After 40 years of teaching about alternative fuel technologies, Clowes Research Professor Henry Ehrenreich has redirected his own energy to resolve Harvard’s internal disputes.

As the University’s first ombudsperson, Ehrenreich is one of two people employed by Harvard to serve as a neutral party who resolves disputes between faculty, students and staff.

Though he is not permitted to impose decisions or change policy, Ehrenreich can mediate informally and direct community members to resources already in place.

While the administration is heralding the benefits of the new post, others who have sought the assistance of the ombudsperson are not convinced of its effectiveness.

A Budding Post

The ombudsperson position was created a little more than a year ago, as a result of a recommendation by the December 2001 Katz Committee report on wage and labor issues and the April 2001 Mass. Hall takeover by the Progressive Students’ Labor Movement (PSLM).

“We were motivated by a general sense that faculty, students, and staff everywhere in the University would benefit from the availability of a neutral interlocutor,” writes University Provost Steven E. Hyman, who oversees the University Ombuds Office, in an e-mail.

This office consists of Ehrenreich and a professional arbiter, Lydia Cummings. They have handled approximately 150 cases since the office opened last February.

“Generally people have things they want to get off their chests and just want to discuss options available to them,” says Ehrenreich, who emphasizes the office’s confidentiality rules. “We have no power except to talk to people.”

No records are kept of conversations, and detailed information is shared with University officials only under the most “unusual” circumstances, according to Ehrenreich.

The office must also obtain the permission of the visitor before contacting anyone else about the case.

However, Ehrenreich says he does report to the provost about twice per semester with a general overview of the cases and a report of any developing trends.

“We haven’t had endemic problems, but if we did I’d walk over to the provost and tell him,” says Ehrenreich. “But we’d never tell him any names, only where the problems seem to sit.”

Ehrenreich says he wants the cream-colored leather sofas and fresh flowers in his Holyoke Center office to make people feel “as though they’re walking into someone’s living room.”

While Cummings deals mostly with workers’ disputes, Ehrenreich handles faculty and academic cases.