Workload has surfaced as a big problem this year, primarily because of the introduction of Oracle, the poor training that accompanied it, and the inability for many staff to get the same answer twice to a question. This has led to a high level of frustration in all of the Divisions, and in other departments on campus. The additional ideas and information that the Ombudsperson and the visitor generate together, often allow the visitor to resolve the problem independently. Some people chose not to follow through with any of the options, either because talking about it helped with coping or there was fear that things would get worse. This latter choice is still most prevalent with the graduate student population and the post-doctoral scholars.
Staff are more inclined to ask for and participate in facilitated discussions.
These discussions generally end with situations being openly discussed and agreement on a plan of action. In some cases, people are clearly in mismatched positions, either because of personality, communication difficulties, or skills. The Ombuds office and Employee Relations continue to work together to facilitate personnel relocations to jobs which are more compatible. A large proportion of the work of the Ombuds Office is preventative and, for this report, is captured through the general area of consultations with others on the campus. Consultations are with different individuals or with groups.