Meet your Ombuds team: Here to listen, here to help
As a new academic year begins, we invite you to remember that you are not alone when
challenges or conflicts arise. The Ombuds Office exists as a confidential, impartial and informal resource for students, staff and faculty across our community.
Whether you’re seeking a one-on-one consultation, support in facilitating a meeting, or opportunities to learn new approaches to conflict management, our team is here to listen, reflect, and help you explore constructive ways forward.
This year, we are delighted to welcome Dr. Elizabeth (“Liz”) Whiting to the Ombuds team. Liz holds a Ph.D. in ethics from Emory University, where she studied religion, conflict, and peacebuilding. At Wake Forest, she regularly offers conflict management courses and workshops for students, faculty and staff, and she extends this work to Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Beyond campus, Liz has supported people navigating conflict through one-on-one coaching and restorative justice group processes with Triad Restorative Justice and Piedmont Mediation Center, Inc.
Liz brings not only her deep expertise but also her love for the ordinary joys that sustain us — gardening (messily, as she says), Latin and swing dancing, singing alto in choirs and reading (mostly fiction).
Together, the ombuds team offers:
- One-on-one consultations for confidential conversation and coaching.
- Meeting facilitation to support constructive dialogue in groups.
- Conflict management workshops (as capacity allows) to equip our community with skills for navigating differences.
We look forward to accompanying you in the months ahead — through both challenges and opportunities. May this year be one where dialogue becomes a bridge and our shared commitments to curiosity, respect and care shape the paths we walk together.
You can reach us at this email address: saombuds@gmail.com.
—The Ombuds Team
Contact: Jill Crainshawns in new t
Sept. 5, 2025