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MEETING MINUTES

Meeting Date and Time: July 14, 2021, 1:30-3:00 pm (ET)

Location: WebEx

Agenda:

1. 2021 COFO Annual Conference

2. IOA bylaw changes/upcoming meeting on July 15th

3. Social Media Committee Update

4. Next Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) Meeting on July 28th

5. Ombuds Day is October 14th

6. Announcements

7. General Questions

8. Discussion Topic

Highlights:

1. 2021 COFO Annual Conference

a. Date for conference: October 15, 2021

b. Conference room at USPTO Campus is currently not available for booking until the 

campus is open to the public

c. Mid-to-late September is projected date, and this may not be ideal for scheduling 

this room for the COFO Annual Conference 

d. Some type of in-person element will be attempted but plan for a virtual conference,

and this will be revisited as necessary

e. If anyone is interested in joining the conference committee, please contact Paul 

Sotoudeh, Paul.Sotoudeh@USPTO.GOV

2. IOA bylaw changes/upcoming meeting on July 15th

a. The bylaw and articles of incorporation changes are different from the changes in 

the standards of practice that were first discussed in 2020 and are currently on hold

b. Changes are proposed to address concerns about the recent election of officers to 

the board, eligibility criteria for board members, and diversity and inclusion on the 

board

c. IOA also wanted to ensure there is clear criteria for who holds seats on the board, 

the number of members on the board, and the length of terms with term limits
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d. President and president elect will also be named to ensure continuity of the group

e. Meeting is planned for tomorrow at 11 am ET for members, and you must register to 

attend the meeting

f. Easy to see the changes as there is redline version online if you plan to attend

g. On the Ombuds Blog some have specific opinions and there is some disagreement 

about these changes

h. Go online and please make your own comments about the changes on the IOA 

webpage

i. Changes will be sent to the COFO community for review if you do not have access to 

IOA webpage

j. Discussion on Ombuds Blog: https://ombuds-blog.blogspot.com/2021/07/guestpost-chuck-howard-comments-on.html https://ombudsblog.blogspot.com/2021/07/independent-forum-to-discuss-proposed.html

& https://ombuds-blog.blogspot.com/2021/07/ioa-asks-members-to-approveomnibus.html

k. Concerns that have been raised reflect the process and the lack of general discussion 

prior to the vote

3. Social Media Committee (SMC) Update

a. Thanks to all on the committee for helping move forth this initiative

b. The SMC completed a proposal to actively use LinkedIn as networking tool for the 

COFO community

c. Proposal has been sent to the COFO Executive Committee for approval

d. Reminder that the suggested use of social media would be professional, meaning a 

chance to network with other ombuds, career development, and education

e. Any implementation of social media for COFO would be limited to the community

with criteria for joining along with rules for how to engage the community

4. Next OSO Meeting on 07/28/2021

a. Next meeting of Ombuds Supporting Ombuds (OSO) will be 7/28/2021, 2-3 pm EDT

b. This month the meeting will focus on different books that have been helpful to you 

during this time or books that have been a resource to you

c. Please join the meeting and bring book ideas to share with others

5. Ombuds Day – 10/14/2021

a. Ombuds Day is October 14, 2021, and it is the 4th annual year for this event

b. Ken Skodacek is leading this effort for ABA 

c. Actively working to confirm speakers; a large social media company, the Department 

of Homeland Security Citizenship, and Immigration Services Ombudsman, an

ombuds from a state long-term care program, and AARP among others
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6. Announcements

a. None

7. General Questions

a. Does anyone have any suggestions for good records management systems outside 

of Excel spreadsheets and Salesforce?

b. One ombuds has worked with Microsoft to build a system for records management

that is tied in with their case management system. Katie Manderson @ VA stated 

contact her to gain more details 

c. This is a challenging topic due to the lack of budget that some programs face

8. Discussion Topic: Security of Electronic Records – How are ombuds around the federal 

government protecting their electronic records? What methods are you using?

a. Separate ombuds systems were stated as the gold standard at IOA but most 

government IT offices state that smaller systems cannot be as secure as large 

systems

b. Key is to ensure access to records is accurate, updated and that a good schedule of 

records retention and destruction is created

c. One ombuds uses Access that has a schedule created uniquely for that group 

d. In one group it was questioned if each person in the ombuds group should use 

their own code for their folders and if that would be best to ensure privacy

e. Caseload Manager is being used by one ombuds program to help protect 

electronic records along with a working document describing process that is 

divided by program needs

f. Question. Did any ombuds have experience with records being requested under 

FOIA?

