The National Association of Law Student Affairs Professionals (NALSAP) hosted its Fifth Annual Conference, bringing together professionals from around the country. NALSAP serves as the professional home for those who support law students by providing leadership, professional development, and student affairs resources.

On June 24, 2021, two of UC Law SF’ own staff presented to the conference’s largest group on Leadership for Students: Conflict Resolution and Professional Development. Lauren Lofton, Associate Director for Student Life & Inclusion and Mattie Robertson, Deputy Director of the Center for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (CNDR) delivered an interactive session showcasing a series of workshops that Director Robertson developed for students at Hastings.

The session addressed the importance of “soft skills” such as communication and conflict resolution as essential for student professional development. In the context of student organizations and student leadership development, the session offered examples and strategies for supporting students around conflict resolution and understanding their feelings, in addition to the “facts” that often influence our decision making as leaders.

The training utilized an intersectional approach and provided tools for how to help student leaders consider how aspects of their personal and social identities may be impacting their conflicts within student organizations, and it also addressed professionalism and how to support students to act in conformity with their character as a leader in their interactions with one another as well as with staff and faculty, and in the workplace.

Congrats to the presenters!