Employment-related conflicts were the most commonly raised issue with Penn\u2019s Office of the Ombuds in the last academic year.<\/p>\n
The office\u2019s latest annual report<\/a> \u2014 published on March 16 in the University\u2019s Almanac \u2014 found that employment concerns accounted for 39% of issues brought to the office, followed by academic-related concerns at 33%. In total, the Office of the Ombuds welcomed 229 visitors in the 2024-25 academic year.<\/p>\n The office aims to serve as a \u201cconfidential, informal, impartial, and independent resource\u201d for Penn faculty, students, and staff who are \u201cendeavoring to address issues involving conflicts, disputes, and obstacles to one\u2019s successful engagement as a member of the Penn community.\u201d Its services include consultation, coaching for difficult conversations, mediation, and referrals to other University resources.<\/p>\n Employment concerns voiced by visitors to the office last year most frequently involved job performance or interpersonal workplace issues. Visitors also raised concerns about changes to the University\u2019s remote work policies.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some visitors noted a \u201c\u200b\u200black of transparency about procedures and processes\u201d and the \u201cinconsistent application of such policies.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, complaints of favoritism or inequality continue to be common,\u201d the report read.\u00a0<\/p>\n Academic-related concerns \u2014 which made up the second-largest share of complaints at 33% \u2014 included matters related to academic procedures, academic integrity, and research issues such as authorship and intellectual property. According to the report, complaints of \u201clack of collegiality and bad behavior\u201d were frequent.\u00a0<\/p>\n Behavior-related concerns accounted for 10% of the issues brought to the office and included reports of \u201cverbally abusive, demeaning interactions and microaggressions.\u201d<\/p>\n The report found that the number of visitors to the office increased by 6% to 229 during the 2024-25 academic year. Staff accounted for the largest share of visitors with 87 visits, followed by faculty with 49 visits, graduate or professional students with 39 visits, and undergraduate students with 31 visits. Postdoctoral trainees accounted for 10 visits, and 13 visitors fell into other categories.<\/p>\n Among faculty members, who composed 21% of visitors in the last academic year, common concerns related to job security, tenure and promotion processes, and faculty recruitment and retention.\u00a0<\/p>\n Graduate and professional students most often discussed problems surrounding relationships with faculty advisors, mentors, and principal investigators. According to the report, policies about authorship and intellectual property \u201cremain vague in many departments.\u201d<\/p>\n The number of visitors to the office has increased steadily over the past five years. The office recorded 153<\/a> visitors during the 2020-21 academic year, compared to 186<\/a> visitors in 2021-22, 203<\/a> in 2022-23, 218<\/a> in 2023-24, and 229<\/a> in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Staff have consistently made up the largest share of visitors to the office in the past five years, accounting for approximately 39% of visitors in 2020-21, 45% in 2021-22, 39% in 2022-23, 42% in 2023-24, and 38% in the most recent report.<\/p>\n In the 2024-25 academic year \u2014 for the first time in five years \u2014 faculty were the second most common type of visitors to the office.\u00a0<\/p>\n Last year\u2019s annual report also identified several services that may address recurring concerns brought by visitors to the office \u2014 including proactive leadership training on conflict management, processes for providing ongoing feedback, and increased availability of restorative practices.<\/p>\n \u201cWe want to reaffirm the value of an Office of the Ombuds, especially in light of the current challenges we face in our country and in the world,\u201d the report read. \u201cThe office represents a safe and confidential place to engage in discussions among campus community members who may differ in their beliefs and we welcome the opportunity to help.\u201d<\/p>\n Senior reporter Jack Guerin contributed reporting.\u00a0<\/p>\n Senior reporter Ananya Karthik covers central administration and can be reached at karthik@thedp.com<\/a>. At Penn, she studies communication and economics. Follow her on X @ananyaakarthik<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Employment-related conflicts were the most commonly raised issue with Penn\u2019s Office of the Ombuds in the last academic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":141388,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-141387","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-philadelphia","9":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","10":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141387","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141387"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141387\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141388"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}