Higher-education institutions in the US are increasingly hiring ombudsmen to resolve faculty members' complaints before they escalate into more serious problems. Faculty ombudsmen handle a range of complaints, from mundane disputes over office space to career-changing battles over termination.

The American Council on Education has published guidelines for institutions to use in establishing and carrying out policy on sexual harrassment, addressing such issues as grievance procedures, dissemination of information about policy and claim resolutions, campus education programs, recordkeeping, and the use of a coordinator to handle reports…

Mediation, in which a neutral third party helps two people come up with their own solutions, is being used to settle faculty and staff grievances. Experiences at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Duke University, Emory University, and the University of Cincinnati are described. (MLW)