The NAU Faculty Senate has endorsed the design and implementation of a Faculty Ombuds Program to provide confidential, impartial and informal conflict resolution resources to all members of the NAU faculty.
The program is seeking applications from tenured NAU faculty members.
The program plans to fill up to 10 positions for faculty ombuds who will be trained to engage in this work. Successful applicants will be given an initial appointment of one year with opportunity for renewal. Appointment as a faculty ombuds is considered a university service opportunity undertaken voluntarily as part of one’s normal work as a faculty member.
The faculty ombuds responds to issues and concerns from other members of the faculty by providing confidential communication and collaborative dispute resolution, offering options for self-help as well as facilitating mutually agreeable outcomes.
Applicants must have the ability to listen and communicate effectively, demonstrate sensitivity to diversity issues, solve problems creatively, maintain complete confidentiality in their work, work under the professional Standards of Practice of the International Ombudsman Association, maintain a high degree of personal integrity, and engage actively in limited, on-going training opportunities.
Additional program information will be available at two public sessions hosted by Susanna Maxwell, vice provost for Academic Personnel, and Gary Buckley, professor of political science and coordinator of the Faculty Ombuds Program.
The sessions are scheduled for noon Sept. 25 in the Pattea Room, Blome Building, and 1 p.m. Oct. 3 in the Southwest Room of the du Bois Center.
Applications may be received by calling the Office of the Provost at 523-2230. Questions concerning the program may be directed to Susanna.Maxwell@nau.edu, (928) 523-2230, orGary.Buckley@nau.edu, (928) 523-6188.
Completed applications should be sent to Susanna Maxwell, Office of the Provost, Box 4120, no later than 5 p.m. Friday, Oct. 20.