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Conflict Resolution

I attended a meeting yesterday of the North Carolina Ombuds. I have often missed in-person meetings but my class schedule permitted me to be off campus for it this time which was nice. I know many of the folk there by face since I've been doing this for over four years.

Our meetings are advertised as a chance for us to talk about things that we can't talk about in our home institutions without violating confidentiality or appearing unsure where certainty is expected. As we have both educational and government ombuds at these meetings as well as full-time versus part-time ombuds (such as myself) it was a mix of topics, some relevant, some less so.

It is a comfort to be among people willing to do good in messy situations, acknowledging our imperfections and striving to do better. Realistic or not our students often expect us teachers to be fully-formed, even though I am keenly aware when I improve in some area with the passage of time.

The conflict resolution in the title refers to being in a group that had shared purpose with different strengths, and how unconflicted it felt.

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