conflict resolution – UofL News Mon, 20 Apr 2026 15:43:07 +0000 en-US hourly 1 Dr. Staat named interim university ombuds /post/uofltoday/dr-staat-named-interim-university-ombuds/ /post/uofltoday/dr-staat-named-interim-university-ombuds/#respond Thu, 07 Jul 2016 15:02:09 +0000 http://uoflnews.com/?p=31492 Former Faculty Senate Chair Robert Staat has been named interim university ombuds effective July 1. A professor in the School of Dentistry and 40-year member of the faculty, Staat will serve as the initial point of contact for employees who have disputes, oversee the informal dispute resolution process for the university and make suggestions for improving the workplace climate at UofL, among other duties.

Staat follows Tony Belak, who served as ombuds from September 2010 through June 30 of this year.

“I would like to thank Tony Belak for his dedicated service to the university and wish him well in his future endeavors,” said Interim Provost Neville Pinto. “And I look forward to working with Dr. Staat in this important role. His experience and the relationships he has developed will benefit the university as we look to fill this position on a permanent basis.”

]]> /post/uofltoday/dr-staat-named-interim-university-ombuds/feed/ 0 UofL students gain practical, service-learning experience during trip to Northern Ireland /post/uofltoday/uofl-students-gain-practical-service-learning-experience-during-trip-to-northern-ireland/ Wed, 15 Jun 2016 15:32:02 +0000 http://uoflnews.com/?p=31034 Eight Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences students, along with Dr. Melinda and Mr. Darrell Leonard, recently returned from two weeks in Northern Ireland for a short-term study-abroad trip. The students gained practice, service-learning/research experience based on the pedagogical model of learning-through-doing, and were able to work directly on the faculty director’s ongoing research project. 

Dr. Leonard’s project focuses on the social and cognitive development of children and adults from communities transitioning from political/sectarian violence. Students experienced first-hand how combining multicultural peace studies and social/cognitive research through cross-community engagement influences the psychosocial elements of “peace building” (i.e., in-group identification, intergroup forgiveness and trust, and mental health and well-being) and enhances personal, family, community relations, and multicultural understanding.

Students on the trip were exposed to the applicable theories of intergroup contact, conflict transformation, peace psychology, and empirical research and history specific to “The Troubles” between Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

These students spent the spring term being trained in and developing a trust-building workshop that resulted from Dr. Leonard’s 10 years of research in Northern Ireland. While abroad (May 7-20), the group traveled throughout Northern Ireland and conducted workshops with adolescents participating in the Ulster Project, a cross-community organization between Northern Ireland and the USA which is designed to bring Catholic and Protestant adolescents together in an effort to reduce prejudice, enhance forgiveness, trust, and empathy, and cultivate the 1998 “peace process.”

UofL students on the trip included: 

  • Jenna Conway
  • Katie Dick
  • Anna Kelecy
  • Todd Lucas
  • Arielle McGannon
  • Jessica Sproles
  • Ashley Swope
  • Morgan Wells
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