The Conflict Engagement Specialist (CES) offers confidential consultations to students, staff, and faculty who seek support in addressing and resolving conflicts related to their learning or employment at USask. The CES provides support and information to individuals about the applicable policies, resources, and procedures available to them as they engage in the conflict resolution process.

Conflict Coaching is a confidential process that helps people examine conflict situations in a way that promotes their own learning and empowers them to approach and manage conflict more productively. It is a goal-oriented and future-focused process that concentrates on helping people reach their specific conflict engagement goals.

As an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) process, Conflict Coaching tends to be applied in two ways:

1. to prepare people to engage more meaningfully in other ADR processes, or
2. as a stand-alone process that helps people to gain greater self-awareness and insight into how they approach and handle conflict.

During Conflict Coaching the Conflict Engagement Specialist (CES) focuses on four key areas: self-awareness, building a reflective practice, conflict analysis, and conflict engagement skills.

Through this process, the CES may help individuals to:

• Explore the details of a dispute that has already occurred.
• Consider the most appropriate strategies and approaches in managing a conflict that is currently in progress.
• Prepare for a one-on-one interaction, for example, a performance review, disciplinary conversation, or other situation that is expected to be challenging.
• Consider how to approach a situation that could escalate into an unnecessary argument.
• Prepare for presenting a topic to a group that is likely to engender adverse reactions.
• Talk out thoughts and feelings about a fractious situation.
• Examine the choices and solutions that may be feasible for resolving issues that are in dispute.
• Prepare for mediation or another process such as negotiation, arbitration, restorative justice, collaborative law, or group facilitation.

Training

The CES develops, coordinates, and delivers programs and educational initiatives to all levels of the university community with the goal of promoting a healthy and culturally safe means of conflict resolution. The CES consults with administrative and unit leaders to assess the education needs specific to their units, and designs appropriate programs and interventions tailored to those needs.

Mediation is a confidential and voluntary dispute resolution process whereby the Conflict Engagement Specialist (CES) acts impartially to assist parties in reaching an acceptable settlement of their issues.

Mediation may be conducted with conflicting parties working together in the same space, or with the CES acting as an intermediary between the separated parties. Regardless of the method, it is expected that all parties will meet with the CES individually. These individual meetings are an important step in confirming that mediation is the appropriate approach, and they also help the parties to prepare for future discussions.

Facilitation

The CES can facilitate multi-party stakeholder meetings in which there is potential for conflict among participants. The role of the CES as facilitator is to ensure that complex or challenging discussions between parties are as constructive as possible to decrease the likelihood that a conflict will occur or escalate in the future.