Campus & community, Campus news

New report from Staff Ombuds Office

By Public Affairs

Berkeley’s Staff Ombuds Office saw a dropoff in visitors in 2008-10 compared to the previous two-year period, a decrease it attributes to campuswide staff reductions — which led to “increased fear, conflict avoidance and workload demands” — and to staff reductions in the office itself, which resulted in “substantially reduced outreach activities.”

According to its latest biennial report, professional staff comprised the majority of visitors to the office, an independent department established in 1984 to provide informal, confidential conflict resolution and problem-solving services for all Berkeley staff and some faculty members. The just-published, 28-page report offers a two-year snapshot of working life at Berkeley, with sections on caseload volume, demographics, and workplace concerns and trends.

Copies of the report can be downloaded from the office’s website .