To Schedule an Appointment with an Ombuds

The Northern Arizona University Office of the University Ombuds (Ombuds Office) provides an independent and confidential space where faculty, staff, and graduate students can seek informal and impartial guidance to address concerns, conflicts, or issues related to their experiences with or within Northern Arizona University. We provide a confidential space to talk through issues that come up at work to help you select the best path forward for you in terms of problem solving and conflict resolution. To do this, we have 4 operating principles that we follow. Our conversations are intended to be confidential which means we will not share your identity, our communications, or even that we met unless you give us your permission to do so. There are also some exceptions to confidentiality. If we become concerned that you are at imminent risk of harming yourself or others. We are an independent resource which means that we are not part of the formal NAU organizational structure. We report to the provost’s office to provide aggregate data about who visits the office and to provide general information about broad categories of issues discussed. We are an informal resource. The University has formal grievance procedures. The Ombuds Office is not an official office of notice for the University. We are informal in the sense the Ombuds Office can often provide freedom to fully explore all the issues in a situation. Speaking with an Ombuds is always off-the-record. We do not retain permanent records of confidential communications. Participation in this process is completely voluntary on your part, and visiting this office is not a required step in any formal grievance process. We are an impartial, neutral party interested in a fair and equitable process. We will not take sides. Rather, our role is to identify a range of options to help resolve your concerns. The decision about which option to pursue is yours and yours alone. By electing to use the services of the Ombuds Office, you agree to not record conversations and to never seek to compel the Ombuds Office to disclose any information shared or received as part of providing Ombuds Office services in any other forum, including internal or external administrative or legal proceedings. You agree to honor the Terms of Use of the Ombuds Office and understand that it is the Ombuds and the Ombuds Office that retains the right to confidentiality of communications and that this is not something that can be waived by others. By scheduling an appointment, you agree to the above terms.