Rule 3335-5-45.3 | Faculty ombudsman.
(A) The faculty ombudsman shall be a senior member of the tenure-track faculty or an emeritus faculty member, who was a tenured faculty member appointed by the president. Appointments shall be made on the basis of a recommendation made by a search committee consisting of the chairs of faculty council and the steering committee, the secretary of the senate, the provost, and the president. The term of office shall be for one year, and is renewable.
(1) The faculty ombudsman shall be someone with experience in university governance at the Ohio state university, shall be familiar with university rules and policies, prevalent cultural norms within the institution, precedent, and established university policies and operating procedures.
(2) Compensation for the faculty ombudsman will be provided by the office of academic affairs, in the form of course release time or supplemental compensation.
(B) The responsibilities of the faculty ombudsman will be to:
(1) Serve as an advisor to faculty to assist them in determining the viability of their complaints and issues.
(2) Direct faculty to appropriate offices, committees, and university rules and policies.
(3) Serve when appropriate as an informal mediator of early-stage complaints, to mediate as an impartial party rather than as an advocate for faculty involved in complaints.
(4) Present an annual report on their activities to faculty council in the autumn term of each academic year.
(5) Visibility of the office of the ombudsman will be made available to faculty through venues such as web pages, the ombudsman speaking at new faculty orientation, and through an introduction at the first meetings of senate and faculty council each year.
(C) Recourse to the ombudsman.
Recourse to the ombudsman is voluntary and not a prerequisite for consideration of the dispute by the committee on academic freedom and responsibility, the faculty hearing committee, the office of academic affairs, or the office of human resources.
Last updated October 11, 2023 at 8:41 AM
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