UTC Employee Confidentiality

UTC’s ombudsperson will make every attempt to keep all information in confidence unless the party sharing the information gives permission to disclose it. The ombudsperson will uphold this request except when required by law or University policy to share it. Like other University employees, the ombudsperson remains subject to University policies and laws that may require disclosure of otherwise confidential information in certain circumstances, including:

1. in response to a valid public records act request;
2. when there appears to be imminent risk of serious harm to any person;
3. when required by a court to disclose such information;
4. or when required by University policy, such as required reporting of allegation of illegal activity to an appropriate University official (e.g. reporting illegal harassment or discrimination to the Equal Opportunity and Accessibility office).

In many situations, an ombudsperson can gather information for a party without revealing their identity. This information often can aid in clearly delineating facts and assumptions. In some situations, it is helpful for the ombudsperson to reveal certain kinds of information to others involved in the issue, but this is done only hypothetically or with the permission of the faculty or staff member.