Cathy Jones, a professor of French and Provençal, has stepped into the role of faculty ombudsperson in the university’s Ombudsperson Program. Jones became the newest member of the program on Oct. 1.
Jones, a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor and graduate coordinator for the department of Romance languages in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, joins staff ombudsperson Kathryn M. Chetney and student ombudsperson Shay Davis Little.
“I am delighted that Cathy Jones has agreed to serve the university and its faculty in this role,” said UGA President Michael F. Adams. “As a Josiah Meigs Distinguished Teaching Professor, she is one of our truly exemplary faculty members, and she brings both integrity and care to this important position.”
The UGA Ombudsperson Program was created in 2008. The ombudspersons serve as independent, neutral and informal resources for UGA students, faculty and staff. They are appointed to be advocates for fairness and function as a source of information and referral.
As UGA representatives, they assist in informally resolving concerns, to the extent possible, brought to their attention. As third-party information providers, they remain neutral while helping individuals have their concerns addressed through appropriate channels, including those related to discrimination and harassment. Ombudspersons supplement, but do not replace, the university’s existing policies and procedures for processing and resolving student, faculty and staff complaints and grievances.
After receiving her doctorate from the University of Wisconsin, Jones joined the Romance languages department in 1987 and has served as graduate coordinator since 2008. Her research interests include French medieval epic, romance and allegory. She is the author of The Noble Merchant: Problems of Genre and Lineage in Hervis de Mes and Philippe de Vigneulles and the Art of Prose Translation. Her other publications include articles on the chanson de geste, René d’Anjou, Richars li biaus, 19th and 20th century medievalism and orientalism.
She is the recipient of UGA’s Lothar Tresp Outstanding Honors Professor Award, the General Sandy Beaver Teaching Professorship, the Richard B. Russell Teaching Award and a Lilly Teaching Fellowship, among others.
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