplace and in the classroom. Shepherding the resulting conflicts generates challenges as ombuds strive to stay neutral while considering the impact of social justice on conflict management.
In 2018, IOA began our journey to redefine the way we communicate about our association and about the organizational ombuds profession as a whole. Today, we are proud to announce and share the results of this effort.
Along with formally changing our organization's name to the “International Ombuds Association,” we are releasing a new logo, revised color palette, and a refined branding style guide. This new branding helps us celebrate the growth and evolution of our organization and our profession. It reflects a modern interpretation of our core values and traditions while incorporating elements of our 2021-2024 Strategic Direction.
During this process, member input has driven the overall direction and design of this new modern look. Your responses to the member-driven 2020 Branding Survey, your comments and input on the revisions to IOA's Bylaws & Articles of Incorporation, as well as your feedback on the 2021 logo design concepts have helped IOA leadership to better understand what you think IOA's brand should convey and what imagery resonates most with you.
Editor of the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA)
University Ombudsperson - Michigan State University
Dear Colleagues and Friends of the JIOA,
The Journal for the International Ombudsman Association is seeking authors for media and book reviews!
By Shannon Burton, PhD
Editor of the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA)
University Ombudsperson - Michigan State University
With the publication of Part I of the Journal for the International Ombudsman Association’s (JIOA) Special Issue on Sexual Harassment and Discrimination, the JIOA is looking at the potential for future special issues. As part of this initiative, we are placing a call for guest editors.
Themes for which the JIOA is searching for guest editors:
By Shereen Bingham
Professor Emeritus and former Ombuds, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Have you ever observed an individual enter an Ombuds office–perhaps your own–exuding feelings such as uncertainty, anxiety, fear, or despair? And then watched them take leave of that office some 90 minutes later radiating a degree of comfort, hope, or resolve? I have. Countless Ombuds colleagues have described similar experiences with visitors. But how does it happen? What exactly does Ombuds work entail?
Contrary to what our T-shirts may claim, we all know Ombuds are not really superheroes with supernatural powers. But Ombuds do have an air of mystery about them. How could it be otherwise? The IOA Standards of Practice guide Ombuds to operate confidentially, independently, and off-the-record. Details of Ombuds’ methods and interactions are inherently private and hidden from view.
By Shannon Burton
JIOA Editor
Dear IOA Colleagues,
The Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) has been busy these past few months! Please visit our website if you have not done so recently. There are new articles and book reviews posted. These include:
By Shannon Burton
University Ombudsperson, Michigan State University
JIOA Editor
Do you have broad interest in ombuds work?If so, then please consider applying to serve as a Peer Reviewer for the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA). The Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) is a peer-reviewed online journal for scholarly articles and information relevant to the ombuds profession. As members of a relatively new profession, we continually strive to understand, define, and clarify the role and function of the professional organizational ombuds. Serving as a Peer Reviewer for the JIOA is a great way to learn more about academic writing and research and gain new insights into the field as well.
The journal’s reviewers use their expertise to comment and provide feedback on manuscripts submitted to the JIOA. Reviewers conduct blind reviews and are expected to complete them within eight weeks. As part of the review process, reviewers will recommend the manuscripts are accepted with no revisions, accepted with revisions (minor or major), or rejected.
Dear Colleagues,
A lot has been happening with the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) this month! If you have not visited our page lately, please do so soon. There have been three new articles posted in the past two weeks. These are:
The JIOA also has some new books available for review. If you are interested in reviewing one of the following books, please e-mail us at [email protected]. The current available books for review are:
Dear Colleagues and Friends of the JIOA,
The Journal of the International Ombudsman Association (JIOA) is pleased to announce a Call for Papers for a special edition on Responses of the Organizational Ombuds to Sexual Harassment. The papers in this edition will focus on organizational ombuds’ most significant and challenging experiences in responding to and assisting with sexual harassment concerns. Additional details on the call for papers is attached. Dr. Shereen Bingham will be serving as Guest Editor for this issue. Please direct questions about the special issue to Dr. Bingham whose contact information can be found in the Call for Papers.
Best Wishes,
By Shannon Lynn Burton, Ph.D., University Ombudsperson, Michigan State University
Editor, Journal for the International Ombudsman Association
Dear Colleagues and Friends of the JIOA,
We are pleased to announce a new initiative with the Journal for the International Ombudsman Association around book and media reviews!
As ombuds, we all practice some level of reflection in our work, and as humans, we naturally seek to share our experiences with others. Why not join your colleagues in an exploration of ideas, practices and new theories by publishing in the Journal of the IOA? Writing about your experiences can be a way to examine your practice, deepen your philosophies, and reflect on the impact of your work on your organization - and your publication can help enhance both your own individual professional standing while it legitimizes the field as a whole. Writing is also a way to process particularly big or challenging emotions, so writing about that difficult case can also be a way for you to figure out how to move forward. The JIOA is soliciting all articles - academic as well as practiced or application oriented - and members of our Editorial Board are happy to discuss your ideas and help you along the road to publication. If you've recently given a presentation or training, you may also want to consider developing that work into an article so it can benefit not just your immediate audience, but a larger audience as well. We hope that you will consider writing an article for submission and encourage you to reach out if you are interested. You can email the Editorial Board at: [email protected].
After considerable debate, the International Ombudsman Association (IOA) chose to use the word ‘ombudsman’ in its name when it was formed in 2005. This word has Old Norse origins and was used by King Charles XII when he formed the first Ombudsman office for his government in Sweden in 1713. King Charles’ model for the ombudsman office was inspired by the Mohtasib, a similar position that existed in the Ottoman Empire. The organizational ombudsman profession originated in the 1960’s in America, and even though this new role departed in several significant ways from King Charles’ vision, the title ‘ombudsman’ was still widely adopted by organizational ombuds offices. There have been concerns raised along the way that the ‘man’ suffix of the word is unnecessary and gendered. Recent cultural movements, such as #MeToo, have brought increased attention to issues related to gender inequity within our culture and institutions, and many offices and organizations have already elected to use alternative titles for their offices such as ‘ombuds’ or ‘ombudsperson’, to make the title gender neutral.
In “A Meatball by Any Other Name” author David Rasch suggests that now is a good time for the IOA to drop the ‘man’ and use a non-gendered term like ‘ombuds’ in our title that better suits our current moment in history.
Read this joint publication by the Journal of the International Ombudsman Association and Journal of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds here now.
Based on a directive from the IOA Board of Directors, the IOA Research Agenda Subcommittee, Shereen G. Bingham, Tyler S. Smith, Shannon L. Burton, and Danita Elkerson, have created a research agenda for the ombuds field.
The agenda is intended to serve as a guide for future initiatives within the IOA related to research, outline the research priorities of the IOA for outside entities, and establish research as a fundamental value to the field of ombuds work.
This article published in the JIOA establishes the importance of the research agenda for the IOA, explains the methodology used to create it, explores areas of inquiry underpinning each of the eight research goals, and discusses implications for the advancement of research on organizational ombuds.
