University of Washington Human Resources

Steven Soltar

PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

From my perspective as an organizational development consultant, it is difficult to imagine another client
environment as rich, complex and diverse as a university. While the challenges faced by staff, faculty,
departmental chairs, deans and provosts are unique to their separate roles, they also share commonality
in the overall university setting. As a facilitator, executive coach and mediator working in this environment,
I bring prior experience as an academic myself, along with many years serving public sector clients including
the University of Washington. My goal is to help you find and take actions you determine are authentic and
sustainable so that the agreements you reach with others can be productive, collaborative and inclusive.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE/RESULTS

EXPERIENCE / SELECTED PROJECTS

• Provided executive coaching for leaders, managers and faculty in universities and in federal, tribal and regional government.
• Mediated disputes in a variety of settings including the University of Washington.
• Facilitation: I helped conveners plan for and then draft a University Consortium’s definitional white paper involving
  participating academic, governmental, and industrial representatives from local, national and international institutions.
• Provided consultation and coaching to the newly appointed chair during the merger of the University of Washington’s
  Geology Department and Geophysics Program.
• Facilitated a successful paradigmatic change in how this client planned, funded and carried out research projects. Using facilitation, chartering, negotiation and customized training, I helped senior scientific managers, principal investigators and financial staff move from a competitive funding model to a collaborative planning, funding allocation and interdisciplinary approach to research. This change allowed scientists to make decisions based on the agency’s scientific priorities rather than on competing administrative needs.
• Member since 2008 of a professional study group exploring ways to make facilitation and mediation practices better serve people of color.

CREDENTIALS

• Organizational Development Consultant in practice since 1993
• Seattle Office of Civil Rights, Alternate Dispute Resolution mediator
• Community Representative, Bainbridge Island School District Multicultural Advisory Committee
• Adjunct Faculty, School of Business & Economics,
  Seattle Pacific University
• Adjunct Faculty, Federal Executive Institute,
  Leadership for a Democratic Society Program

SELECTED CLIENTS