Brent Epperson
Assistant Professor | Faculty staff
Brent Epperson is an Assistant Professor of Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University. Since 2014, he has worked as an ombuds in Europe, Canada, and the United States and continues to be an active practitioner. His professional experience in conflict management directly informs his teaching and research.
As a partner at Justéquitable, Professor Epperson provides part-time conflict management services to higher education institutions, academic and sports associations, healthcare organisations, and other sectors. He currently serves on the board of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) and is a member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA), the Forum of Canadian Ombudsman (FCO), and is an associate member of the Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds (ACCUO). Prior to joining Saint Paul University, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in public policy at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France.
Professor Epperson welcomes student supervision in areas such as ombuds practice, conflict management, public sector governance, issue (re)framing in public policy debates, media and social media studies, and DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging) policy and practice.
- Ombuds practice
- Conflict management and resolution
- Public sector governance and administrative fairness
- Issue (re)framing in public policy debates
- Media and social media framing
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging practices
Ph.D., University of Alberta, 2017
M.P.A., University of Montana, 2009
B.A. (Hons), University of Montana, 2007
Refereed Book Chapters:
Graham, Diedrick, Brent Epperson, Heather McGhee-Peggs, and Julie Boncompain. (2025). “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Ombuds Space.” The Organizational Ombuds: Foundations, Fundamentals, and the Future. International Ombuds Association (IOA). 2025. https://www.ombudsassociation.org/ioa-book-publishing
Epperson, Brent. (2023). “Challenging Narratives to Neoliberalism in Media Representations of American Health Reform: the Massachusetts and Utah Cases (2002-2011).” Neoliberal Contentions. Edited by Catherine Kellogg and Lois Harder. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Boily, Frédéric and Brent Epperson. (2020). “Analysing Conservative Media and Organisational Representations of LGBTQ+ Rights in Canada: An Ideological Clash?” In The Palgrave Handbook of Gender, Sexuality, and Canadian Politics. Edited by Manon Tremblay and Joanna Everitt. Toronto: Palgrave.
Epperson, Brent, Britta Baron, and Carl G. Amrhein. (2019). “Canada in a Global System of Higher Education: The Role of Community Engagement.” In The Oxford Handbook of Higher Education Systems and University Management. Edited by Stephen Crump, Tony Drew, and Gordon Redding. London: Oxford University Press.
Boncompain, Julie and Brent Epperson. (2018). “Addressing Harassment in the Promotion of Equity and Fairness – A Comparative Analysis of Canadian University Ombudsman Offices.” In El Acoso Escolar: Una Visión Comparada. Edited by Alfredo Sánchez-Castañeda. Defensoría de los Derechos Univeristarios de la UNAM. México: Presa de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
Refereed Journal Articles
Armstrong, L. L., Watt, E., Potter, C. L., & Epperson, B. L. March 2025. Meaning mindset theory: a transdiagnostic approach to mental health promotion and intervention for children. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 1467332.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. July 2024. Reconceptualising Ombuds Practice to Improve Mental Health with “EASE.” ENOHE Yearbook (ISBN: 978-3-902906-712). https://enohe.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ENOHE-Yearbook-2024.pdf
Johns, Daniel and Brent Epperson. November 2022. “On Being an Ombudsman: Protecting the Public Interest While Navigating the Minefield of Policy Networks.” Canadian Journal of Bioethics.
Boncompain, Julie, Heather McGhee-Peggs, and Brent Epperson. November 2022. “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Case Study – Where Does the Ombuds Fit?” Canadian Journal of Bioethics.
Genieys, William, Mohammad Saïd Darviche, and Brent Epperson. January 2022. “New Policy Elites and the Affordable Care Act: The Making of Long-Term Insiders.” Journal of Policy History, 34 (1), 1-24.
Genieys, William, Mohammad Saïd Darviche et Brent Epperson. November 2020. « Les nouveaux gardiens des politiques de l’État en perspective comparée : Contrôle des coûts et élites des politiques de santé aux États-Unis et en France » En Gouvernement et action publique, Vol 9, No. 3.
Epperson, Brent. Review of Le Conservatisme à l’Ère Trump. December 2018. Dirigé par Rafael Jacob et Julien Tourreille Presses de l’Université du Québec, 2018, Québec. Canadian Journal of Political Science. Vol. 51. No. 4.