g. This question was asked concerning security of records related to confidentially as 

well as physical access to records

h. One ombuds had records inquiry related to dispute via a FOIA request from an

external stakeholder who wanted all internal communications related to the

dispute

i. Another ombuds also had challenges forestalling the release via FOIA of records 

that were communications to internal staff

j. One ombuds stated that the support by the Agency’s General Counsel has been 

very helpful and that a statement in the Ombuds Program Charter that states the 

Agency Director will not approve the release of ombuds records under FOIA gives 

additional support in these situation

k. Also having a separate email for all ombuds communications to and from internal 

and external parties is helpful to demonstrate emails that are not releasable under 

FOIA under Administrative Dispute Resolution Act (ADRA) 

l. One ombuds stated that at the bottom of all ombuds communications they 

included a statement that affirms dispute communications are not releasable as 

determined by the ADRA statute 
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m. One ombuds stated to remember that the chat or message program

communication is also subject to disclosure

n. It is good advice to engage with general counsel for your agency prior to a request 

for records to ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to the 

confidentiality of records

o. Anyone using Microsoft Team be aware that a channel is created if you create the 

meeting inside Teams and any chat that is done will be saved in that channel 

creating a record that is saved and uploaded to the cloud

p. In the virtual world some are concerned with securing who may be on a call or 

ability to see a virtual meeting

q. One ombuds stated they have a statement signed by all parties agreeing that no 

additional parties will be on a call and they will abide by virtual guidelines

r. Virtual guidelines will be shared with the community from this ombudsman and 

sent by Heather Milner after the meeting

s. With all the data breaches in the world today it is very important to build on this 

conversation and to advocate for NARA standards to help ombuds

Attendance 07/14/2021

Last First Agency Call-In

Adams Joanne USDA 1

Arbid Michelle FEMA 1

Balick Howard FDA 1

Bayley Bernardo 1

Behr Virginia FDA 1

Berg Mollie DOD / National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) 1

Bloch Brian DOI 1

Brown Amy FDIC 1

Brown Andrea United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) 1

Cameron Bob CFPB 1

Coffman Cherina NGA 1

Dean Karen FMCS 1

DeBerry Marcella NSA 1

Enriquez Elisa Los Alamos Laboratory (DOE) 1

Fall Carla 1

Fleming Tasha BOP 1

Footman Aaron USPTO 1

Fox Angela FDA 1
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Last First Agency Call-In

Garmon Felisa CFPB 1

Gnatt Sheldon NSA 1

Gordon Laurel DOJ / U. S. Marshals Service (USMS) 1

Green Veronica State OIG 1

Harley Jasmine National Credit Union Administration 1

Hartman Jessie NARA/ Office of Government Information Services 

(OGIS)

1

Heffernan Claire TSA 1

Hopkins Emilee NGA 1

Hurley Nathan FDA / Center for Tobacco Products 1

Jarrett Syreeta DIA 1

Kashden Mark CDC 1

Kamenshine Wendy CFPB 1

Katherine Erica FDA 1

Kinnavy Noreen Broadcasting Board of Governors 1

Lawrence Nicole DC Dept of Behavioral Health 1

Lawrence Steve DHS Office of Intelligence & Analysis 1

Lloyd Brenda FLETC 1

Manderson Katie VA 1

Marcotte Dan FDIC 1

Maurer Bill Census 1

McNeil Tracey SEC 1

Megee Christine DOD Education Activity 1

Michael David NIH 1

Mills Laurel DOJ / USMS 1

Milner Heather CFPB 1

Morey Chauncenette FBI 1

Patel Bina USPTO 1

Perez Neida Organization of American States (OAS) 1

Piziali Jamie EPA 1

Reed Janay DOD / DIA 1

Reilly Kevin NASA 1

Rojas Nick DOD / DIA 1

Roth Lewis NRO 1
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Last First Agency Call-In

Rowe Mary Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 1

Semo Alina NARA 1

Skodacek Ken FDA 1

Smith Julie Census 1

Sotoudeh Paul USPTO 1

Vermillion Chris TSA 1

Villafane Jacqueline American Red Cross 1

Voloshin Victor NIH 1

Walker Olivia DOD / Army Medical Readiness Assistance Program 1

Weber Guy DOD / NGA 1

Whittington Fred (Whitt) DOL OIG 1

Wolfe Lexi DOE 1

Zrubek Tom DOD OIG 1

Total 64