Conflict
Resolution Skill Training and Coaching
Some
of the most valuable work that campus mediation personnel
do is to provide conflict resolution skill training. This
often involves training a diverse group of volunteer mediators
from across the campus community. This training can build
valuable new networks, and lead to increased levels of
volunteer self-esteem and the regular use of these skills
in volunteer's daily lives. Many mediation programs have
branched out by offering training to other sectors of
the campus community. Other
departments on campus may also provide training support.
Conflict resolution and mediation training has been offered
to summer college preparedness programs for disadvantaged
youth, new student orientations, residential life staff
trainings, student organizations, fraternities and sororities,
human resource programs, peer helper programs, faculty
professional development seminars, campus police, noncredit
and credit short-courses, teaching assistant training
programs, department chair workshops, and more.
Conflict
Coaching/Problem-Solving for One
Individuals
already embroiled in a conflict can also benefit from
training on how to resolve their disputes effectively
and nonviolently. Informal conflict resolution coaching
is provided by many ombuds offices and EAP services, and
by a growing number of campus mediation programs. This
kind of one-on-one training makes sense because in many
cases, individuals involved in a dispute are not necessarily
looking for a mediator, as they would prefer to handle
it themselves. However, they may feel uncertain as to
how to best approach the other party, and they appreciate
help and support from a "coach". Other individuals
who might prefer the services of a mediator may discover
that the second party in the dispute is unresponsive to
invitations to mediate, or agrees to mediate but then
does not show up at the appointed time.
To respond to this need for additional assistance, some
mediation programs now offer special sessions and materials
for individual who are motivated to handle conflicts on
their own. Allan Tidwell's 1997 and 2001 Mediation Quarterly
articles on "Problem-Solving for One" provide
a rather detailed example of a service developed by the
Macquarie University campus mediation project in Australia.
The process seeks to assist the lone party in developing
conflict management plans and strategies. The procedure
includes a problem analysis, review of options and costs,
review of communication skills needed, and the creation
of a problem-solving strategy that includes plans for
future action.
The Conflict Education Resource Team at Temple University
is an example of another program that provides individual
coaching support, but in a somewhat different form. See
the conflict
coaching article by Ross Brinkert in our last issue
for more information on their work.
In addition to face-to-face coaching, many mediation programs
also distribute conflict
handling "tips" sheets as handouts, web-documents,
and as educational columns in campus newspapers or newsletters.
Conflict
Prevention Activities
While
there is considerable overlap, another broad category
of useful non-mediation activities are those that are
designed specifically with conflict prevention in mind.
Campus conflict handlers are in a good position to notice
patterns of conflict over time and thus are often able
to suggest methods to reduce the recurrence of similar
disputes in the future.
Preventing
or Reducing Student/Faculty Conflicts
Conflicts
between students and their instructors or advisors are
relatively common. A growing number of initiatives have
been developed addressing what is being called incivility
in the classroom as well as conflicts over grading and
evaluation practices, advising, interpersonal relations
and harassment. Many of these prevention and training
initiatives are housed in offices of teaching and learning,
teaching assistant preparation programs or faculty professional
development offices. A relatively common technique involves
assisting faculty in more carefully spelling
out course expectations in syllabi and verbally at
the beginning of class, including such topics as a professor's
absentee policy, exams and exam make-ups, academic integrity,
extra credit, and acceptable classroom behavior. Some
campuses have also developed statements of student, faculty
and university shared responsibilities for classroom learning
that are included in syllabi. Other campuses have developed
brief documents providing suggestions for dealing with
in-class conflicts that are distributed to TA's and faculty.
Prevention
Training for Faculty
A
good example of a broadly targeted faculty conflict management
and prevention training tool is the Critical
Incidents vignettes series developed by the Learning
and Teaching Centre at the University of Victoria, British
Columbia. Their collection of 4 different videotapes,
each containing 10 dramatized vignettes, depicts a wide
variety of challenges associated with teaching and learning
in higher education. The tapes present a series of highly
compressed case studies that pose a problem but offer
no preferred solution. Each scene lasts for 3-4 minutes
and discussion questions follow each episode. A discussion
guidebook is included to assist would-be facilitators.
The Center for Instructional Development at Syracuse University
has also produced a set of 17 vignettes of difficult classroom
situations. These kinds of tapes are most effectively
used in teaching development workshops for faculty, adjunct
faculty and teaching assistants where a facilitator is
present to guide the discussion.
Reducing
Graduate Student/Advisor Conflicts
Some
student/faculty conflict prevention projects are more
focused and intensive. For example, at Michigan State
University the Building
Mutuality/Setting Expectations Program proactively
addresses issues that can lead to conflicts between graduate
students and faculty. Unresolved conflicts with their
advisors can have very real and painful consequences for
graduate students. They are usually quite dependant on
their advisors for financial support via assistantships,
as well as more general political support as they develop
and conduct their research, defend their dissertations
or thesis, and request letters of reference and recommendations.
The MSU project has a number of key goals, including introducing
faculty and students to the practice of interest-based
negotiation skills and the process of setting expectations
and resolving conflicts; raising awareness of issues of
potential conflict in doctoral education; and improving
graduate handbooks.
