Disclosure Statements

In voluntarily visiting the Faculty Ombuds Office of Southern Oregon University and discussing matters related to the work environment, the Visitor understands that the Ombuds and the Faculty Ombuds Office will:

• Offer timely support
• Provide confidential, neutral, informal, and independent consultation, and mediation if requested
• Listen respectfully and non-judgmentally
• Help faculty gain perspective on issues, problems, and/or concerns
• Clarify University governance structures and suggest appropriate referrals
• Help identify resources, evaluate a range of options, and discuss possible next steps
• Support fair process and open communication

When requested by the Visitor, the Ombuds will answer questions, seek out additional information, and provide referrals.

Additionally, in an effort to better promote the confidentiality of the services provided by the Faculty Ombuds Office, the Faculty Ombuds Office will not maintain any records regarding information shared by Visitors in confidence unless required by law to do so. The Faculty Ombuds Office will maintain statistics regarding the number of faculty seeking out the services of the office, the time spent annually in serving as an Ombuds, and a list of general areas of concern mentioned by visitors, e.g. student conflicts, promotion concerns, workload issues, etc.