|
A
conversation with the Ombudsman
on
the 40th anniversary
of
the Office of the Ombudsman
University
Ombudsman Stan
Soffin
recently spoke with Ike Iyioke of the MSU News Bureau
about the Office of the Ombudsman. The conversation that follows first
appeared
in the MSU News Bulletin on
September 27, 2007.
Q: How was
the ombudsman’s office created?
A: The
seed was planted in 1965, when the
Committee for Student Rights distributed a four-page newsletter, called
Logos, in the residence halls without
permission. The events that followed eventually led President Hannah
and the
university governance system to replace the doctrine of in
local parentis with a document called Academic
Freedom Report for Students at Michigan State University. The AFR, as the document came to be called,
went into
effect fall term 1967.
To assure
that the student
rights set down in the AFR were not abused, the AFR included a section
that
created the Office of the Ombudsman. This action took place during a
backdrop
of continuing calamity on many campuses throughout the country, as
students and
faculty demonstrated against the war in Vietnam and for civil rights, in the broadest
sense.
Q: I’ve heard
MSU has the longest standing
college ombudsman’s office in the country. Is that true?
A:
Eastern
Montana College in Billings (now the University of Montana, Billings) opened the first college ombudsman’s
office in 1966,
one year before the MSU office opened. When
the Billings ombuds office closed, the MSU ombudsman’s
office
became the longest continually operating college ombudsman’s office in
the
country.
Q: Have the
duties of the MSU ombudsman changed
over the years?
A: Yes and
no. The fundamental
Standards of Practice for this office (confidentiality, neutrality,
independence and informality) were established by James Rust, the
University’s
first ombudsman, and honed by his successors, Carolyn Stieber, Joy
Curtis and
me. Also, we have used essentially the same coding system to track
cases that
Dr. Rust developed during his first few years on the job. So, not much
has
changed on those matters.
However,
what has changed is
students’ use of e-mail to contact this office. This has substantially
altered
the way we conduct our business. Several
years ago, we stopped asking students who initially contacted us by
e-mail to
set up appointments to visit the office and, instead, attempted to
address
their concerns in a volley of electronic messages.
We still
ask students who
present more complicated cases to meet with us. Also, the Internet has
allowed
us to develop a Web site that addresses a variety of issues for
students,
faculty and staff. Ultimately, we
recommend changes in University policies.
Q: How many
complaints do you per month?
A: First
of all, we don’t distinguish between complaints and other contacts with
this
office. Instead, we refer to “contacts”
with this office and code them accordingly.
During the
2006-2007
reporting period (mid-May to mid-May), we recorded 1,720 contacts—a
record
number. Many of those contacts, of course,
resulted in multiple phone calls, visits or e-mail exchanges before the
cases
were resolved.
Q: What
feedback do you get from students and
faculty?
A: For the
most part, we are
delighted when a contact sends us an unsolicited thank-you note.
Sometimes
those notes include suggestions on how we might have done things
differently,
but for the most part, students in particular are simply saying thanks
for
helping them out of a jam of one kind or another.
One student
went so far as to
say that we helped change her life. In
addition, we recently completed an online feedback survey asking those
who had
used our services to evaluate their experience. We were pleased with
the
results and will likely continue this practice.
Q: Are you more
responsive to students than
faculty?
A: Not
necessarily. In practice, of course, we
serve far more
students than any other group, including faculty, staff, alumni and
parents.
While the AFR specifically charges us, among other things, to receive
“requests,
complaints and grievances of students,” in the past 10 years we have
had an
increasing number of contacts with instructors and administrators.
In fact,
nearly 20 percent of
all our contacts in the past reporting period were from faculty
members—and
that’s terrific. Their calls are usually
intended to sort out questions about MSU policies and procedures.
Parents
represent about 6
percent of all contacts with this office. We are happy to answer their
questions and explain specific MSU policies that might be at issue,
but, of
course, we do not divulge any specific information about their sons or
daughters without the students’ permission.
Q: What
has been your biggest challenge?
A: At first,
I found it
difficult to adjust to my new position, after serving for 30 years as a
member
of the faculty of the School of Journalism, the last 16 as its director.
I missed
the give and take of
a wonderful faculty and outstanding students.
However,
once I settled into
this unique position, I realized that the greatest challenge was to
maintain
the trust, confidence and respect of this office on campus. I simply
wanted to
build on that trust in helping those seeking our assistance. I hope I’ve done that.
Q: As your
office turns 40, what message do you
have for the MSU community?
A: I’d like
to think our
collective goal should be to establish a campus culture that doesn’t
need an
ombudsman’s office. |
