Official U. mediator resolves campus conflicts

Even for an engineering professor, the task of discerning boundary conditions and working with governing equations --while highly rewarding -- can sometimes prove difficult.

This is the lesson that University Ombudsman David Pope has learned since University President Judith Rodin appointed him to the two-year post last July.

Technically, Pope's role is to serve as the "confidential dispute resolver within the University," he says.

Effectively the University's official mediator, he serves as the point person when a member of the University community has an issue in which he or she would like a third party's opinion.

Most often, complaints come from staff and administrators and generally arise from misunderstandings and instances of miscommunication. Students, especially graduate students, rarely take advantage of the service.

In Pope's dual role as a professor of Materials Science and the University's official mediator, helping people put two and two together to reach a solution is all in a day's work.

"You can't have beef with the world and be good at this job," Associate Ombudsman Gulbun O'Connor adds.

Pope's office, located in an Engineering building on the east end of campus, "reflects the state of my life," he confesses.

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves of science texts line the walls across from where Romeo and Juliet prints hang.

Papers and folders lie scattered on his desk and a pot of coffee brews in the corner.

Fortunately for Pope, "the most important thing is just to be able to listen ... in a very three-dimensional way," he says -- an orderly desk is not a prerequisite for the job.

Pope has fielded complaints on issues ranging from students who felt they had been graded unfairly, to problems arising from Homeland Security initiatives.

For example, the Canadian father of an undergraduate called to complain that his daughter was having difficulty getting across the border, Pope says.

While Pope has no bearing on federal policies, he was able to lend an ear and refer the concerned father to an appropriate official.

The Office of the Ombudsman would consider that situation an unequivocal success because each party in the conflict was able to move on from the situation.

Pope says his position as ombudsman has complemented his life experiences in dealing with others, as well as his profession as an engineer and scientist.

"I'm a results-oriented kind of person," he says, admitting to an occasional lack of patience and a belief in a "right" way of doing things.

As ombudsman, Pope says he's learned that "the universe can be properly viewed through many different prisms. Mine is not the only one."

O'Connor -- who works closely with Pope to solve complaints -- praised Pope as having a gift for strategizing. He has an "ability to line up your dukes," she says, as well as to provide an empathetic ear. "Feeling for people, caring for people -- you can't fake that."

And people seem to notice.

Everyone the pair helps is "so nice and so grateful. I feel, well, what have I done? We just listened and gave some ideas," O'Connor says. "We never tell people what to do."

Most often, the ombudsman's job is simply to hold a mirror up to the situation -- "to make both parties aware of all the issues," former Ombudsman and professor emeritus of Public Policy and Real Estate Anita Summers says.

Not just at Penn, but in life, "a lot of people don't know how to listen," O'Connor adds. "I think that's what they're really thanking us for."

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