The newest University of California campus has announced the appointment of Deidre “De” Acker as its first Campus Ombudsperson, effective July 16, 2012. Chancellor Dorothy Leland made the announcement earlier this week. Leland said that the new Ombuds “will actively engage students, faculty, staff and university constituents in dialog, negotiation and problem-solving to ensure that members of our campus community receive fair and equitable treatment.”

Acker has served as assistant dean for the School of Natural Sciences for the last five years. Before coming to UC Merced, she spent 13 years at UC Santa Barbara as a unit director and was instrumental in creating a mediation program, which trained faculty and staff to serve as campus mediators. Acker has also worked as a trained mediator for 15 years. As Ombuds, she will report directly to the Chancellor.

Related Ombuds Blog Post: Job Posting.