• Do you often feel drained by departmental drama?
• Do feel unclear how to handle conflicts that arise in your department?
• Are you unsure when, where, and how to manage conflict with people who will be voting on your tenure?

Academics are notoriously conflict avoidant and the inability to manage conflict can result in negative physical, emotional, and relational consequences for tenure-track faculty. So why not learn early in your career to master the SKILL of healthy conflict so that you can effectively manage conflicts as they arise and avoid carrying around all of the negative energy, anger and resentment in your mind and body. In this webinar, you will learn:

• How conflict-management is an essential part of thriving in the Academy.
• How to decide when to push-back and when to pull back in the face of conflict.
• The difference between healthy and unhealthy conflict.
• How to get clear about the role that power plays in resolving departmental conflicts.
• Ten tips for engaging in healthy conflict.

Facilitator Bio

Joy Gaston Gayles, Ph.D., is professor of higher education and University Faculty Scholar at North Carolina State University. Dr. Gayles’ research focuses on attracting and retaining women and underrepresented people of color STEM fields. She also has established an international reputation for her research on intercollegiate athletics in higher education and the student-athlete experience. She has published more than 40 refereed articles and book chapters on issues of diversity and equity on college campuses and has more than 60 national conference presentations to her credit. Dr. Gayles participated in NCFDD’s Faculty Success Program in 2014 and now serves as a faculty success coach. She has coached over 100 faculty participants through the FSP program. For fun, Dr. Gayles loves to travel and make memories with her two kids. As a former student-athlete, she also loves sports and is a group fitness instructor at her local fitness club.

Free Individual Memberships for the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD)

Available to all Cornell students, postdocs, faculty, and staff

Cornell is an institutional member of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD), a nationally recognized, independent organization providing online career development and mentoring resources. The NCFDD provides members with access to tools to increase research and writing productivity and improve work-life balance. 

Activate your account by following the steps below:

1. Go to the NCFDD website
2. Under “Select Your Institution,” choose “Cornell University”
3. Select “Activate my Membership”
4. Complete the registration form using your Cornell email address
5. Check your Cornell email account to find a confirmation/welcome email. Click “Activate Account” in the email