Tom Sebok, director of the Ombuds Office at the University of Colorado at Boulder, has been elected secretary of the board of directors of the new International Ombudsman Association.
Sebok will have a number of leadership responsibilities for the new group, which is a merger of the University and College Ombuds Association, in which Sebok previously served as secretary, and The Ombudsman Association.
"My goals involve helping the new association transition successfully into a fully merged organization, promoting understanding among the corporate, higher education, international and government ombuds sectors, and working to promote efforts to help ombuds gain statutory confidentiality privileges," Sebok said.
Sebok created the University and College Ombuds Association's first Web site and e-mail list serve and has continued to serve as a liaison for the site's developers. He also has been part of several joint efforts with The Ombudsman Association.
Before the merger, The Ombudsman Association had been the largest nonprofit, international association of professional organizational ombudspeople in the world, representing more than 400 members in the United States and across the globe.
The University and College Ombuds Association was an international organization of ombudsmen in universities and colleges. The organization encouraged communication and professional development among academic ombudspersons.
The Ombuds Office at CU-Boulder provides informal, impartial and confidential dispute resolution services for students, staff and faculty. Assistance is provided for interpersonal misunderstandings as well as academic or administrative issues like grading, employment-related disputes and alleged unfair treatment.
The CU-Boulder Ombuds Office operates independently as a supplement to existing administrative or formal grievance procedures and has no formal decision-making authority. The office does not advocate for either side in a dispute.
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