Restorative Practices

What is the Restorative Practices Committee?

Restorative practices are a philosophy or guiding principle that sees relationships as central to learning, growth, and a healthy university or organizational climate. Restorative practices aim to provide proactive strategies to build a sense of community, encourage relationship building, and decrease confrontations. If there is an incident between two or more people, our facilitators will lead restorative chats and circles to get the participating parties to share their points of view in order to find a middle ground of empathy and understanding. Restorative practices are less formal than meditation but share the same goal of creating a safe space where individuals can express their feelings and perspectives to restore healthy relationships.

Meet our Committee Members

Lisa Sobek
Lisa Sobek

Lisa Sobek is an Indiana native, born in Gary, Indiana and lives in Noblesville where she serves on the Noblesville Schools Board of Trustees. Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Marketing Logistics from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and holds a MBA in Business Management from Indiana Wesleyan University. Lisa has worked in Sales and Marketing for over 20 years for prominent companies such as Roche Diagnostics Corporation, Praxair Surface Technologies, and The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.

Lisa is the Project Manager for the R. Wayne Estopinal College of Architecture and Planning (ECAP), serving as a strategic partner, leading projects that focus on enrollment and retention, philanthropy, inclusive excellence, and alumni engagement. Lisa’s partnership with the Peace Learning Center (PLC) provided the opportunity for Restorative Practices to be introduced to ECAP and the Office of Inclusive Excellence’s Communities of Practice.

Lisa’s hope for Restorative Practices is that the entire campus community adopts the proactive strategies to help create an environment that fosters relationships and community building. Lisa added, “Everyone has relationships, whether that’s personal, academic, or professional. Being able to sit down and openly have difficult conversations with the sole purpose to listen, learn, and repair the harm that has been done is critical to creating positive solutions for moving forward”.

Christie Zimmerman
Christie Zimmerman

Christie Zimmerman is a contemporary choreographer, artistic director, and educator. Her dance theatre works have been performed in cities around the country on both theatrical and concert stages, and have been heralded as “relentlessly inventive” (the OC Weekly) and an “unadulterated delight” (Ambush Magazine, New Orleans).

Christie is currently an Associate Professor of Dance at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana where she teaches technique and serves as Associate Dean of the College of Fine Arts. She received her early dance training in New Orleans under the tutelage of Rhonda Edmundson, Gayle Tabary, Charleen Locascio, and Joseph Giacobbe before relocating to the west coast, where she completed her Master of Fine Arts in Dance Choreography from the University of California, Irvine. While there, Christie had the privilege of assisting and working under the guidance of Tony Award nominee and modern dance extraordinaire Donald McKayle - performing, teaching, and choreographing for both the drama and dance departments and was one of three students in the School of the Arts to receive the Chancellor’s Fellowship.

Matt Housley
Matt Housley

Hello everyone, I am Matt! I grew up in Akron, Ohio, yes, I am a Cleveland Browns fan, so don't hold that against me and yes, I know where LeBron James grew up. I graduated in 2018 from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania with my bachelor’s degree in Public Relations and a minor in Political Science. After being very involved in the Alumni Engagement and Admissions Office at SRU, I found it best to look for jobs in Higher Education. That brought me to Ball State University in 2018. I have been with Ball State professionally for 3 1/2 years. I previously served as the Assistant Director of Admissions for Diversity from July 2018 to November 2021 and now serve as the Property Management Program Recruiter in the Department of Applied Business Studies. I am also pursuing my Master's Degree in Public Administration and plan to finish up in May of 2024. I am a strong advocate of diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and am certified as an Intergroup Dialogue Facilitator on campus. I believe, in order to create a campus community that is built for all members, we must have dialogue that encourages us to grow, learn and understand one another. Through these critical conversations, it will allow Ball State’s campus to thrive as it empowers and strengthens bonds between its faculty, staff, and students. My door is almost always open for all students, faculty, and staff. If I can help, that's what I am here to do!

Marissa Lockhart
Marissa Lockhart

Hi there, I am Marissa Lockhart. I am a graduate assistant for CCIM and the Office of Inclusive Excellence working as the intergroup dialogue coordinator. I am in my second year of graduate school studying Emerging Media Design and Development. I am from Milwaukee, WI, and in my undergrad, I studied Creative Writing and Spanish. It is an honor to be a member of the restorative practices community as I truly believe this initiative will provide a framework for creating inclusive, empathic, and safe spaces for everyone.