Faculty members can contact Lisa PytlikZillig and Rodrigo Franco Cruz at ombuds@unl.edu. In your message, include your name, email address, phone number, the best time you can be reached, and if you have an ombuds preference. An ombuds will get back to you within two working days to set up a convenient time and place to meet. A personal appointment will give you the chance to discuss your concerns fully and confidentially. To protect your privacy, do NOT include details of your concerns in any message at any stage of working with the ombuds.
Preparing for a Call or Visit
You are not required to prepare anything before you talk with an ombud, but you may find it helpful to gather your thoughts — in writing or otherwise — so you can best express your concerns. Some questions that may help you focus your thoughts:
- What is the situation you want to address or improve?
- Who else is impacted by this situation?
- What do you hope will happen? What do you fear will happen?
- Is there anything you have already done to address this situation?
- What internal or external barriers are preventing you from addressing this situation?
- Which policies regulate your appointment and the functioning of your unit?
Meet the Ombuds
Lisa PytlikZillig, research associate professor in the Public Policy Center, conducts research on a variety of topics, including public engagement, trust in institutions, public acceptance of new policies and technologies, and alternative dispute resolution. PytlikZillig’s experience with UNL began as an undergraduate in the College of Engineering. She switched areas and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and double major in art and psychology. In 2001, she earned her doctorate in social psychology from UNL, and worked as a postdoctoral scholar, then research assistant, then research associate professor. In addition to faculty ombud, she also serves as interim director of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Consortium. Her work also included teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in psychology and educational psychology, and grant writing. In 2008, she began work at the University of Nebraska Public Policy Center, where she was awarded multiple grants from the National Science Foundation to study public engagement and trust in institutions. In 2015, she began assisting the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Consortium in an administrative role and served as SBSRC’s assistant and then interim director from 2017-2022. PytlikZillig is also a trained mediator, affiliated with The Mediation Center in Lincoln, primarily practices interest-based mediation, and has coached mediation students in the College of Law.
Rodrigo Franco Cruz, associate professor of veterinary medicine and biomedical sciences, teaches and advises students and conducts high impact research. His research interests include the role of redox signaling, protein/organelle quality control mechanisms, and metabolism in neuronal cell death, brain disease and injury. He is affiliated with and contributes to the mission of the university's Redox Biology Center and is an active member of the Society for Neuroscience and the Society of Toxicology. He has received national and international awards and recognition for his work. Franco Cruz has served on a number of university committees, including the Research Council, the Executive Committee of the Faculty Senate, Academic Integrity, Faculty Rights, and the Graduate Committee of the School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Franco Cruz has published numerous peer-reviewed research manuscripts, reviews, and editorials; edited many special issues and books; and participated as an editorial board member and ad hoc reviewer for a number of scientific journals and grant funding agencies. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a doctorate in Biomedical Sciences from the National Autonomous University of Mexico. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences.