UNIVERSITY HIRES OMBUDSMAN, EOP DIRECTOR
 
	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 21 -- The University of Virginia
has filled two key employee relations positions, naming Bradford K.
Holland as its new University ombudsperson and Karen E. Holt as
director of Equal Opportunity Programs.
	Holland, who has served as interim EOP director since January,
assumed the newly created ombudsperson post on Nov. 17 and is charged
with assisting faculty, staff and students in solving a wide range of
University-related problems.  He will report to the EOP director and
work closely with both University President John T. Casteen III and
executive vice president and chief financial officer Leonard W.
Sandridge.
	"Many employees have emphasized the importance of having a
person who can help members of the University community address a
broad range of problems," Sandridge said.  "The creation of the ombuds
position is a significant step toward meeting this need."
	Holland stressed that his office will not seek to replace
existing support programs.  Instead, he may refer those seeking
assistance to appropriate agencies or serve as "someone who can help
when the usual channels don't work," he said.
	Holland came to the University in August 1996, after
previously having served as controller and chief financial officer for
a Richmond engineering and environmental consulting firm.  At U.Va.,
he initially worked for vice president for management and budget
Colette Capone before heading the EOP on an interim basis.
	"Since being at the Equal Opportunity office, I've seen a lot
of problems that employees have that don't have easy solutions," he
said.  "I see a chance to help employees who don't know where to turn."
	In establishing the new post, U.Va. consulted with other top
universities that have ombuds positions, including Harvard, Stanford,
Columbia, Michigan and Pennsylvania.  A professional group, the
University and College Ombuds Association, also provided assistance.
	Holt takes over as Equal Opportunity Programs director on Dec.
1, after having served as associate general counsel to the University
of Tennessee's five-campus system, where her responsibilities included
handling employment and discrimination litigation in federal, state
and administrative courts.
	She will first seek to stabilize and fully staff the EOP
office, which has seen three directors since Lincoln Lewis retired in
August 1994.  Set up for six full-time employees, including the
director, it currently has just four.
	"I think it's definitely a challenge," she said.  "If
everything was all set and there weren't any problems, it wouldn't be
as attractive."
	John Garland, who recently was appointed president of Central
State University in Ohio, served as interim director after Lewis's
retirement.  Simon Brown took the permanent post in August 1995, but
resigned in January 1997.  Holland will continue to guide the office
until Holt's appointment.
	Holt earned a B.S. degree in zoology from the University of
Illinois in 1976, and graduated cum laude from the University of
Louisville's law school in 1983.  She earned a Ph.D. in political
science from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville in 1995.  She had
previously worked in the business and finance office at
Tennessee-Knoxville and as an attorney in the U.S. Justice Department
and the Federal Trade Commission in Washington.  Before attending law
school she worked as a park ranger in Missouri.
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                                                     November 20,  1997

	For more information, Bradford K. Holland may be reached at
(804) 924-3200, or via e-mail at bkh9d@virginia.edu. Karen E. Holt may
be contacted at (423) 588-5289.  Television reporters may call our TV
News Office at (804) 924-7550.  For any other assistance, contact Dan
Heuchert at the University News Office, (804) 924-7676, or via e-mail
at dnh6n@virginia.edu.  For more information about whatÕs happening
at U.Va., visit its website at:  http://www.virginia.edu/topnews/.