Ombuds Services offers skilled, neutral listening, resources referrals, and communication and collaborative problem-solving support. Our work with individual visitors is confidential. Our visitors feel heard and supported in their efforts to build communication and collaboration.

We provide a variety of informal services to assist employees and graduate students in maximizing productivity and resolving conflicts. We listen respectfully, offer information about available resources, and emphasize collaboration and fair consideration of all sides of an issue.

What an Ombuds does:

• Listens to understand. We never judge or make decisions about who is right or wrong. Instead, we want to understand the issue from your perspective.
• Develops and evaluates options for resolution that meet your needs and overcome challenges you are facing.
• Reframes issues for greater clarity and collaboration.
• Guides and coaches you through your interactions with other parties.
• Improves your skills and confidence in giving voice to your concerns and goals.
• Refers to the appropriate resolution sources, when needed.
• Maintains strict confidentiality while also observing trends in order to suggest systemic change to improve existing processes.

What an Ombuds does not do:

• Participate in formal investigations or play any role in a formal issue resolution process.
• Serve in any other organizational role that would compromise the neutrality of the Ombuds role.
• Make binding decisions or mandate policies.
• Create or maintain records or reports for the organization. The only report we make is our Annual Report, which is entirely anonymous.

We serve UNM employees, their co-workers, and graduate students by Zoom, phone or in-person visits.

To schedule a confidential visit with an ombuds, please email us at ombuds@unm.edu. Thank you!

About Visits with Ombuds Services

Visits are private, informal conversations with a skilled, neutral ombuds, in which you can think aloud about a challenging situation, gain clarity and perspective, plan on constructive approaches, and receive information about resources. Afterwards, the next steps are up to you.

We serve UNM employees, their co-workers, and graduate students by phone, Zoom, or in-person at Ombuds Services, which is located at 1800 Las Lomas NE (SE corner of Buena Vista & Las Lomas) in Building 29, just west of Dane Smith Hall. Our hours of operation are Monday through Friday, from 8:00am to 5:00pm. If you would like to schedule a visit outside of these hours, accommodations can be made.

Reasons to Schedule a Visit

There is no wrong time and no wrong reason to contact Ombuds Services. The sooner you begin to address a concern or goal, the more options you have for pursuing a successful outcome. Ombuds Services is here to support you at any stage in that process.

People often schedule a visit to reflect, problem-solve, and strategize about concerns such as:

• Interpersonal relationships between peers, colleagues, supervisors and supervisees, and others you encounter while working for UNM.
• Opportunities for professional growth, performance appraisal, promotion, disciplinary action, planning leaves, changing roles, leaving UNM.
• Any challenge, dilemma, or goal that affects work and life at UNM.
• Identity-based harassment, discrimination, abuse of power, bullying, inequitable working environments, inappropriate relationships, unwanted sexual attention.
• Self-reflection about bias, and your personal journey to promote equity.
• Safety issues, working conditions including challenges related to isolation, working remotely, or working on campus safely.

Schedule Your Visit

Regardless of where you are located within the UNM System, you may schedule a confidential visit with an ombuds by emailing ombuds@unm.edu or leaving a message at (505) 277-2993.

For more information about schedule policies, refer to UNM UAP Policy 3300, Section 7.5.

Resources for Visiting Ombuds Services

• Overview of an Ombuds Visit 
• Ombuds Visit Agreement
• Written Permission to Tell Someone You Visited Ombuds Services: Visitor Consent form 

Ombuds Services provides confidential facilitated conversations via Zoom or in-person at our office with a skilled, neutral ombuds for two or more people to come together to seek resolution, communication, and collaboration.  

Facilitated conversations are preceded by individual visits. The parties determine the topics and outcome of their facilitated conversations. This is a voluntary, informal process. 

