Essential Elements

Confidential

What you tell us stays with us. We work off the record. Because confidentiality is essential to what we do, we won't tell anyone we're working with you, unless you specifically request it to help work on your issue. The only exception to this is if the ombudsperson believes there is imminent risk of serious harm.

This also means we don't keep permanent records. There might be times we take a few notes, but we shred these when we finish working with you.

Impartial

Because the Ombuds Office is independent and reports directly, but only nominally, to the president of Lewis & Clark, we don't take sides in a situation. The ombudsperson you work with is committed to supporting fair process and open communication, and advocates for that rather than the specific people involved. An advantage of our neutrality is that it can help the ombuds discover something useful to your situation that might have been missed if the ombuds focused solely on advocacy for you.

Informal

The ombuds staff will work with you by helping sort through what's not working well, identifying resources and options, and informal discussion off the record. By providing informal help, the Ombuds Office staff does not participate in any formal processes, and therefore isn't the place to go to give the College official notice of something inappropriate you want to report. We can help you figure out how to do that if you're unsure, though our emphasis is on opening up communication outside the formal administrative process. Working with the Ombuds staff doesn't mean you can't use a formal process; you just can't do that while you're working with us.

Independent

The Ombuds Office reports directly to the president for budgetary and administrative purposes and therefore is outside the primary college structure. This permits work that is free of undue pressure or influence that sometimes can get in the way of addressing your concerns related to the campus community.