Update: Details Emerge About Closure of Cal Poly Pomona Ombuds Office

New reporting by the student newspaper at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona provides additional detail about the termination of Mark Patterson and the closure of the Office of Conflict Resolution Services and Ombuds, which the university had not previously disclosed. Patterson, who had been appointed in 2025 as the inaugural Director of Conflict Resolution Services and Ombuds, said he was terminated in February during a meeting with senior administrators and was not given a reason for his dismissal as an at-will employee. 

According to the report in the Poly Post, the termination occurred approximately two months before the university’s April announcement that the office had “paused operations.” Patterson told the newspaper there had been no prior indication that the office would be eliminated, and the institution has not publicly clarified the rationale for the decision or whether Ombuds services will be restored. (Poly Post.)

Related posts: Job Posting (2023); Cal Poly Pomona Continuing Search for Next Ombuds; Cal Poly Pomona Offers Educational Series to Prepare for Ombuds Search; California State Monterey Bay Names Interim Ombuds; Cal Poly Pomona Announces Ombuds; IOA Elects 2025 Board of Directors; Ombuds for Cal Poly Pomona Adds Terms of Service; Cal Poly Pomona Quietly Shutters Ombuds Office.