Columbia Appoints Joan C. Waters as Ombuds Officer

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger has named a veteran legal counsel, Joan C. Waters, as University Ombuds Officer.

Waters is an attorney in the Office of the General Counsel at The City University of New York, where her major areas have included employment and labor law. She has been an attorney at CUNY since 2008, where her caseload has involved working at all levels with faculty, administrators and students across 23 campuses.

In his announcement, President Bollinger said, “Joan’s experience as associate general counsel for the City University of New York has trained her in the full range of law, regulations, and ethical considerations governing universities, their students and employees.”

The Ombuds Office, where Waters will start on March 31, offers an independent place for individuals across the University to confidentially discuss workplace complaints and other campus problems. “It’s my intention to be visible, approachable, and open, with the hope to make people comfortable seeking assistance,” Waters said.

Begun in 1991, the Office remains impartial in helping mediate and resolve conflicts brought before it.

Over her career as a lawyer and mediator, Waters has engaged in dispute resolutions at various stages of the legal process. Given her training in family law and matrimonial mediation, Waters brings experience to this new post in finding alternatives to litigation.

Apart from her skills at mediation, Waters has demonstrated her ability at drafting and implementing university-wide policies at CUNY, such as training employees on workplace violence prevention. She also oversaw New York State Ethics Law Compliance for all CUNY employees.

Waters has extensive legal experience outside of CUNY, both in private practice and as an assistant county attorney in Westchester County’s Office of the County Attorney.

A graduate of Fordham University and St. John’s University School of Law, Waters was elected part-time Village Justice in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., where she managed caseloads as sole elected justice in the village for two four-year terms. Water’s commitment to her community includes serving currently as a school board trustee in Sleepy Hollow in its Pocantico Hills Central School District.

President Bollinger said in his announcement, “Her personal qualities make her a worthy successor to Columbia’s highly regarded founding Ombuds Officer, Marsha Wagner, who retired in the fall after more than two decades of exemplary service.”

Reflecting on her new appointment, Waters says, “I see this position as an opportunity to ensure that students, faculty and staff feel valued, heard and productive in their positions.”