Erik Wessel wants faculty and staff across the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor campus to see the Office of Student Conflict Resolution as an important resource for more than just resolving student conflicts.
“Faculty and staff are key partners in our educational mission with students,” says Wessel, who became director of OSCR over the summer. “I believe the Office of Student Conflict Resolution has more to offer faculty and staff who work with students than most understand. We need to improve awareness and continue to build relationships across the university.”
Wessel comes to U-M after serving as director of the Office of Student Conduct at Ferris State University in Big Rapids. At Ferris, Wessel served as the primary conduct officer for all student conduct and conflict resolution concerns, including those originating in student housing.
During his time at Ferris, Wessel helped facilitate institutional efforts to align the sexual misconduct policy with federal guidance and managed the university’s response process for student complaints of sexual misconduct as the primary conduct officer under the deputy Title IX coordinator.
more information
He earned his doctorate in higher education administration at Pennsylvania State University, where he also served in student conduct roles in both Residence Life and the Office of Student Conduct before moving to Ferris.
Associate Vice President for Student Life Simone Himbeault Taylor says Wessel’s decade of service in student affairs is anchored with a strong academic background and a passion for serving students.
“At its core OSCR promotes a safe and scholarly community in which students navigate conflict in a peaceful, socially just and self-reflexive manner,” she says. “We have great confidence that Erik will lead OSCR to further its mission through the use of a spectrum of conflict resolution pathways that are educationally focused, student-driven, community owned and restorative in nature.”
Wessel says the range of restorative pathways available to U-M students involved in conflict is unique in higher education today. He notes that 90 percent of the conflicts that come to OSCR are resolved through a process in which students agree to the resolution and voluntarily take action to work toward repairing the harm.
Wessel says OSCR will continue the work of forming partnerships across the campus to continually innovate its work in resolving conflicts involving students. He wants to be sure the entire university community sees OSCR doing more than sanctioning students who violate the Statement of Students Rights and Responsibilities or the Student Sexual Misconduct Policy.
“It’s not just about the conflict and resolving it,” Wessel says of OSCR’s work, “but more about creating safe spaces on campus and developing healthy relationships.”
