And the vast majority—80 percent—of the Harvard affiliates who use the Ombuds Office are workers, according to Ehrenreich.

“Most often, it has to do with a relationship with a supervisor,” says Cummings. She says that there is a “wide range” of worker concerns, from working environment to career opportunities, to supervisors.

Cummings, who spent 25 years working in the University’s OHR before taking the post at the Ombuds Office, says that workers tend to have “more complex problems” than faculty, partly because there are fewer career alternatives for Faculty members.

“One of the options that may be attractive to [a worker] is to leave their job,” she says, adding that such a possibility is not always a choice for Faculty members.

Cummings says that workers are more likely than faculty or students to come back for follow-up visits.

At least half of the workers who come to the office return for one or more follow-up meetings, according to Cummings.

But when people visit the office in excess, Ehrenreich says, they must draw the line.

“We suggest they get some medical help. These are people who generally want to come back and talk and we’re not psychiatrists,” he says.

More To Be Done

To increase faculty, student and staff awareness of the office, Ehrenreich and Cummings have recently made presentations to the deans of all of the graduate schools and the College about the services they offer and have distributed 500 posters to various workplaces around campus.

But their caseload of 150 remains significantly lower than that of

Linda Wilcox, ombudsperson of Harvard’s School of Public Health, Medical School and Dental School, who says her office spoke with 625 people last year.

Wilcox’s office, which will continue to operate despite its new University counterpart, was established in 1991.

Ehrenreich says that the success of the Ombuds Office will ultimately depend on word of mouth.

Though Ehrenreich says he will remain at the office for at least a couple more years, he is still trying to determine the terms of service for the ombudsperson position and what types of University employees should be appointed to the top job.

“My aim right now is to make sure the right kind of people agree to serve for a term,” he says. “Prestige of the office depends on the fact that you’ve got a senior Faculty member in charge, which opens a lot of doors to deans and Mass. Hall.”

—Staff writer May Habib can be reached at habib@fas.harvard.edu.