Office of Student Support & Accountability

What is conflict coaching?

• Conflict coaching is a tailor made process designed to help those engaged in a conflict to effectively manage conflict on their own.
   
• Conflict coaching pairs a “coach” with one-side of a conflict at a time. While multiple parties engaged in the same conflict may participate simultaneously in conflict coaching, it is not necessary for all sides to do so.
   
• Conflict coaching will help individuals build their capacity to understand and resolve conflict, by developing effective interpersonal and strategics approaches to the conflict.
   
• Conflict coaching can be a benefit to anyone who is willing to learn new skills and has a a high motivation to resolve the issue at hand.

How is conflict coaching used?

• Conflict coaching can help faculty members to respond more effectively to students who disrupt the learning environment (e.g., classroom behavior, threatening or harassing emails).
   
• Conflict coaching can help students experiencing conflicts with a roommate, friend or University employee.
   
• Conflict coaching can be particularly effective when there is no clear cut policy or regulation which would otherwise guide a resolution pathway.

Why conflict coaching matters?

• The skills and strategies learned from conflict coaching can be applied to a variety of leadership or management settings, beyond the immediate issues at hand.
   
• The skills and strategies learned from conflict coaching can be used proactive to help building effective interpersonal relationships.
   
• Conflict coaching allows those directly involved in conflict to maintain control over its resolution (win-win), without handing over that resolution to a third-party (win-lose).

Who are our coaches?

• The Office of Student Support & Accountability coaches are staff members (full-time and graduate students) who have been trained in the art of conflict resolution and bring years of higher education experience to the table.