TAP Programme

Schedule	Activity	Description	Trainer/s
June 12^th
Introductory Work
9am	Welcoming and Registration - Green auditorium, room nº 141
9:30am	Opening Remarks	Jorge, Josef and Jean
9:50am	Exploring the landscape	In this session we will explore the work done by ourselves and other participants, the challenges and opportunities presented by the structures within which each of us works, and the skills (and knowledge gaps) we are individually deploying at present.	Jean Grier
11am	Coffee Break
11:20am	Policies and structures – designing ‘the perfect ombudsperson office’	In the first part of this session, we discuss the variety of models within which we are working. Are there any ‘must have’ policies for all of us?	Jean Grier Josef Leidenfrost
12:30pm	Unpacking the toolbox	A short wrap-up session looking ahead to the three main ‘tools’ we will be sharpening this afternoon and tomorrow – mediation skills, complaint handling, and conflict resolution.	Jean Grier
12:45pm	Lunch
Mediation
1:45pm	Mediation skills and the ombudsperson	Mediation truths and myths - what is mediation, and when might it be appropriate? In this introduction to mediation, we look at the benefits of using a trained mediator in certain situations, and consider whether institutions should develop a formal ‘mediation service’ for students and/or staff.	Dana Potočková
2:45pm	Mediation in action	Becoming a mediator requires many hours of training, but there are some ‘mediation-type’ skills we can all learn. We will use the rest of the afternoon to explore these through some ‘typical’ higher education scenarios.	Dana Potočková Jean Grier
3:30pm	Coffee Break
3:45pm	Mediation in action (Continuation)		Dana Potočková Jean Grier
5:15pm 5:30pm	Wrap-up and Closing Remarks from the 1^st Day Finger food and wine gathering	Space and time for questions/comments	Ryan and Thomas
June 13^th
Complaint Handling
9:30am	Introductory remarks	Gizem and Michaela
9:40am	Defining ‘complaints’ and identifying principles	What is a complaint, and why do complaints matter? What is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ complaint handling?	Jean Grier
10:30am	Handling complaints – early resolution	Sorting out the ‘small problem’ before it becomes a ‘big problem’ is always a good idea.	Jean Grier
11am	Coffee Break
11:20am	Investigating complex complaints	Some complaints are too complex for ‘early resolution’. How do we set about resolving complex complaints?	Jean Grier
12:30pm	Lunch
Conflict Resolution
1:30pm	Intake and Building Rapport	Getting the intake process right. Explaining your role during first contact. Note taking. Avoiding pitfalls.	Brent Epperson
2pm	Understanding conflicts and developing effective dialogues.	What is conflict? Active Listening, non-violent communication, using DESC and “I” statements.	Brent Epperson
2:50pm	Coffee Break
3:10pm	Communicating with High-conflict People	Lincoln letters and the “BIFF” method. Conflict coaching methods.	Brent Epperson
4pm	Strategic management for Ombudsperson	Understanding power and influence in the organisation. Navigating policy networks. Mapping your organisation: making power vs interest matrix.	Brent Epperson
5:15pm	Wrap-up from the 2^nd Day	Space and time for questions/comments	Gizem and Michaela
5:45pm 6:45pm	Closing Remarks and Outlook on future TAP Tour of saint Wenceslas rotunda on Malostranské náměstí	Jorge, Josef and Jean Malostranské náměstí 25, Praha 1. Close to metro station Malostranská (line A) or tram station Malostranské náměstí (tram n. 1, 12, 15, 20, 22, 23, 25)

Venue: Charles University, Street Celetná 20, Prague1, Czech Republic (Green auditorium, room nº 141) | Google maps

Trainers

Brent Epperson

Dr. Brent Epperson is an Assistant Professor of Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) and serves as Ombudsman (part-time) at the University of Luxembourg. He has practiced as an ombuds and is active in ombuds associations in Europe, Canada, and the United States. His research interests involve three central topics: ombudsman practice and the growth of the ombuds profession, public sector governance and the development of administratively fair and equitable policies and procedures, and issue representation and (re)framing in public policy debates—in particular, debates on health care, higher education, and minority rights(ethnic, gender/LGBTQ+, and linguistic minorities). He is passionate about the ombuds profession and the development of effective systems to mitigate conflict. He is currently working on a university-funded project to advance best practices in organisational conflict management and to provide ongoing training and support for early-career ombuds and other conflict resolution practitioners. Brent is a member of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE), the Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds (ACCUO), the International Ombuds Association (IOA), and the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO).

Dana Potočková

PhDr. Dana Potockova, M.A., MDR is a mediator and a dispute resolution expert with 22 years of experience in mediating and facilitating employment, community and commercial cases. She has mediated several hundred cases across four continents with a high rate of settlement. As a conflict management consultant, she runs strategic workshops and conflict resolution sessions around the world; from communities to big corporations and international organizations, such as Radio Free Europe, USAI, Council of Europeor European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency. Dana is an active educator regularly conducting mediation training programs and courses both domestic and international. As an adjunct professor, she taught courses in mediation, dispute resolutions and negotiation at Charles University, Anglo-American University in Prague, the Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University (Ravensburg) and Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (NYC). Dana is a co-author of the Czech Mediation Act and the Chair of the Mediators’Accreditation Committee at the Czech Ministry of Justice. She is the co-founder of the Czech Association of Mediators and the director of Conflict Management International, Ltd., one of the leading Czech organizations in the field of mediation.

Jean Grier

Jean Grier has worked in Higher Education in the UK for almost 40 years, spending much of her career at the University of Edinburgh, including 10 years as Investigations Manager and Head of Student Casework. Following retirement from Edinburgh in 2021, Jean continues her involvement in higher education, assisting a number of institutions with policy development and casework handling. She also holds several complementary posts in the public sector. Jean has worked as a trainer for over 20 years, running sessions across the UK and Ireland, and at conferences in Europe and the United States. Jean has been a member of ENOHE since 2014, hosted the ENOHE Conference in Edinburgh in 2018, and has been Vice President of ENOHE since 2019.

Josef Leidenfrost

Dr. Josef Leidenfrost, MA (Mediation) had joined the Austrian Ministry of Higher Education in 1988; he had served as adviser to three ministers in the 1990s and early 2000s on such issues as academic internationalization, higher education, national and European scholarship programs, and students’ rights and duties. He became the Head of the Office of the Austrian Student Ombudsperson since 2001, in April 2022 he was retired. Josef had started his professional career as a television journalist in the early 1980s, doing in-depth research on Austrian contemporary history and publications on post-war relations. He was awarded a doctorate by the University of Vienna in 1986. In 2012 he completed his MA in mediation. Beginning in 2001 he had played a pivotal role in setting up a complaint and acceptance management system for Austrian higher education institutions and a central agency for students’ complaints at the Ministry. He is a co-founder of the European Network of Ombudsperson in Higher Education (ENOHE) and its current president. He is the editor of ENOHE’s occasional papers and of the ENOHE News newsletter.