When conflicts arise in the workplace, disharmony and unhappiness can’t be far behind. In those circumstances, Metropolitan State University of Denver employees can take advantage of the independent, confidential support provided by the University ombuds team.
While all employees are encouraged to have direct conversations, leverage senior Human Resources partners and contact the Equal Opportunity Office in the event of discrimination concerns, the ombuds team’s mission is to provide a resource for resolving conflicts outside of formal University channels.
The ombuds team members work virtually and are not University employees. Since November 2022, their services have been provided by MWI, a nationally recognized dispute-resolution firm.
Team members LaCrisia (Cris) Gilbert and Michael Stephens offer an additional avenue to facilitate and strengthen effective relationships between organizational departments and professionals to foster early, informal resolution of conflicts.
Each brings decades of experience to the table.
Gilbert, based on the West Coast, has worked in alternative dispute resolution for 35 years as a mediator, professor and trainer. She has also served as a facilitator, assisting HR and Compliance with informal resolutions. She started working as an ombuds in 2012.
People often experience strong emotions when they reach out for support, she said. She poses questions to help them consider the situation more dispassionately so they can identify a clear course of action.
“I love this job,” she said. “It’s always so rewarding to see them brighten up and know where they’re going to go from here.”
Stephens worked for many years as an ombuds and manager of other ombuds at multinational pharmaceutical company Merck. Prior to that, he worked in human–resources roles at Merck and several other companies. He has also served as ombuds for Amherst College and Smith College.
It’s a helping profession, one that calls for a high degree of empathy while not becoming too emotionally involved while providing people with sound advice, he said. “You have to be able to hear about problems without internalizing them too much,” he said.
MWI provides regular reports to MSU Denver’s Office of the President regarding trends and patterns it sees in the course of its work, but the identities of employees seeking the team’s services are never disclosed.
Employees seeking ombuds services can contact the ombuds team directly via MWI’s dedicated MSU Denver webpage, or they may reach out to Gilbert and Stephens directly.
Book a time to talk with Cris Gilbert by sending an email to ([email protected] and 214-802-3339). Schedule a time to talk with Michael Stephens by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling 413-341-6977.
