Facilitating Difficult Conversations

Facilitating Difficult Conversations is happening today, Thursday, October 22, at Baker Hall on the Carnegie Mellon campus. It's a workshop presented by the AOCI, part of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences. If you've ever found yourself stuck in a conversation that's gone south—or if you're the one who usually has to step in and steer things back on track—this is exactly the kind of thing that hits close to home.

The workshop sits inside a larger push this semester at Dietrich. The AOCI's newsletter, The Garden, has framed the spring 2026 term around building trust through open communication and transparency. It's a theme that goes all the way up: provost Jim Garrett has been talking about integrity and open communication as the foundation of trust across campus, so this session isn't just a one-off—it's a practical extension of that conversation.

Baker Hall is the home of the Dietrich College, and it's a building with a bit of a legacy: the ceiling bears the Andrew Carnegie quote, "My heart is in the work." That spirit carries over into the college's staff support, too. The AIM committee—Appreciation, Interaction, Motivation—works on building camaraderie among staff, and the Staff Council serves as the voice for CMU staff. Between the two, there's a real focus on the people who keep the college running.

So, if you're around campus today and want to pick up some tools for those conversations that are never easy to start, head over to Baker Hall for Facilitating Difficult Conversations on Thursday, October 22.