Annual Report 2020-2021
"The [person] who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."
Kong Qiu (Confucius), 7th Century BCE
Ombuds Mission
Enable individuals and organizations to manage conflict effectively, collaborate equitably, and navigate policy purposefully.
Ombuds Vision
Build a campus resilient in conflict, inclusive of diverse backgrounds and experiences, and skillful in affecting change.
Ombuds Values
Respect confidentiality and protect anonymity. (Confidentiality)
Act independently of organizational obligation and control. (Independence)
Serve all without preference. (Impartiality).
Exercise no authority or control over University processes or outcomes. (Informality)
Honor individual choice regarding actions to be taken. (Autonomy)
Ombuds Tools
The University Ombuds uses coaching, facilitation, mediation, consulting, skills development, and cross-functional connections to accomplish the Ombuds Mission.
In furtherance of the the Ombuds Vision and Values, the University Ombuds listens without judgment, is "partial to all," creates no personally-identifying records, explores concerns outside formal processes, seeks and shares information, assists visitors in connecting with appropriate resources and processes (internal and external), and discusses options for dispute resolution, conflict management, and orderly and responsible systems change, within the parameters of the laws and policies governing the University.
Through a second year of operations under a completely different operating environment from the first, the Ombuds Office at California State University Channel Islands found new ways to foster "dialogue across divergent viewpoints" (CSUCI Strategic Initiative 3.3) and encourage proactive, informal resolution of workplace conflict (CSUCI Strategic Initiative 4.9). Please view the following short video for further insights and opportunities for growth.
Who visits the ombuds office?
Below are statistics illustrating the employment status of ombuds visitors, how long visitors have worked for CSUCI, what organizational Divisions they come from, length of employment at CSUCI, and gender identity, race and ethnicity as reported voluntarily. This information is included to help assess patterns and potential needs for informal conflict management support.
Regarding demographic questions, potential visitors are told:
"Gender/gender identity, sexuality, race, and Hispanic/Latinx/Chicanx status help the ombuds office identify patterns or clusters of concern regarding conflict and the experiences of conflict at CSUCI. Answering these questions is optional. In each case, you may choose 'other' and provide your own description. No personally identifiable information is correlated with your answers. Individual answers will not be shared with anyone. Your answers will not be considered in determining how the ombuds office will help, except to the extent you authorize it."
Employment category information is self-reported when an individual makes an appointment online. Providing information is voluntary. Many individuals were counted more than once because they sought ombuds services on more than one occasion for the same issue(s). However, intake information is not linked to specific meetings, so duplicate information cannot be deconflicted. Additionally, a small percentage of individuals may have completed intake forms but did not complete a visit (cancellation or no-show). Nonetheless, These charts provide a reasonable breakdown of what types of employees seek ombuds support.
n=107. All charts are based on this number unless otherwise indicated.
n=95
n=97
n=86
In addition to the categories referenced above, beginning in September 2020, potential visitors to the ombuds office were also asked if they identify as transgender. Of those who responded (n=87), 96.6% answered that they did not identify as transgender and the rest (3.4%) answered, "Prefer not to say." Individuals were also asked if they were in a supervisory, manager or chair position. Of those who responded (n=107), 55.1% said, "No"; 34.3 percent said "Yes." The rest said "Not sure," "Prefer not to answer," or something else.
The Ombuds Office conducted no in-person confidential meetings in Academic Year 2020-2021. Most meetings (93.7%) were held over video teleconference (Zoom or Teams). The Ombuds spoke with 4.8% of visitors over the telephone and the rest were unplanned in conjunction with a separate meeting.
Information regarding Ombuds Outreach are included in the "Educational Efforts" tab. And more information about ombuds services can be found at the CSUCI Ombuds Website.
What do people discuss with the ombuds?
