Faculty Senate Launches Ombuds Pilot Initiative

09/29/2023

The Saint Louis University Faculty Senate, with the support of the Office of the Provost, has launched a Faculty Ombuds Pilot initiative.

The initiative is being established to support SLU faculty in St. Louis.  Lisa Israel, M.Ed., Director of Professional Oversight at the School of Medicine, will serve as the Interim Ombuds during this pilot. She was appointed during the Sept. 19 Faculty Senate meeting.

The Ombuds is an independent, confidential, impartial, and informal resource for all faculty and is available for assistance in resolving issues and concerns. The Faculty Ombuds will provide consultation, mediation, meeting facilitation, and training on an as-needed basis. 

“This initiative has been a hot topic for several years,” Israel said. “We’re excited to get this up and running.”

Israel has experience in the role and does similar work at the School of Medicine, making her a natural fit to be the Interim Ombuds.

Israel said the idea for the pilot program is to determine the need for the role moving forward. If the program has a lot of utilization, a full-time position might be needed in the future. If not, the Office of the Provost will determine possible alternatives to meet the needs of the campus. 

Since being appointed, Israel has a goal to meet with the various departments throughout the University during the fall semester. She is planning to hold town hall meetings to educate the campus on the pilot program. The first virtual meeting will be at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 11.

The Ombuds can be reached via email at faculty.ombuds@slu.edu. The Faculty Senate will send out more information about the program to the faculty as the initiative begins to develop.