Common Issues

Our office typically handles about 200 cases a year, most of which involve application of employment or academic procedures. Visitors are divided more or less evenly among faculty, students and staff.

The ombudsman office assists visitors with a wide range of concerns, including:

• Unfair treatment
• Supervisor / employee issues
• Complaints of discrimination
• Faculty / staff / student misunderstandings
• Unethical behavior
• Fear of retaliation
• Interpersonal miscommunication and cultural conflicts

Typical situations we might see include:

• A faculty member who believes his or her department is not faithfully following tenure review procedures
• A student who thinks a professor unfairly changed course requirements during the term
• An employee who is experiencing conflict with a peer or supervisor