Boily, Frédéric and Brent Epperson. December 2014. “Quebec and Alberta: The Clash of Perceptions (2003-2012).” Canadian Political Science Review. Vol. 8. No. 2. http://ojs.unbc.ca/index.php/cpsr/article/view/511
Other Publications
McGhee Peggs, H., Boncompain, J., & Epperson, B. April 30, 2024. Are faculty members fair? Inside Higher Ed. https://www.insidehighered.com/opinion/career-advice/2024/04/30/why-and-how-faculty-members-should-demonstrate-they-are-fair
Epperson, Brent and Julie Boncompain. February 2018. “Addressing Harassment in Canadian Higher Education Institutions.” The Querelis Quarterly. Issue 1.
Epperson, Brent, “Universities are ill-served by a corporate governance model” University Affairs. August 20, 2014. https://www.universityaffairs.ca/opinion/in-my-opinion/universities-are-ill-served-by-a-corporate-governance-model/
Epperson, Brent. “Student governments are the cradle of the old boys club.” Montreal Gazette. March 20, 2014.
Epperson, Brent. « La réforme de l’éducation postsecondaire doit être inclusive. » Affaires Universitaires. February 19, 2014. https://www.affairesuniversitaires.ca/opinion/a-mon-avis/la-reforme-de-leducation-postsecondaire-doit-etre-inclusive/
Epperson, Brent. “More work needed to attract foreign students.” Edmonton Journal. February 19, 2014.
Epperson, Brent. “More services needed to attract foreign students.” Vancouver Sun. February 16, 2014.
Epperson, Brent. “Higher Education for the 21st Century.” Montreal Gazette, January 16, 2014
Epperson, Brent. “We need to reframe Alberta’s post-secondary debate.” Edmonton Journal, December 11, 2013
Armstrong, Laura and Brent Epperson. May 2025. “Advancing Conflict Coaching in Ombuds Practice: The EASE Model.” Annual Symposium on Conflict Resolution – Building Better Workplaces: Toward Comprehensive Conflict Resolution Systems. Saint Paul University. Ottawa, Ontario.
Doran, Chuck and Brent Epperson. May 2025. “Promoting the Growth of Embedded and Outsourced Ombuds Globally.” Annual Symposium on Conflict Resolution – Building Better Workplaces: Toward Comprehensive Conflict Resolution Systems. Saint Paul University. Ottawa, Ontario.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. April 2025. “Effective Coaching in Ombuds Practice: The EASE Model.” International Ombuds Association (IOA) Annual Conference. Miami, Florida.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. June 2024. “Reconceptualising Ombuds Practice to Improve Mental Health Through Meaning Mindset Theory (MMT), the Stoic Dichotomy of Control, and the EAR (Empathy, Attention and Respect).” European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) Annual Conference. Covilhã, Portugal.
Epperson, Brent and Laura Armstrong. May 2024. “Reconceptualising Ombuds Practice to Improve Mental Health With “EASE.” Annual Symposium on Conflict Resolution – The Ombuds: Foundations, Best Practices, and Development. Saint Paul University. Ottawa, Ontario.
Epperson, Brent and Josef Leidenfrost. June 2023. “Four Languages, three cities, two ombuds: Insights into how a twin ombuds team is working.” European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE) Annual Conference. Prague, Czech Republic.
Epperson, Brent and Julie Boncompain. November 2022. “Can we? Should we? How Do We? Engaging in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Work as an Ombuds.” Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). Asilomar, California. Epperson, Brent. October 2022. “ADR in the Workplace: the Role of the Ombudsman and the Experience of Establishing New Ombuds Offices.” ADR Institute of Canada (ADRIC) National Conference. Ottawa, Ontario.
Epperson, Brent. June 2022. “Establishing a New Ombuds Office: Tips from Recent Experiences and an analysis of the historical development of the profession.” Annual Conference of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE). Athens, Greece.
Epperson, Brent and Daniel Johns. November 2021. “From Student Focus to Systemic Change? Returning to Client-Focused Ombuds Practice.” Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). Asilomar, California.
Epperson, Brent. June 2021. “How to set up an Ombuds office: Lessons from Luxembourg.” European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE). Webinar.
Epperson, Brent. May 2021. “Good Online Citizenship: How to Mitigate Conflict in Distance Work.” University of Luxembourg.
Epperson, Brent. November 2019. “The Ombudsman in Public Sector Governance: Politics, Partisanship, and Multi-Partiality.” Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds (CCCUO). Asilomar, California.
Epperson, Brent. November 2015. “The Ombudsman as Fairness Policy Entrepreneur: Advancing Equity in Post-Secondary Contexts.” Annual Conference of the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds. Asilomar, California.