Main Campus Faculty Ombudsman Home Page

Do you need to talk about a situation at work?

The Main Campus Faculty Ombuds Office is a safe place to share your workplace concerns for all tenure, tenure-line, full-time non-tenure line, and adjunct faculty.

Established by the Provost on the recommendation of the Main Campus Executive Faculty in October 1999, as a safety net for the workplace problems and concerns of all Main Campus faculty members. The office provides an informal, impartial, neutral, and confidential environment where faculty can discuss workplace concerns and disputes and where possible solutions can be mapped out. We do not advocate for any individual point of view, and do not participate in any formal grievance process, but work to promote a fair process for all.

About the Faculty Ombudsperson

My name is Catherine Langlois, and I am the ombuds for faculty on Main Campus. I am a Professor Emerita from our very own McDonough School of Business, where I taught game theory and wrote about the game-theoretic foundations of conflict and cooperation. In 2015, I was elected President of the Peace Science Society International. I am also a certified organizational ombudsman practitioner and a certified mediator. By becoming an ombudsperson, I went from theory to practice.

I have served as ombuds for Georgetown University Faculty since 2006 with a brief three year interruption when I retired from my faculty position in 2016.

My goal as an ombuds is to help untangle the causes of conflict in the workplace and to help my visitors develop strategies to address the workplace issues they might be facing.

Catherine can be contacted at facultyombuds@georgetown and langlois@georgetown.edu.

Issues and Concerns

What are the type of concerns you can bring to the Main Campus Ombuds?

Any workplace concern can be brought to the ombuds office. Here are some examples:

  • Rank and tenure
  • Conflicts with colleagues, students or administrative staff
  • Academic dishonesty
  • Merit review issues
  • Discrimination, harassment or bullying

The above list is by no means exhaustive