Nuts & Bolts Application

A Nuts & Bolts Application of The Basic Ombuds Model (2004)

By Misa Kelly, born Annette Marie Puʻu (now walking as simply ʻAnakē)

Future Traditions Foundation

This comprehensive study applies Misa Kelly’s original Basic Ombuds Model to the real-world context of the UCSB Ombuds Office—just before its controversial closure in early 2004. The piece offers both a granular and conceptual map of ombudsing in practice, breaking down systems into foundational components while also revealing the living, evolving nature of the work.

As both scholar and practitioner, Kelly draws on first-hand knowledge of the UCSB office to provide:

• A structural and functional analysis of ombudsing at UCSB

• The articulation of primary, secondary, and tertiary ombuds functions (a new theory)

• A detailed mapping of roles, complaint types, and internal processes

• Reflections on ethics, institutional positioning, and the roots of ombuds “power”

Importantly, this paper stands as a historical document: UCSB was among the first UC campuses to establish an ombuds office, and also a founding site of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). That office was shuttered shortly after this report was written, following Kelly’s whistleblower disclosures.

This document embodies both the promise and precarity of institutional ombudsing—where truth-telling, advocacy for just processes, and structural resistance intersect. It is also a key component in Kelly’s lifelong effort to deconstruct and rebuild conflict systems grounded in integrity, ancestral knowledge, and ethical clarity.