Dr. Pollard Adopts Ombuds Recommendations

On December 14, 2016, Dr. Pollard emailed the "President's Adoption of Recommendations in FY16 Ombuds Report" to employees collegewide. In this document, Dr. Pollard pledged support for each of the five FY16 ombuds recommendations delineated in the Montgomery College Third Annual Ombuds Report. These five recommendations are listed below:

• Ombuds Recommendation 1: Collaboratively develop, adopt, and implement both a Code of Ethics and Standards of Conduct for all Montgomery College employees.
• Ombuds Recommendation 2: Support and enhance managerial competencies and best practice by regularly soliciting feedback from employee and building professional development plans considering the results of 360-degree feedback.
• Ombuds Recommendation 3: Critically examine the employee experience and take affirmative steps to ensure an inclusive workplace for all employees. Provide a fair and efficient process to address employee concerns about identity-related inequities, including those rising to the level of discrimination.
• Ombuds Recommendation 4: Critically examine the employee experience and address challenges related to the service provided to employees in the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) complaint process as well as the employee and labor relations processes. Ensure fair, efficient, and confidential processes to address employee concerns.
• Ombuds Recommendation 5: Commit to continue to provide the Montgomery College community with access to the Office of the Ombuds by allocating sufficient resources to maintain the quality of the service, including identifying new office space; allocating positions and recruiting for an associate ombuds and administrative support person; and providing a modest, independent budget for training, materials, and other needs.

For more detail concerning Dr. Pollard's response, please go to http://www.montgomerycollege.edu/ombuds and click on "Adoption of Ombuds Recommendations -December 2016." Once you are on the ombuds webpage, you can also access the Montgomery College Third Annual Ombuds Report, by clicking on "Ombuds Report FY2016." In addition to discussing the categories of visitors (anonymously) who came to the Office of the Ombuds, and the types of concerns the visitors brought with them, this report discusses the original recommendations in more detail. To make an appointment with the ombuds to discuss a work-related matter confidentially and informally, email ombuds@montgomerycollege.edu, or call 240-687-6168.