W&M transforms ombuds office and names new chief facilities officer
William & Mary today announced appointments in two areas of critical importance to university employees.
The university will transform its mission-critical ombuds office into a team-based model, appointing three current employees who bring a deep understanding of faculty and staff professional pathways at the university. In addition, Samuel Hayes III has been named chief facilities officer.
Hayes, who has served in an interim capacity since July, is responsible for the university’s facilities management operation, to include the planning, construction and renovation of all W&M facilities. He also oversees areas of building services, maintenance, grounds keeping, postal services, moving and storage, utilities and plant management.
Team-based model provides more options
The William & Mary ombuds office is an essential resource for all employees seeking to improve workplace climate and culture. It is a resource for faculty and staff to find impartial, informed, expert listeners to help explore ways to speed informal resolution to their concerns in a confidential setting.
Instead of a single ombudsperson, W&M has appointed Professors Rebecca Green and Charles Gressard, as well as Assistant Director for Residence Life Shylan Scott to its ombuds team. Starting Feb. 15, they will serve in their new roles as collateral duty assignments.
“To date, William & Mary faculty and staff have advanced their workplace concerns through a myriad of channels without much direction about the best way to resolve the matter at hand,” said Chief Human Resources Officer Christopher D. Lee, who will help guide the function in partnership with the offices of Compliance and Equity and Provost. “By reimagining this function as a team-based model that is typical at peer institutions, employees now have a central place to consult on options, and W&M will be able to identify structural patterns in the challenges employees face and resolve them at an institutional level more swiftly.”
By listening, exploring options and facilitating problem resolution, an ombuds can guide employees to resolve interpersonal conflicts, group conflicts and systemic conflicts.
“Advancing equity and wellness for faculty and staff is one of the goals I committed William & Mary to under pandemic. Building a team of ombuds professionals at William & Mary is an important step toward these goals,” said W&M President Katherine A. Rowe. “Their broad expertise and diverse experiences of work at this university are exactly what is needed for this crucial role. Let me also take this moment to thank Professor Tatia Granger for previously serving as our ombudsperson before we changed our model.”
Green is the Herbert V. Kelly Professor for Excellence in Teaching and Professor of the Practice of Law at the W&M Law School. An expert in alternative dispute resolution, election law and privacy law, Green co-directs the Election Law Program, serves as advisor to numerous student groups and has previously mediated in small claims and municipal courts. A Reveley Interdisciplinary Faculty Fellowship has supported her partnership with the Center for Geospatial Analysis.
Gressard is Chancellor Professor at the School of Education and has served in a wide array of faculty leadership roles, from department chair to member of W&M’s strategic planning committee and president of the W&M Faculty Assembly. A widely recognized expert in counseling, he has taught courses from beginning counseling to addiction counseling, among many others.
Scott brings professional expertise in mediation, restorative justice and mediation training. She teaches facilitation and mentoring, and in her Student Affairs role guides professional and student staff to intervene, mediate, manage and resolve crisis and conflict.
Hayes to take over full-time duties as chief facilities officer
As interim chief facilities officer starting July 1, Hayes devoted significant time to assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the university’s facilities management department while also recommending potential growth opportunities.
He will be able to build on that work now that he has been appointed full-time chief facilities officer.
“It excites me to have the opportunity to not only assess the department but then implement and stay through to see the things I recommend actually take place,” Hayes said.
Hayes, a professional engineer and management consultant, brings expertise in facilities and procurement, as well as performance-based management, to his new full-time position. He is principal and founder of Stratageum, a management consultancy in Richmond, Virginia, that focuses on connecting small, women and minority (SWaM) owned businesses with multiple industries. Prior to launching his consulting firm, Hayes has worked as an executive leader in higher education, state government and private organizations on areas ranging from facilities management and operational efficiency to new initiatives and business process transformation.
“I am delighted that Sam will be stepping into the role of chief facilities officer permanently,” said Amy Sebring, W&M’s chief operating officer. “Over the last six months, W&M Facilities Management has been on the frontline of keeping the university operating amidst pandemic conditions. Sam has led with a combination of expertise and compassion, setting high expectations for the quality of work and a commitment to the staff he oversees. I look forward to the work ahead in partnership with Sam and his team.”
From 2016 to 2018, Hayes served as a project management consultant for VCU, leading a facilities management peer review process that was conducted by the Association of Physical Plant Administrators, an association that focuses on leadership in educational facilities. Previously, he served as assistant vice president for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
From 2008 to 2010, he served as special assistant to the governor for SWaM business development and the Commonwealth of Virginia’s chief supplier diversity officer. Before that, he was director of operations for the Roanoke Higher Education Authority, a manager for the City of Roanoke’s Utility Line Services Department/Division, an operations engineer manager for the Richmond Metropolitan Transportation Authority and interim assistant resident engineer for the Virginia Department of Transportation.
Hayes earned his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Old Dominion University, his master’s degree in public administration and public policy from Virginia Tech, and is a licensed professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Virginia. His oldest daughter, Alexandra, is a 2011 graduate of W&M.
“I’m a firm believer in lifelong learning,” Hayes said. “I want the staff here to recognize the importance of lifelong learning as well. I want as many folks who desire to go to the next level education-wise to take advantage of the opportunities that we have before us.”
Hayes is eager to work on major projects like the expanded Arts Quarter, which will include the renovated Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall and The Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts that will serve as the home to the expanded and renovated Muscarelle Museum of Art, and Hearth: Memorial to the Enslaved.
“I want to make sure that particular project is built properly because it has such a connotation to the community and me as a descendent of enslaved people,” Hayes said. “It’s personal to me because of what it exemplifies.”
