University's lead negotiator leaves to resolve World Bank disputes

Azcarate has served since August 2003 as the University Ombuds Officer, tasked with resolving University conflicts and running the University Ombuds Office, through which members of the University community can address conflicts and complaints that arise in their work or studies through one-on-one consultations, mediation between two parties and group facilitation.

Now the Colombia native is going global.

“The World Bank … wants to extend the [mediation] service worldwide, which will be my biggest task,” Azcarate said. “We must recruit and train mediators around the world for all [its] offices.”

The ombuds office

“What I do a lot is help people help themselves, help people analyze the situation they are facing, help brainstorm and throw out solutions,” Azcarate said, noting that a primary function of his job is to “serve as a resource.”

All consultations conducted by the office are confidential, and Azcarate said he believes that this condition creates “a safety net for the University so that issues that people would not address through normal ways have a place to go with absolute confidentiality.”

The office conducts roughly 200 consultations a year, and about 11 percent of those consultations involve undergraduates, Azcarate said.

He added that the office also conducts around 20 mediations a year and led 27 sessions last year to train individuals to resolve conflicts.

One of the more recent higher-profile disputes the office handled was brought to it last April, after a fight broke out at the Wilson College BlackBox.

“We facilitated the conversation between African-American males and females here on campus,” said Diedrick Graham, who was appointed associate ombuds last February. “That was a pretty volatile situation at the time.”

In addition to solving internal disputes, the office is charged with making recommendations on policy to President Tilghman and Provost Christopher Eisgruber ’83 on how to make the campus environment more welcoming and inclusive.

“We write an annual report and raise the issues we think need to be addressed,” Azcarate explained, adding that “we are always pushing for a fair process as much as possible in decision-making and problem-solving.”

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Though the ombuds office reports directly to the provost, it enjoys a level of independence from the administration, according to the office’s website.

The office’s location away from the center of campus is meant to symbolize the separation of the ombuds officials from others in the University community, the website says.

“Ombuds officers adhere to a code of ethics, including strict respect for confidentiality, that enables them to operate effectively,” Eisgruber said in an e-mail.

“At the same time,” he added, “the ombuds officer’s connection to this office ensures that he can get a hearing when he identifies policies that he believes require attention.”

An ombudsman departs

Eisgruber said that Azcarate, who informed administrators earlier this year that he would be leaving the University during the fall semester, has done a “superb job” as ombuds officer.

“He has expanded the range of the office’s activities, and has won plaudits from around the campus for his fairness and effective interventions,” he said.

“He is a dedicated Princetonian who will be moving on to a new assignment that is very much ‘in the service of all nations,’ ” Eisgruber explained.

Graham said that Azcarate has been a “wonderful colleague and friend.”

“One of the beautiful things about what [Azcarate] has done here [is] he’s built really wonderful relationships with the cabinet, the provost and the president’s office so when we make recommendations they take them seriously,” Graham said. “Credibility is very high because of him.”

Eisgruber said the search for Azcarate’s replacement is “ongoing, and the initial pool is a strong one.” He said he expects to name a replacement early next year and does not plan on naming an interim ombuds officer.

Graham confirmed that he has “thrown his hat in the ring” to succeed his boss.

“I’m looking forward to the process,” he said. “There should be a plethora of wonderful candidates, and it will be a challenge for me to show that I am capable of replacing such a wonderful ombuds here at Princeton — one of the best.”