Virtual Lunch and Learn: Conflict Resolution

The Events Committee of Loyola's Alumni Association invites you to a virtual Lunch and Learn regarding conflict resolution. 

Program Details 

As we have seen in recent history, ​building capacity to converse through, and have others help us to resolve, conflict is needed more now than ever. The ability to share viewpoints, empathize with the stories of others, come to agreement, and remain civil in disagreements seems increasingly challenging ​in a world of sound bites and headlines designed to escalate conflict and keep people apart. Please join in this virtual lunch and learn to hear from, and share with, conflict resolution professionals and higher education practitioners as they discuss their experiences in (and thoughts about) conflict resolution, examine potential roots of personal and social group bias, and work towards better understanding the range of conflict resolution options.

Meet the Speakers

Nancy Geist Giacomini

Nancy Geist Giacomini, Ed.D. is an independent educator, subject matter expert, and inclusive conflict management practitioner whose advocacy has challenged and changed conduct and conflict management systems for over three decades. Nancy currently serves as the Philadelphia Eviction Diversion Program (EDP) mediation manager with CORA Good Shepherd Mediation. The EDP is a leading model for diverting court eviction filings and easing pandemic housing insecurity through mediation. Nancy is also an adjunct graduate instructor and subject matter expert with St. Bonaventure University (NY) and a veteran mediator for special education disputes with the PA Office for Dispute Resolution. She serves on the PA-ODR Stakeholder Council, is a member of the Journal of Conflict Management (JOCM), and is an inaugural thought partner with Resolv-Ed (www.Resolv-Ed.com). Earned certificates span facilitation, mediation, and conflict coaching; restorative circles and victim-offender conferences; due process, Title IX and ombuds administration. Non-profit board leadership has included award-winning turns as past president, conference chair, and professional development lead with the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA). Her legacy includes integrating mediation, restorative practices, and inclusive conflict excellence into traditional student conduct offerings. Nancy founded the Community of Practice for Women in Student Conduct and served on the ASCA Foundation Board and Diversity Task Force. She earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Delaware while a conflict resolution program associate, where she served as graduate student affairs practicum instructor and mediated statewide special education disputes. Her career includes a decade+ as assistant dean of students managing Delaware’s student conduct program and an interim role as case manager and grievance advisor at Swarthmore College (PA). Campus leadership included piloting the Student Government Mediation Program, chairing the Appellate Judicial Board and Council for Judicial Affairs, and leading Sexual Assault Awareness Weeks; a role for which she received the Institutional Award for Women’s Equity. Nancy graduated from PA counseling psychology programs at Kutztown (M.A.) and West Chester Universities (B.A.).

Ryan C. Holmes

Ryan C. Holmes, Ed.D. is Associate Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students at the University of Miami (FL). Dr. Holmes has oversight of the policies and procedures governing student conduct, Greek life, student crisis, alcohol and other drug education, veterans’ services, and the chaplain’s association. He completed a Master of Arts degree in Counseling and Personnel Services from the University of Maryland-College Park in 2004 and a second master’s degree (MA) in Bilingual/Bicultural Studies from La Salle University in 2008. He completed his doctorate in Educational Leadership and Administration at UTEP.   Dr. Holmes  has given various talks and presentations dealing with social justice, bias (as it relates to race, gender, and other unchangeable traits), conflict resolution, and entitlement, and also contributed to Reframing Campus Conflict: Student Conduct Practice Through a Social Justice Lens (Stylus, 2009; 2nd Ed., 2020), More Stories of Inspiration: 51 Uplifting Tales of Courage, Humor, Healing, and Learning in Student Affairs (NASPA, 2009), The State of Student Conduct: Current Forces & Future Challenges: Revisited (ASCA, 2013), the Campus Prism – Promoting Restorative Initiatives for Sexual Misconduct White Paper, and co-edited Conduct and Community: A Residence Life and Practitioners Guide as endorsed by both the Association of College and University Housing Officers – International (ACUHO-I) and the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA). Dr. Holmes has consulted with various colleges and universities across the country and has hosted numerous webinars at the national level Dr. Holmes served on the American College Personnel Association’s (ACPA) Ethics Consortium Committee from 2013-2015 and served as a Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) Expert Review Panelist to review student conduct program standards in 2014 on behalf of ASCA. Dr. Holmes is also a past president of ASCA (2012-2013). Dr. Holmes was the Faculty Director of the 2021 and 2022 NASPA New AVP Institutes, and he is a member of the NASPA AVP Steering Committee.

Jennifer Meyer Schrage

Jennifer Meyer Schrage, J.D. (she/her) is an author, attorney, and educator and Thought Partner Lead for RESOLV ED LLC, a higher ed think tank and platform devoted to elevating innovative voices for campus climate solutions and social change. Her experience includes executive and senior leadership roles at the University of Michigan, most recently as the interim Associate Vice President and Senior Advisor to the Vice President for Student Life and previously as a director for both the International Center and Office of Student Conflict Resolution. Schrage was awarded the Association for Student Conduct Administration (ASCA) Award for Excellence for Significant Contributions to the Field for her collaborative work with Monita C. Thompson in developing the nationally recognized spectrum model as a framework for advancing social and restorative justice in the field of student conduct and conflict management. Schrage is a co-editor and co-author of Reframing Campus Conflict (Stylus, 2009/2020). Schrage previously taught at the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University’s Lodestar Dispute Resolution Center and served as director of Student Judicial Services at Eastern Michigan University. Schrage came to higher education from the practice of law. She earned her law degree at the University of Arizona.

Jay Wilgus

Jay K. Wilgus, J.D., M.D.R., is a lawyer, mediator, educator, consultant, and facilitator specializing in multi-party dispute resolution processes and dispute resolution systems design. Prior to forming Klancy Street, he served as Director of the Office of Student Conflict Resolution at the University of Michigan, Assistant Dean of Students at the University of Utah, and an attorney-mediator in private practice. Wilgus is a national leader in the field of student conduct and conflict management who is regularly called upon to assist postsecondary institutions, federal agencies, academics, and others seeking to improve institutional responses to student conduct, student conflict, and sexual misconduct. His published work has addressed, among other things, the application of restorative justice practices to student sexual misconduct cases, the use of specialized risk assessment and treatment interventions for college students found responsible for sexual misconduct, and the utility of facilitated dialogue in addressing campus conflict. Wilgus now oversees Klancy Street’s menu of law, consulting, and dispute resolution services and provides direct service to clients across the country. He holds an Honors degree in Communications from the University of Utah, a Master’s in Dispute Resolution (M.D.R.) from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University, and a J.D. from the S.J. Quinney College of Law in Salt Lake City where he served as a member of the Utah Law Review. He currently serves as President for the Maine Association of Mediators, Co-Chair of the Braver Angels Alliance of New England, and Group Leader for a community of practice affiliated with the Center for Restorative Justice at the University of San Diego. He is licensed to practice law in the State of Utah.