Graduate Ombudsperson
In keeping with a policy on departmental graduate ombudspersons and MCS graduate grievance procedures, the College places importance on helping graduate students resolve conflicts they may encounter. The ombudsperson for MCS graduate students serves as an intermediary between graduate students and faculty members, maintaining when necessary the anonymity of individuals and the confidential nature of a problem. Graduate students are encouraged to contact the ombudsperson with issues shortly after they arise to strategize about approaches to manage the situation proactively, when possible.
Each MCS department has a first point of contact for graduate concerns since many issues are best addressed first within the department. If you aren’t sure who to contact, you can ask your graduate program coordinator or the MCS ombudsperson. In cases where departmental assistance is not possible or not practical due to conflicts of interest or confidentiality concerns, please contact the ombudsperson directly to set up an appointment.
Types of Support Available
Discuss a situation without making a formal complaint in order to evaluate options for improving matters. The ombudsperson can listen objectively, answer questions about MCS policy and procedure, or suggest ways to gather more information or generate more options. These might include:
- problems with a research advisor that prove difficult to resolve directly with him/her (e.g. conflicts of interest, funding concerns)
- difficult situations in the classroom, either as a student or as a TA
A confidential channel to raise concerns. These may call for review of policy or procedure or the student may want to surface a concern, for example related to diversity. These matters will be treated confidentially and only discussed in the aggregate to protect the student’s anonymity.
A confidential resource and sounding board. Students who are experiencing personal, health or family difficulties that are affecting their academic progress may wish to contact someone outside of their program to discuss concerns and identify resources and options to assist them.
Information about how to file a grievance. If a student wishes to file a grievance, the ombudsperson can advise on how to do so and otherwise will act only to gather information if requested by the student or the Dean. Note that an ombudsperson is not a formal advocate or mediator. The ombudsperson is a neutral advisory party, not an advocate for the student or the administration in grievances.
Consultant to departmental ombudspersons. The MCS Graduate Ombudperson can provide advice and support to departmental ombudspersons ad graduate coordinators when needed.
The ombudsperson will not act without the student’s permission to do so; the student retains control of the problem. However, if someone reports to the ombudsperson an imminent risk of serious harm and a safe plan of action agreeable to both parties cannot be reached, the ombudsperson may need to act without permission in this rare case.