Photo by Krystal Hicks

As the first semester continues to progress towards its December 10th retirement, many students are letting out that long awaited sigh of relief. With that comes the dissipation of anxieties and pressures associated with the academic life, however, not all problems are solved by taking a month off. What about the never-ending conflicts between you and your other, the party-crazed tenant who never makes rent on time, or the fraternity next door that doesn't seem to care who lives around them? These are all issues that can intensify by prolonging or ignoring the situation. That is part of what the UNH Judicial and Mediation Programs Office deals with.

Director of Judicial and Mediation Programs, Esther Tardy-Wolfe, is interested in student life every day. Esther insists that conflict resolution and mediation are excellent ways to manage and resolve conflicts before they escalate and require student conduct charges, and can ultimately avoid the hassles of hearings or even court, and can preserve relationships. "Last year we had over 1100 judicial cases and only a handful of those were mediation cases." States Esther, "We are interested in proactively educating our community about community standards such as mutual respect, valuing individual differences, and teaching life skills such as cooperative communication and conflict resolution. Mediation can be appropriate for a variety of situations." She also mentioned the importance of on and off campus members taking into consideration respect for those around them. As the demand for independence off campus increases, students can sometimes forget about their contract of responsibilities and that the university relationship is preserved when students are off campus. The Student Rights, Rules, and Responsibilities list can be found at www.unh.edu/student/rights/

Before she began her career at UNH back in March of 2001, Esther, an alumni, worked as a litigation paralegal for a law firm in Portsmouth. She also continued her studies by attending law school and earned her Juris Doctor in 1985 where she developed her interest in mediation while at Vermont Law School. In the 1980's, there wasn't a readily identifiable field of dispute resolution practitioners to talk with or serve as mentors. Today Esther is considered an expert with over nineteen years of experience under her belt and is interested in mentoring. When a couple colleagues told her about the job opening at UNH, she was ready for the opportunity. When asked about her ambition to get the position, Esther replied, "I was interested in dispute resolution processes, UNH was looking to expand their judicial programs to develop the areas of mediation and conflict resolution and I had enjoyed working with students and other educators." After already working with students K-12, having taught conflict management to college students Esther was interested in applying conflict management programs in higher education.

As the Director of the Judicial Mediations Office, Esther deals with roommates, friends, relationships, organization members, and neighbors, who agree to the mediation as an alternative to court. The philosophy of the Judicial and Mediation Programs Office is based on community, responsibility, and fairness. From managing the daily implementation of the Judicial and Mediation Programs Office, to developing Mediate at UNH for handling on and off campus conflicts, Esther enjoys a fast pace. Esther also teaches Mediation at the Pierce Law Center and has helped schools within New England establish peer mediation and conflict resolution programs. For the Judicial Mediations Office homepage see: www.unh.edu/student-life/judprograms/index.html

When Esther isn't at work resolving disputes or teaching about conflict resolution, she enjoys sailing with her husband, Peter, of 17 years, who is a lawyer and also a fellow mediator. She also enjoys friends and family (she is one of four sisters), quiet reflection and lively adventures . Frequenting the Maine coast on their boat, where Esther is originally from, is one of Esther's passions. Traveling to Virgin Gorda each year provides a quiet get away of swimming, snorkeling, reading and a little sailing; and they dream of taking a year off some day to sail there. Esther and Peter also have two Portuguese Water dogs, Casco and Danser, who they take snowshoeing in the wintertime. "I also love to cook," laughs Esther, "but Peter is the real Chef." When she's not making up her favorite scallop dish (which is rare these days) Coquilles St. Jacques, she's planning for her upcoming trip to Tuscany next summer where she'll experience the vast display of arts and cuisine. Then in November Esther and Peter will make a short trip to Russia to train judges in mediation. Esther reports that the most important mentor in her life is her mother who taught her to read, encouraged her to be herself, to value honesty and integrity, and to travel through life with compassion, and respect for others.