MEDIATION
IN THE CAMPUS COMMUNITY: Designing and Managing Effective
Programs
by William C. Warters
"Far
and away the most comprehensive guide available to colleges
or universities, or indeed to any public institution with
an active staff and involved client base..."
Endorsement
from the late Jim Boskey, editor of the Alternative
Newsletter
I'm
pleased to be able to announce the release of this new
Jossey-Bass publication. The book is intentionally very
practical, weaving bits of relevant theory and research
about campus conflict into a practitioner's guidebook.
The focus is on building a sustainable mediation program
within complex organizations such as colleges and universities.
Mary
Rowe, well-known dispute systems designer and Ombudsperson
at MIT, notes that
"Every
academic administrator will find dozens of specific
ideas that will bring relief from the constant challenges
of conflict. This book helps show where the conflicts
come from--and how mediation and conflict resolution
training can support a conflict-competent organization."
Endorsed
by the Conflict Resolution in
Education Network (CREnet), the book builds
on the legacy of the 1985 manual Peaceful Persuasion
(Girard, Rifkin and Townley) that some of you may have
seen or used in the past. The 283-page oversized paperback
sells for $29.95. For your information the table of contents
is reproduced below.
TABLE
OF CONTENTS
-
1.
The Growing Need for Conflict Resolution Strategies
in Higher Education
-
2.
Why Mediation Makes Sense for Academic Organizations
-
3.
First Steps in Building a Program
-
4.
Identifying and Training Mediators
-
5.
Publicizing the Program and Creating Referral Systems
-
6.
Operating and Maintaining the Program
-
7.
Implementing Strategies for Evaluation and Feedback
-
8.
Expanding Conflict Management Options Beyond the Mediation
Table
-
9.
Resources, Forms, and Documents
-
A.
Statements of Purpose for Conflict Resolution
Programs
-
B.
Goals and Objectives Planning Document
-
C.
Job Descriptions for Program Personnel
-
D.
Trainee Nomination Form
-
E.
Volunteer Mediator Application Form
-
F.
Mediator Performance Evaluation Sheet
-
G.
Role Play Practice Guidelines
-
H.
7 Scripts for Role Play Practice
-
I.
University Lease Agreement Language for Rental
Disputes
-
J.
Workshop Outline for Introductory Mediation Training
-
K.
A Mediation Referral Guide for Residential Assistants
-
L.
Case Referral Follow-up Form
-
M.
Agreement-to-Mediate Forms
-
N.
Information Sheet for Parties Preparing for Mediation
-
O.
Procedural Summary of the Case Management Process
-
P.
Blank Mediation Agreement Form
-
Q.
Post-Mediation Report Form
-
R.
Standards of Practice for Campus Mediators
-
S.
Mediation Follow-up Form
-
Annotated
List of Recommended Resources
More
information and ordering forms are available from Jossey-Bass
at their online catalog listing. The book is not yet fully
cross-listed in the various topical areas on the Jossey-Bass
website, so if you are searching (rather using the direct
link offered here), search by author -Warters- or by title,
rather than browsing by subject. Orders may be placed
by phone at 800 956 7739,
by fax 800 605 2665 or via
email to webperson@jbp.com
(please include mailing address and telephone number).
The book is also available from Amazon.com.
MANAGING
CAMPUS CONFLICT THROUGH ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION
by the Center for Legal Information,
Inc.
This recently released (August, 1999) technical assistance
manual is from the publisher of Lex Collegii, a
quarterly legal newsletter for independent higher education.
As explained by the book's publisher, this manual "analyzes
and assesses alternative dispute resolution systems available
to the college campus. It focuses on widely accepted forms
of alternative dispute resolution, how they work, and
their application to the collegiate environment. The manual
includes data to evaluate options and determine how processes
can be adapted to a particular institution and environment.
Appendices of policies and forms that can be used for
arbitration, mediation, grievance processing, and ombudsman
systems is provided. Detailed bibliographies on higher
education and dispute resolution are included."
