Dear Faculty, Staff, and G&P Students,
In October, after receiving suggestions from many faculty, graduate and professional school students, staff, and campus groups, I announced that we would create an ombudsperson position. This role would function as a confidential, neutral, independent, and informal resource for members of the Yale community navigating concerns related to their work or studies. After an extensive national search, I am pleased to announce that Dawn Osborne-Adams will join us as the inaugural university ombudsperson on September 1.
With more than twenty years of experience in ombuds practice, law, and leadership development, Dawn has demonstrated not only a keen understanding of conflict engagement and dispute resolution, but also a steadfast commitment to creating opportunities for growth and connection within communities.
Dawn comes to Yale from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she has been university ombuds since 2018. At UNC, she collaborated with colleagues to address individual and systemic issues on campus and served as the designated neutral and conflict engagement partner for more than 45,000 faculty, students, and staff, including trainees.
Prior to that work, she was ombudsman at Binghamton University and held multiple roles in the federal judiciary, including serving as a law clerk to district court judges and leading the alternative dispute resolution program for the United States District Court in the Central District of California, the largest federal district court in the nation at the time. She has contributed her expertise to a range of organizations—including corporations, universities, and non-profits—as a conflict resolution consultant and external program reviewer.
At both UNC School of Law and Binghamton, she served as adjunct faculty, teaching courses on interviewing and counseling to law students and conflict management and dispute resolution to graduate students. A graduate of New York University School of Law and Georgetown University, she is an accomplished public speaker, respected leader, and devoted educator.
Dawn’s role will be a new one for Yale, and I want to thank the search advisory committee for their efforts in helping us to create and refine this process. I also want to extend heartfelt gratitude to the faculty, staff, and students who informed and supported their work. Your input will continue to be invaluable as Dawn steps into this office and brings her record of experience to the job.
As I communicated last fall, Dawn will report to me and operate independently of existing formal or informal dispute resolution procedures and administrative offices. She will be available to all faculty, staff, trainees, and graduate and professional school students who wish to raise concerns related to their academic or workplace experience. Dawn will operate under rigorous confidentiality standards, helping members of our community identify, understand, and engage in thoughtful deliberation about their goals, rights, and options. She will be empowered to engage with our community and systems both broadly and deeply, providing a range of informal support, assistance, and referral.
When she starts in the fall, Dawn will take time to get to know the needs of the Yale community, and I know she would welcome conversations with as many of you as possible as she familiarizes herself with our campus.
Fostering an environment of open communication is vital to the work we do at Yale. With the creation of this new position, we demonstrate our deep commitment to that ideal. I hope you will join me in congratulating Dawn on her appointment to this role.
Sincerely,
Maurie
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art