A facilitated conversation may be useful if you: 

• Want to talk about concerns in a quiet, private space with the support of a skilled, neutral facilitator. 
• Seek an efficient and effective way to work through differences. 
• Think that your ongoing working relationship with another person might benefit from building communication in a private, informal, and collaborative setting. 
• Find that building and maintaining your working relationship is important and challenging for any reason. 
• Experience a complexity of workplace concerns due to emotional or external elements. 
• Want to maintain productive collaboration day-to-day while formal proceedings or other processes run their course. 

Facilitated conversations are not recommended if someone is reluctant or unwilling to participate in the process after exploring their options in an individual visit with Ombuds Services. 

To begin the process of a facilitated conversation, please email us at ombuds@unm.edu or leave a message at (505) 277-2993. 

Resources for Facilitated Conversations

• Facilitated Conversation: Permission to Tell Other Party form 
• Facilitated Conversation: Agreement to Participate form 
• Facilitated Conversation on Zoom: Tip Sheet 

We provide informal process, workshops, and visits for groups including departments. Professional development and visits are designed to improve the group's collaboration and communication, and to encourage constructive conflict management. This process allows every team member to be involved in creating their healthy work environment.

A Few of the Reasons Teams Come to Ombuds:

• Improve communication
• Build collaboration
• Prepare for strategic planning or retreats
• Manage a crisis
• Improve morale
• Navigate change

Process Outline

1. Leadership meets with Ombuds Services
2. Leadership sends Ombuds Services a draft of the email which will be sent to the team explaining this initiative
3. Ombuds recommends changes to draft email or confirms it’s good to go
4. Ombuds Services makes a presentation to group
5. Leadership sends out email to team announcing initiative and sharing logistics
6. Individual visits to Ombuds
7. Leadership meets again with Ombuds

Resources for Teams

• Description of Ombuds Offerings for Teams 
• Team Leader Checklist
• Process for Teams

Ombuds Services is a free resource and service for UNM faculty, staff, graduate students, and their co-workers. A visit is an informal and private conversation with an ombuds to support your efforts to clarify what is going on, how you are impacted, and how you might like to move forward.  

UNM Ombuds are not mandatory reporters. We can provide valuable information about resources.

Click here for more details about what to expect in an ombuds visit.

We recommend that you each attend separate individual visits, even if you are aligned. This allows you to make the most of your time during your visit, and we are better able to ensure confidentiality, which is one of the key principles of our office. With that being said, if you would like to bring someone with you, please let us know, and we will figure out the best next steps together.

If you and another individual are looking for a facilitated conversation (also called mediation), we ask that you begin by each reaching out to ombuds@unm.edu or 505-277-2993 to schedule your private, individual visits.  When scheduling this visit, please tell us you hope to have a facilitated conversation and the name of your colleague.  This will help us to schedule both individual visits with the same ombuds/facilitator.

Per UAP 3300 7.5, the time you spend in a meeting with Ombuds Services is eligible for pay, just like any other time worked. Employees must arrange meetings so as not to interrupt departmental operations and they notify their supervisors when they are away “on university business,” but employees do not need to disclose the specific department or reason. 

As part of our commitment to confidentiality, it is our protocol to permanently delete all messages when they are not needed for scheduling purposes. 

If you'd like to discuss a matter with us, please reach out to ombuds@unm.edu or 505-277-2993 to schedule your private, individual visit.

Per UAP 3220 3, “A supervisor may require staff to schedule an initial visit with Ombuds Services. Any visitor to Ombuds Services may then choose whether to pursue such services. The level of participation with Ombuds Services is determined by the visitor.”

To preserve the confidentiality of our process and the visit itself, we neither confirm nor deny if anyone has scheduled a visit. You may encourage the individual by sharing our website with them, and by stressing the fact that Ombuds Services are confidential resources that exist to support members of the UNM community.

Ombuds Services does not offer a mediation course, but we suggest individuals take “Mediation: 40-Hour Basic Course” via the Anderson School of Management with Anne Lightsey, Senior Associate Ombuds. The course is eligible for tuition remission. See this link for more information and dates.