Dr. Brent Epperson serves as Ombuds (part-time) at the 91����Ƶ, reporting to the Board of Governors

Brent conducts research in ombuds practice, conflict management systems, public policy and issue framing.

Selected publications:

Graham, Diedrick, Brent Epperson, Heather McGhee-Peggs, and Julie Boncompain. (Accepted / Forthcoming 2025). “Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Ombuds Space.” The Organizational Ombuds: Foundations, Fundamentals, and the Future. International Ombuds Association (IOA). 2025.  

Epperson, B., & Armstrong, L. (2024). Reconceptualising ombuds practice to improve mental health with “EASE.” In J. Leidenfrost (Ed.), ENOHE Yearbook 2024 (pp. 10–20). European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education.  

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.

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. (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. (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. (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, 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.

Brent has taught courses in ombuds practice, conflict management systems, mediation, conflict coaching, health policy, and public policy in Canada and the United States. He has served as a trainer for new ombuds with the International Ombuds Association (IOA) and the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education.

Brent is a Board Member of the European Network of Ombuds in Higher Education (ENOHE), a Member of the International Ombuds Association (IOA), and an Associate Member of the Association of Canadian College and University Ombuds (ACCUO), and the California Caucus of College and University Ombuds.

He engages in outreach to promote ombuds services to all campuses of the 91����Ƶ and promotes the ombuds profession to the broader public. Most recently, he co-authored this piece in Inside Higher Education:

McGhee Peggs, H., Boncompain, J., & Epperson, B. (2024, April 30). Are faculty members fair? Inside Higher Ed.

Brent has held various academic awards for research in ombuds practice (most recently) and in public policy from Saint Paul University, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Government of Alberta, and the University of Alberta.

Brent completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in France (2020), his PhD at the University of Alberta, Canada (2017), and his Master of Public Administration (MPA) at the University of Montana, United States (2009).

His additional training in Appropriate Dispute Resolution (ADR) includes certificates in mediation and communications in conflict at the Appropriate Dispute Resolution Institute of Alberta (ADRIA) (2015), the certificate Ombudsmans: Notions essentielles et meilleures pratiques from the Université du Sherbrooke / Forum of Canadian Ombudsman (2016), and Foundations of Organizational Ombuds from the International Ombuds Association (IOA) (2024).