California State University East Bay Opens Ombuds Office

The public university east of San Francisco has created an Office of Ombuds Services for faculty, staff, and administrators and has appointed Silvina Ituarte to establish the program. Ituarte, a Professor of Criminal Justice, says she is eager to incorporate restorative justice principles into the work of the Ombuds Office. 

The program reports to the University Diversity Officer and will be IOA-compliant with the exception of confidentiality for sexual misconduct issues. (A 2015 Cal State Executive Order requires Ombuds to report sex discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual violence to their campus Title IX coordinator.) 

Ituarte has been a professor at Cal State East Bay since 2003. Her teaching and research interests primarily focus on issues related to youth empowerment, bias crimes (hate crime), community based programs, and restorative justice. She graduated from UC Irving and earned a PhD at Rutgers University. (CSUEB Ombuds; CSU Executive Order; LinkedIn.)