After years of discussions, Syracuse University officially opened an Ombuds Office and appointed Professor Emeritus Samuel Clemence as its interim ombudsperson on Tuesday.

Graduate students, faculty and staff can use the new office to address grievances, air concerns or question university policies confidentially. Some campus community members have previously voiced frustrations with how long SU has taken to create an Ombuds Office.

Information relayed in the Ombuds Office cannot be given to the Office of the Provost. The Daily Orange, in 2016, reported that all records collected by an ombudsperson would be destroyed.

“We’re just excited that the office is now open,” said Jack Wilson, president of SU’s Graduate Student Organization, after the university’s announcement. “It will give grads a much-needed venue to address grievances in a private and confidential setting.”

An ombudsperson cannot take any formal action in regard to complaints, but can help complainants file paperwork so issues can be addressed by appropriate offices.

The new office is in Suite 215 of the SU Health Services building.

A permanent ombudsperson is expected to be hired by the end of the spring semester. Wilson is on the search committee for the permanent official, along with Clemence and several other professors and university administrators.

“I think it’s all for the good,” said Margaret Susan Thompson, a co-chair of the University Senate’s Committee on Women’s Concerns and an associate professor of history and political science. “We have to see how it gets implemented, but you know, I’m optimistic.”

The average salary of an ombudsman at a university is about $71,000, according to simplyhired.com. A job opening for SU’s ombudsperson was posted to simplyhired.com on Tuesday. According to the job description, the new ombudsperson will report to Chancellor Kent Syverud.

Clemence was a professor in the College of Engineering and Computer Science for more than 35 years and served as interim dean of Hendricks Chapel from 2015-17.

Students were previously able to seek assistance in conflict resolution at the Office of Student Assistance; the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities; the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services and the Student Grievance Processes.

The university on Tuesday encouraged undergraduate students to continue using those services.

The establishment of an Ombuds Office was a short-term recommendation by the Chancellor’s Workgroup on Diversity and Inclusion.

A report calling on SU to establish an Ombuds Office was submitted by the University Senate’s Committee on Women’s Concerns in March 2016. At the time, the committee said an Ombuds Office would help mitigate feelings of uncertainty and stress at the university, according to the report.

“I have to give credit to Martha Hanson, who was a professional librarian at Bird, who was a co-chair of the women’s concerns committee, at the time, because she did (an) extraordinary amount of research,” Thompson said. “I don’t want her to be forgotten. She’s since retired.”

Those feelings stemmed from structural changes at SU, including new leadership, the Academic Strategic Plan component of Syverud’s Fast Forward Syracuse initiative and the Voluntary Separation Incentive Program, which offered a one-time payment equal to half of a year’s salary to staff members whose combined age and years as an employee were greater than 65, according to the report.

Syverud tasked LaVonda Reed, associate provost of faculty affairs and a professor in the College of Law, with the Ombuds Office project.

“The good news, from my perspective … is that when we met with Ms. Reed in January, I believe it was, she said that many of the guidelines and goals, in terms of who they hire and how they setup the office, are based upon our report,” Thompson said.

— News Editor Sam Ogozalek contributed reporting to this article.

Published on February 13, 2018 at 7:50 pm

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