Ombuds Office

The Ombuds Office will open during Fall Semester, 2005, with service to graduate students. Please revisit this site during Fall Semester to find a list of ombudspersons and their contact information.

An ombudsperson

• provides independent, confidential, informal, and non-partisan counsel to graduate students on matters relating to University experiences or involving dispute resolution or interpersonal misunderstandings;
• may serve as listener, counselor, mediator, fact-finder, and may provide the student with feedback concerning questions, concerns, complaints;
• operates outside the ordinary administrative structure of the University and has no formal decision-making authority;
• makes referrals to other resources available to students.

Talking with an ombudsperson does not either constitute or substitute for filing a formal grievance; the ombudsperson works outside the official channels and by definition of the role, cannot become involved in any grievance process that the student might wish to initiate. In addition, the ombudsperson does not keep official records of conversations with students.

Ombudspersons at the University at Albany hold the rank of full professor or professor emeritus and have agreed to be available to students by means of phone, e-mail, and in-person conferences.

For more information about Ombudspersons, see the University and College Ombuds Association website, www.ucoa.org.

The Ombuds Office was created by the University at Albany Senate Bill No. 0405-13 during the spring of 2005.