By SHANNON O. WELLS
In more than 30 years at Pitt, Lisa Lang has worked in the department of cell biology, run the fellowship program in critical care medicine, spent five years in public health working for an associate vice chancellor, and since 2015, has worked in the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences for former Deans John Cooper and Kathleen Blee.
One thing Lang has not done, however, is serve as an ombudsman. Let’s just say the title, even “ombudsperson,” had rarely, if ever, infiltrated her professional radar screen.
“Last year, when (Dietrich School Dean) Adam Leibovich first started talking about it, I’m like, ‘Ombuds. OK?’ I mean, I think I had some sort of very vague notion of it, but really nothing. And I just always thought it was such a clunky word.”
Learning more about what the role entails, the less arcane and mysterious it became. As Leibovich’s plan evolved, Lang happened to be finishing her master’s degree in social work.
“The work that we’re going to be doing in the ombuds office really closely aligned with my degree,” she said. “I mean, that’s what social work is all about, trying to advocate for people and support people, and make sure there’s equity and all of that. … So I asked if I could be considered for the role of director and staff ombuds.”
Lang, the Dietrich School of the Arts and Sciences’ director of executive operations and executive administrator to the dean, ultimately was selected as ombudsperson and inaugural director of the Dietrich and College of General Studies Ombuds Office. The office will provide informal mediation, referrals to appropriate systems and policies, and assistance in charting a productive path forward for staff and faculty, and will partner with the graduate student ombudsperson.
Under the joint auspices of Jessica Hatherill, executive director of administration, and Natasha Tokowicz, associate dean for equity, faculty development and community engagement, the unit’s role is to foster a “positive working environment,” in which all those in the Dietrich School and CGS community are “treated with kindness, empathy and respect” and receive “fair and equitable treatment.”
In addition to Lang and Philippa Carter, graduate ombudsperson and director of diversity initiatives and academic affairs in the graduate studies’ office, three faculty ombudspersons will staff the office: Deb Artim, teaching associate professor in the Department of Neuroscience; Amy Flick, teaching professor and advisor in the Department of English; and Brent Malin, associate professor in the Department of Communication.
Leading the way
“What we’re hoping for is the first Ombuds Office on campus that’s serving not only graduate students and postdocs, but also staff and faculty,” Lang said. “We’re the only one on campus that does that. So that, in itself, is a little bit unique.”
For a lot of the grievances, complaints and interpersonal conflicts happening within the departments, “nobody really felt like they had anywhere to go or a starting point.”
Some Dietrich faculty and staff weren’t clear on how to address such problems, “so they kind of ran all over the place. Sometimes they go to their supervisor, then they go to the department chair (and) the chair didn’t know where to go,” Lang said. “We just had a lot of disorganization.”
An inundation of problems went increasingly unaddressed.
“It just sort of fell the wayside,” she said. “And I think people started to feel like they weren’t being heard, that nobody in our administration cared about what was going on. It’s just that we’re such a large school and we didn’t have a designated area like this where people could come and speak confidentially.”
Leibovich’s overall goal was to create a centralized office anchored by the ombudsperson, a neutral third party who can informally mediate conflict, facilitate communication and help people reach some informal resolution of their problem.
“Maybe through just talking through options or connecting them with resources on campus, we can help them with policies and procedures … to sort of navigate the system,” Lang said, with self-sufficiency the larger goal.
“We’re not here to step in and solve the problem for you,” she added. “We’re here to provide you with the assistance that you need and the support that you need to figure out how to solve it on your own.”
A privacy thing
Located on the first floor of Posvar Hall, the new ombuds office offers walk-in hours as well as Zoom appointments. Consultation requests can be submitted via the website’s ‘request for consultation’ form. The three faculty ombudspeople have a commitment of eight hours a week.
“They have their physical offices in their departments where they’re doing our actual department work,” Lang explained, noting she is based in Posvar Hall. “Then we have a separate office for the three faculty ombuds.”
Because of the nature of consultations, the logistics and locations of meetings will be handled on a case-by-case basis. “We don’t want people feeling like … somebody knows that Brent is ombudsperson, and there’s somebody coming to his office for an in-person (meeting). It just doesn’t look good. It’s a privacy thing.”
Talking it out
Those inquiring about a consultation will start with Lang, who will get more information about their concerns. “I will ask them if they want to do a remote or in-person intake meeting, and if they have a preference over who they want to meet with.”
Clients can choose the ombudsperson they want, who will then reach out and schedule a time with them. When a case is open, an internal case-management system will store notes that are only viewable by the ombuds team. When the case is closed, all identifiable information is removed except for high-level data to report to the dean at the end of each semester.
“That data will just be things like how many visits to the office, how many staff, how many faculty? What types of concerns are we seeing?” she said. “High level, just trends.”
At that point, Lang also can make recommendations to the dean “if we’re seeing a certain type of complaint. Maybe something needs to be in place for a new faculty orientation, or something for when new staff are hired,” she said. “Just identifying those trends and then making some recommendations for how we might be able to address them.”
Throughout the coming months, Lang and the team will reach out to department chairs and program directors, introducing themselves and highlighting the services and support the Ombuds Office offers.
“I’m here to listen. I’m here to advise, make suggestions, make connections for resources and interpret policies and procedures,” she said. “If you want to pursue it further, then I will work with you to get it off to where it needs to go. But then I step out.”
Lang said she suspects the more routine appointments may be people “who are just frustrated with something and just want to come and talk it out for a little bit. And that’s great. That’s fine.
“I mean, that’s a big reason of why I went to school. Eventually, I want to be a therapist,” she said. “So it’s sort of like informal therapy.”
Shannon O. Wells is a writer for the University Times. Reach him at shannonw@pitt.edu.
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