|  | Office of the Chancellor
100 Morrissey Boulevard
Boston, MA 02125-3393
P 617.287.6800
F 617.285.7243 | | |
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Dear Beacons,
I am delighted to announce the appointment of Martha Nelson Patrick as UMass Boston’s inaugural University Ombudsperson and Director of Ombuds Services. This newly created position will report directly to me and serve as an independent resource for impartial dispute resolution.
Martha comes to UMass Boston from our sister campus in Amherst, where she served in several roles over the past 23 years. In 2021, she was named University Ombudsperson at UMass Amherst, following more than a decade of serving as the associate and assistant ombudsperson. Before joining the Ombuds Office, she served as director of community relations at UMass Amherst for 10 years.
Martha holds a bachelor’s degree in American Studies and Government from Smith College and a masters in higher education from UMass Amherst. Furthermore, she has undertaken extensive training in facilitation, conflict coaching, and mediation. Notably, Martha has also earned designation as a Certified Organizational Ombuds Practitioner (CO-OP®) from the International Ombuds Association, which sets the standards of practice and ethical principles for the profession.
In her new role, Martha will provide confidential assistance to our UMass Boston community — students, faculty, and staff — with university-related conflicts or concerns. She will help individuals navigate our campus policies and resources, offer informal conflict resolution services, and advocate for fair treatment and a fair and equitable process.
In addition to providing ombuds services for individuals and groups, this new position will be instrumental in furthering our university’s mission. The ombudsperson helps to identify emerging trends and institutional decisions or policies that may warrant review and elevates those emerging trends or issues to the campus leadership as appropriate. The creation of the Ombudsperson position reflects our university’s ongoing commitment to continuous improvement, and the ideals of fairness, equity, dignity, and respect for all members of our campus community.
I would like to thank the entire search committee for its diligent work in recruiting and selecting our new University Ombudsperson, and a special thanks to the search committee chair, Chief of Staff Peter Kelly, and vice chair, Dr. Rosalyn Negrón, for their leadership.
I am very pleased that Martha is joining our Beacon community. Her first day on campus is Thursday, June 29th. Please join me in welcoming her to Columbia Point.
Sincerely,
Marcelo Suárez-Orozco
Chancellor
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