Both UTK Ombuds recently presented at the International Ombuds Association’s 2024 September Symposium.

The September Symposium is an opportunity for aspiring, emerging, and seasoned ombuds to engage in education and interactive networking discussions with ombuds across the globe.  The focus of this year’s symposium was working with the “organization as visitor” and included topics to build ombuds’ capacity to collect and use data, engage in trend analysis, provide systemic feedback, and work with organizational leadership.

University Ombudsperson, Dr. Lisa Yamagata-Lynch, facilitated a Symposium presentation titled Trend Analysis, providing insight on how ombuds can identify patterns, trends, issues, and hot spots within the organization.

Associate Ombudsperson, Brooke Wichmann, co-facilitated a session with IOA president, Sarah Klaper, titled Beyond the Survey – Innovative Data Collection.  This interactive session engaged participants in discussions to identify various data types and sources they can use to communicate stories about visitor experiences and their ombuds office operations.

Learn more about this year’s IOA September Symposium here.