Each year, the ombuds profession celebrates Ombuds Day on the second Thursday of October. Intended to educate and raise awareness about the nature of ombuds work, the day is commonly marked by events like lunch-and-learns, workshops, and seminars. At UNLV, our desire to raise awareness is so great that we have planned an entire week of activities that are free, open to the public, and designed to engage participants in a variety of conflict resolution scenarios.

This year, the theme of Ombuds Day, which falls on October 13, is “Resilience. Respect. Resolve.” It’s no surprise that the last few years have drawn on everyone’s reservoir of resilience. Respect remains the underpinning of any mutually-productive relationship. And, in light of the challenges we have faced collectively and individually, have tested our resolve. This year’s theme, then, is appropriate.

We begin Ombuds Week on Monday, October 10, with an open house at the Ombuds Office in FDH-165. This is a chance for visitors to see the office’s location—hanging plants and all—and to learn a little more about what happens there. We will have a computer set up for people to play the Ombuds text adventure video game; those who finish it (it’s a pretty short game) will be entered in a prize drawing. We will also have refreshments available for the duration of the open house, which is from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The following day, Tuesday, October 11, you can join us at the Faculty Center (BEH-235) from 3:00 to 4:00 p.m. for another installment of our popular Speed Conflict Resolution, The Wrong Way mini-workshop. This highly interactive session allows participants to explore several conflict roleplay scenarios in quick succession, in an irreverent, stress-free format that challenges them to act out the worst way to resolve an issue. This session is a fun way to meet people and to learn what to avoid in conflict situations.

On Wednesday, October 12, we will have two events at the Faculty Center. First, from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m., we will present our interactive workshop, Understanding Conflict Drivers. Heavy on roleplay, this session asks participants to take a quiz to learn their conflict style, and considers the impact that being aware of differing styles can have on how we approach conflict.

Then, at noon, we will host the October installment of the hour-long Rebel Conflict Roundtable. This informal event allows participants to talk, without the constraints of an agenda and with no PowerPoint slides in sight, about conflict. Some may want to talk about general ways to resolve conflicts, while others may have more specific questions. In any event, all discussion about conflict in all of its manifestations are welcome.

Then, on Thursday, October 13, we reach the day itself: Ombuds Day, as it is celebrated across the world. In addition to that morning’s HRPD session, Back from the Brink: Navigating Group Conflicts (register here), we will be hosting an afternoon (2:30 to 4:00 p.m.) event with the Boyd School of Law’s Dispute Resolution Society. The Conflict Styles Interactive Roleplay, always a crowd-pleaser, will be supercharged by the participation of a cohort of aspiring dispute resolution practitioners. This is always an energetic workshop, and one that you should enjoy attending.

We wrap Ombuds Week up on Friday with something new. In cooperation with Dr. Tina Vo of the Department of Teaching and learning, we are creating what may be the first ombuds-themed escape room in the world, and certainly the first at UNLV. On October 14, at 2:30, we will unveil it, inviting anyone who happens to have the time to be among the first to play it. The game is designed to encourage cooperation and collaboration, and those who successfully complete it will earn prizes. 

The escape room is exactly the unconventional approach to outreach that I embrace as Ombuds. In this role, I want to do everything I can to communicate to everyone on campus what the office does and how accessible it is. I am not sure whether workshops on conflict, video games, or escape rooms are the best approach, but I feel confident that they each reach someone in their own way. I hope that a diverse combination of events and opportunities will favorably introduce the ombuds concept to campus.

To register for any (or all) of the above events, please visit our registration page. It is free, but it will give us an idea of just how large a crowd to expect. You do not, however, need to register for the open house—just stop by between 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Monday, October 10.

In any event, both I and Tifara Rachal, the office’s Program Manager, look forward to seeing you at one or more Ombuds Week events. We are both hoping that you find value in the programming we offer, and that you feel secure in the knowledge that, whatever your needs, the office is here for you.

Speaking of which, while we are eagerly preparing for Ombuds week, we remain open for individual and group consultations. Whether you are a student, faculty member, or other UNLV employee, the Ombuds Office has many resources available to help you through any stage of a conflict. If you are having an issue and are uncertain where to go, it is an excellent zero-barrier first stop.  If you would like to talk privately and confidentially about any work- or campus-related concern, please make an appointment with the Ombuds. Our door is open.

David G. Schwartz

UNLV Ombuds