Brenda Seufert is Sinclair Community College’s ombudsman and her job is to serve students in any way she can, she said.
“It’s a safe place,” Seufert said.
The ombudsman office is located in Building 8 Room 025. The service is designed to help students resolve any problems they may have, according to Seufert.
“I’ve been working in higher education for a very long time,” Seufert said. “I know the structure of a college, and I know the protocol. I know what I can help deal with and I know what I can’t. Sometimes I can cut through the red tape.”
Administrative coordinator Merri Shearer said that listening to the students and allowing them to ‘vent’ can help resolve a situation.
“I think that’s an important function for us,” Shearer said. “Talk to the student. Sometimes that’s all the student needs. We kind of make the window clear. We kind of clean it up a bit so they can understand, ‘okay, there’s a process.’”
The ombudsman can help students who are frustrated with financial aid or other services at Sinclair. Also, everything said in the meeting with the ombudsman is confidential, she said.
“It may just be a matter of a miscommunication,” Shearer said. “Maybe the student didn’t understand it at first. We have more time to say, ‘okay, here is what you need to know,’ and just by having someone else explain it, it might become more clear to the student.”
“We’re here to work with the whole campus constituency,” Seufert said. “We want it to be a positive experience.”
Seufert said she enjoys meeting with students because she can get to know them, and then the student can tell their friends about the office.
“They’ll go the spread the word that, ‘you know, the college does have this office,'” Seufert said. “And many, many times students will literally bring somebody over here by the hand, walk them over and say, ‘this is who you need to talk to.'”
Seufert said she wants students to know that the service is available. On the ombudsman website, which can be found through www.sinclair.edu, are two forms that people can use, one for students and one for staff, that ask for information on the person and the situation they are dealing with.
“It’s a resource to use for students and staff,” Seufert said. “We’re not here to duplicate or supplant any other set of services on the campus, but we do try to be that link to make sure students get what they need and that the whole campus constituency gets support.”
“We really work hard to provide a quick link to information,” Seufert said.