The College welcomes new ombuds, Julie Schwartz Weber, JD. The Office of the Ombuds is a resource that every employee at Montgomery College may access confidentially to seek consultation and identify options to resolve individual, group, and systemic workplace concerns. Ms. Weber most recently served as the human resources manager at Summit Consulting, overseeing compliance, employee relations matters, and professional development. Previous to that she worked as a policy specialist on work-family matters at Boston College, an employment lawyer for two private law firms, and a legal consultant to two municipalities.
In her new role, Ms. Weber will help manage conflict constructively and cooperatively, in support of positive change for employees at the College. Ms. Weber is an experienced professional who is trained in mediation and has been involved in resolving conflict in a variety of roles. She holds a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, a juris doctor from Boston College, and completed the International Association of Ombudsman's fundamentals practice program.
As you may recall, the Office of the Ombuds was created in August 2013 as a result of recommendations from both the Employee Engagement Advisory Group and a workgroup of union and governance leaders. The charter for the office incorporates the tenets of neutrality, informality, and independence, and operates in accordance with the International Ombudsman Association's Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics. Its purpose is also to clarify employee concerns and facilitate discussions among parties when appropriate, and to collect general data on emerging trends and patterns at the College.
Sarah Miller Espinosa, our first ombuds, helped to establish the role, educate the College about its importance, and assist over a hundred employees to identify options and resolve concerns in each of her three years of service. Ms. Espinosa will remain on staff as a special assistant in the office of the president for another year and use her experience in conflict resolution to develop a program for ombuds services for students, which will be rolled out in 2017. She will continue to report to Chief of Staff/Chief Strategy Officer Stephen Cain, but will not be directly involved in employee ombuds work.
A search committee worked diligently to help identify our new ombuds, Ms. Weber. Ms. Weber's office will be located on the Rockville Campus in room 104 of the Computer Science Building. She can be reached at ombuds@montgomerycollege.edu or 240-687-6188.
