We are now halfway through 2023. Let that sink in. Things have certainly been moving at a galloping pace at the Ombuds Office. Luckily, Program Manager Tifara Rachal and I have taken a moment or two to put together a report chronicling the office’s activities during the past three months. It is a timely sequel to the First Quarter Report, which charted our work from January to March. The Second Quarter Report offers a look inside the confidential walls of the Ombuds Office.

First, we have been busy. With 182 total contacts, or meeting with visitors, the second quarter was the busiest since I became Ombuds in June 2021. Meeting with visitors in our office (FDH 165), via Google Meet, by phone, and after hours, my commitment to being accessible to the campus community is reflected in our visitation numbers.

I often get asked whether having people visit the Ombuds is a sign that an institution is flirting with dysfunction. I don’t think so. Our office mostly helps guide visitors through conflict and help them find answers they have about policies and processes. Conflict of some kind seems to be a given whenever more than two humans congregate. The question is how we handle conflict. Avoidance is often not the best strategy. Talking about things, even if it doesn’t always deliver a solution to the immediate problem, goes a long way in building trust, ultimately leading to more easily resolved conflicts in the future. So I say that people visiting the Ombuds Office is a positive sign, because they believe a resolution is possible.

Further, I think that increased usage of the Ombuds Office is the result of increased outreach and communication (including this very blog). In an organization of thousands, there will always be those who have questions and those who know they have a problem. A more visible Ombuds Office means that they are aware that they have a place to go.

The demographics of those who visit the Ombuds Office suggest that the office continues to welcome a diversity of visitors. In keeping with national trends, more women than men tend to utilize the office, although this past quarter has seen a higher-than-previously percentage of women use the office; whereas in calendar 2022 64 percent of visitors to the office were female, in the last quarter that number rose to 75 percent. The one percent of visitors who identified as nonbinary or other remained constant from previous period.

This was by far the most varied quarter for visitors as classified by their position. In 2021, 37 percent of visitors were academic faculty, with administrative faculty (21 percent) and classified staff (15 percent) as the other large classifications. Students represented only 10 percent of the total, with leaders and managers taking up the balance. By contrast, in the most recent quarter only 17 percent of visitors were academic faculty. Administrative faculty were the largest single group, at 20 percent, with classified staff still at 15 percent. Academic leaders (12 percent) and administrative leaders (9 percent) were other significant groups, while 22 percent of visitors were graduate, undergraduate, professional students, or post docs. The final five percent were community members and parents.

With regards to race, White visitors represented 50 percent of the total, with “other” or mixed race standing at 17 percent. Black visitors were also 17 percent, with Asian visitors at 15 percent. In addition, 12 percent of visitors reported their ethnicity as Hispanic or Latinx.

As with the number of contacts, the diversity of visitors suggests that the Ombuds Office’s outreach is increasingly effective, with more and different people using the office.

As more employees and students have returned to in-person work and learning, the percentage of visitors meeting the Ombuds in person has risen. In 2021, 29 percent of visitors were in-person; in 2022, that number stood at 47 percent (a plurality, but not a majority). In the most recent quarter, 48 percent of visitors opted to meet in person, with the balance meeting remotely, by phone, and, for limited queries, by email.

The issues that people bring to the office continue to revolve, first, around communication. In the last quarter, 53 percent of visitors reported communication in an evaluative relationship (student/teacher or teacher/student, supervisor/employee or employee/supervisor) as an issue, while 30 percent cited communication with a colleague or peer as a concern. Respect and treatment by others was the next most common concern. Concerns about organizational climate were not heard nearly as much as negative perceptions of department or unit climate.

Perhaps reflecting anticipatory satisfaction over pending cost of living adjustments, compensation was not one of the top categories that visitors discussed.

I will say that UNLV is not the only place where communications can be a concern; ombuds across the world see similar patterns. But the frequency with which visitors cite communication as a problem suggests that, institutionally and individually, we might be served by thinking more intentionally about how and what we choose to communicate (or not to communicate). For me, communication issues are a mixed bag: they can’t be solved by administrative or legislative fiat, but instead require a good deal of work at the ground level.

I don’t recall hearing a news anchor actually ask, “It’s 10 o’clock. Do you know where your children are?” but I remember comedians referencing that directive. Maybe we should consider adding a reminder to UNLV Today: “It’s 10 a.m. Have you communicated with your colleagues?” I’m starting to think that with communication being such a concern we all have some responsibility to improve it.

You can read the entire 2023 Second Quarter Report right here.

If you are interested in helping your team flex their communication muscles, I have good news: the Ombuds Office offers a number of communication-related interactive workshops, from Difficult Conversations to Thoughtful Listening to Interpersonal Communication: Say What You Mean. You can learn more about our fully customizable, never-the-same-twice workshops on the Ombuds Office’s Programming page.

As a quick perusal of our last quarter shows, the Ombuds Office is there for members of the campus community facing a variety of issues. Whether you are a student, faculty member, or other UNLV employee, the Ombuds Office has many resources available to help you through any conflict or communication issue you might be facing. If you are having an issue and are uncertain where to go, it is an excellent zero-barrier first stop. You have nothing to lose and quite a bit to gain.

If you would like to talk off-the-record and confidentially about any work- or campus-related concern, please make an appointment with the Ombuds. Our door is always open.

David G. Schwartz

UNLV Ombuds