About the Campus Ombuds
The Campus Ombuds’ Office serves the entire campus community – students, staff, faculty, and non-senate academics as well as concerned parents, alumni and the occasional community member. We help resolve complaints, provide information and referrals, facilitate communication between individuals and among department staff, design and facilitate collaborative action (joint planning, problem-solving and decision making), and make recommendations for systemic change to the campus community.
Laurie McCann has been the Campus Ombuds at UCSC since 2002. She is a mediator and a facilitator and designer of collaborative processes for social change. Prior to serving as Campus Ombuds she worked in the field of environmental conflict resolution. She is a member of the Association for Dispute Resolution of Northern California, the International Ombudsman Association, Aiki-Extensions and the International Association of Facilitators.
"Conflict is neither good nor bad. It is only the opposite of harmony and a stepping stone to creativity. We must challenge our concepts...so that negative fighting spirit becomes creative fighting spirit."