The Office of Ombuds Annual Report for fiscal year 2025 is now available on our website. It presents a wealth of information about our our offices’ growth and initiatives, how we’ve served the UT community over the year, and how satisfied they were with our visitor and education services. This year we also include 5-year trend analyses for our visitor services as well as an exploration of underlying issues that seem to be driving repeatedly observed annual themes.
You can access this and all reports at: https://ombuds.utk.edu/annual-reports/
Visitors Services:
Ombuds served 381 unique individuals, with 623 visitor contacts that included 515 new monthly visitors and 108 repeat monthly visitors. Visitor concerns involved 380 unique situations and 243 ongoing situations. Visitor satisfaction survey results were overwhelmingly positive. Of the 173 who responded, 168 visitors (97.1%) expressed overall satisfaction with their ombuds consultation.
Education and Outreach:
Office staff facilitated 64 workshops, providing 120.2 hours of educational content to a total of 877 participants. Staff also facilitated 48 outreach events, reaching 1,706 participant contacts. Workshop and outreach presentation satisfaction survey results were overwhelmingly positive. Of the 215 who responded, 208 (96.7%) expressed overall satisfaction with workshops and outreach presentations.
Looking Forward:
Reflecting on FY25 data and findings, we have identified the following areas of focus for FY26:
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Awareness Building: Launch an education and outreach campaign to help graduate students, staff, faculty, and campus leaders reframe their perceptions of their reactions to workplace/academic tensions and uncertainties, recognizing that tensions and uncertainties are a normal part of the human experience within complex organizational ecosystems.
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Supporting Organizational Change: Enhance educational programming and visitor support services with a renewed focus on helping individuals and teams develop the knowledge and skills needed to adopt a growth mindset when addressing tensions and uncertainties in workplace/academic settings.
- Collaborative Partnerships: Strengthen existing partnerships with formal offices and their leadership to support individuals and teams to navigate tensions and uncertainties while fostering a workplace/academic culture of dignity and psychological safety.
Access the latest and all reports at: https://ombuds.utk.edu/annual-reports/