Categorization of issues raised in ombuds visits are based on assessments by the University Ombuds after an individual visit is complete. Visitors to the Ombuds Office are not asked to categorize their concerns. The Ombuds Office does not track the amount of time expended with individual visitors or expended in making general inquiries about issues. However, most individual visits take roughly 75 minutes on average. The Ombuds Office also does not track "resolution" of issues as resolution is a highly subjective assessment and could create individually identifiable records.
n=102 unless otherwise identified. (Please note this number is different than the video report linked above by 3, due to a discrepancy in counting.)
Following each individual visit, the University Ombuds assessed whether the individual raised a concern about retaliation, or concern about leadership, Human Resources support or Union representation, or concern about conflict with colleagues, if they took direct action. Of those who raised these concerns (n=44), the greatest number (59.4%) expressed concern about leadership, followed by concerns about HR (18.8%), concerns about collective bargaining unit representation (12.5%), or some combination of the factors above. Fear of retaliation factored into the discussion for 34.4% of those who raised concerns. Only 3.1% expressed concern about colleague conflict.
Assessment that a visitor expressed concerns about retaliation, leadership, HR, bargaining unit representation, or colleague conflict does not mean that the visitor necessarily experienced these issues (although some did), but simply that they did not feel confident taking direct action because of these concerns. Similarly, expressing concerns that an identity or group membership may have contributed to conflict does not mean that the individual experienced discrimination, which in some cases would necessitate reporting for gender or sexual orientation in accordance with CSU Executive Order 1096.
n=12
n=36
Feedback Received
When people schedule an appointment with the Ombuds Office through the scheduling website (link), individuals are automatically directed to an intake form which asks for non-identifying background information. This information feeds into a spreadsheet which generates a random seven-digit number which I then use to correlate the categories of concerns raised, any concerns about status (e.g., race), any concerns about institutional accountability and effectiveness (e.g., that a supervisor may retaliate), my assessment of the scope of issues raised (e.g., affecting an entire office), and the means of meeting (e.g., via Zoom). Following each meeting scheduled through the website, ombuds visitors receive an automatically generated email requesting they complete a feedback survey (link). I send out similar feedback requests following workshops. Participants in Coffee & Collaboration workshops receive an automatically generated feedback request as well.
I instituted automatic intake form redirection with appointment scheduling as well as automatic post-visit feedback solicitation at the beginning of Academic Year 2020-2021. Previously, I simply included a link to the intake form on the scheduling page and (when we met in person) asked individuals to complete the intake using an iPad and gave individuals a link to the feedback form. Data is not available to show how often individuals complete the intake form before the changed procedure. However I am confident it has increased substantially. With regard to feedback, the number of feedback responses increased from 60 total over the course of AY2019-2020 to 78 total from 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2021. Some representative comments are below.
Perceptions of ombuds accessibility, respect, alternatives considered by visitors (e.g., quitting or suing the university), and the value of ombuds professional standards such as confidentiality and independence are included in the following report (double click to open in a new tab):
Feedback Report 2020-2021.pdfSome representative feedback comments (redacted to protect identity) include:
"I appreciated having the opportunity to intake on these issues at very short notice and left with a good sense of the first steps."
"The examples you provided both on our campus and community helped to provide a better understanding of how to be a better ally and look at the continuous changes as an opportunity to improve."
"Mark is a much needed and appreciated addition to CSUCI. He is super collegial, knowledgeable and very approachable. Thank you, Mark, for all you do for our campus!"
"Thanks for your efforts on our behalf. I am absolutely certain that you want to help – and I believe that you can. But we’ll need to have a very different framework to make that happen."
"Our session covered everything I needed it to, gave me validation of my concerns, offered me options of how I could proceed, and gave me tangible examples of what I could do if I were ever in the same situation again."
"I appreciate your patience and insight, especially given how broad the topic became."
"I did spend some time face to face on [day] and I was able to apply some of what you suggested to the conversation. I didn’t even need to refer to what I had written! As I said to [individual], I feel renewed and am ready to dive into working with [individual]. And, I am feeling much more confident about my role going forward. Can’t thank you enough!"