The
manual costs $60, and is available via a
web catalogue or by mail from College Legal Information,
Inc., P.O. Box 150541, Nashville, Tennessee 37215-0541.
Email: info@collegelegal.com
IF
AT ALL POSSIBLE, INVOLVE A COW
by Neil Steinberg
It is important for people workingin the
conflict resolution area to keep a sense of humor. If
At All Possible, Involve A Cow is a 240 page
history of collegiate pranking in America. (No, it's not
a guide to setting up a mediation session...) Beginning
with the earliest colleges in America, and even taking
note of some activities taking place in Canada, the book
is a well documented look (including some 30 photos) at
the kinds and variety of campus pranks found across North
America.
The author, Neil Steinberg, writes:
There
is something glorious about a college prank. A really
good prank brings not just laughter, but a visceral
satisfaction and a kind of awe that does not fade with
time nor diminish with retelling. In the narrow world
of university life, so routine, so programmed and often
- like life in the real world - too dull to tolerate,
a prank shakes things up, breaks the tedium, and gives
hope for a life filled with hidden, delightful possibility.
Steinberg clearly distinguishes pranks from mean-spirited
jokes and hazing. While not a how-to-guide (thankfully),
the author does suggest a few basic guidelines regarding
good prankster form:
-
Good
art in this form is a funny event.
-
High
art in this form is to make a point with your joke.
-
Bad
art comprises being merely mean, destructive, or vicious.
By definition, this is pointless.
-
If
you must descend to insulting the object of a practical
joke, be creative. (There are Web sites, for instance,
to supply you with surreal or Shakespearean insults.)
As noted by one online reviewer, "For anyone looking for
an interesting, funny book that might be shelved under
Applied Humor, check this one out." It appears that the
book is now out of print, so you'll have to rely on the
library or used book stores to find a copy.
Conflict
Resolution and Consensus Building Case Study Materials
at the ELECTRONIC HALLWAY
The Electronic
Hallway (http://www.hallway.org/) offers teaching
cases, exercises, role-plays, teaching workshops, and
curriculum planning resources for faculty, with primary
emphasis on faculty working in public administration and
public policy areas. All the cases are available free,
at the click of a button, and in multiple formats so that
you can find one that works with your software without
need for any special plug-ins. Faculty and instructors
in public administration and related fields (such as conflict
resolution) are eligible to subscribe to the Electronic
Hallway.
The Electronic Hallway is governed by a consortium of
universities and operated by the University of Washington's
Graduate School of Public Affairs. Additional guidance
is provided by the National Association of Schools of
Public Affairs and Administration (NASPAA), and deans
from a broad spectrum of NASPAA-member schools. With thanks
to support from the Pew Charitable Trusts and the schools
and institutions that participate in the system, the Electronic
Hallway's services are available at no cost.
Cases and Roleplays currently available on the site that
relate to conflict resolution and consensus-building include
the following:
Bread
for the World
Reveals the practical and ethical tensions inherent in
many grass-roots-based advocacy organizations between
sustaining the grass-roots membership and supporting a
professional staff who must effectively interact with
relevant policy elites.
Carver
State University Hospital
Role-play in which management team must decide how to
allocate new resources. Emphasizes competing priorities,
nature of decision-making, and leadership role in conflicts.
Church-State
Debate Threatens Budapest's Second District
Church seeks return of a school building after 50 years
of Communist rule. Illustrates competing community interests
and resolution of conflicts in Eastern European setting.
Clarkson
Airport Authority
Simple exercise for identifying interests in a conflict
and for planning an inclusive negotiation to resolve an
airport noise problem. Good as an exam or introductory
case.
Disagreements
Behind an Agreement
A UN hydrologist discovers the political complexity of
adopting an environmentally sound riparian resource plan
for the Zambezi River, which flows through eight African
nations.
Karen
Hannen and Robert Welsh: The Division of Economic Analysis
Manager of economic analysis agency faces a well-liked,
but seriously underperforming, senior employee as she
tries to reshape agency. What is her best (or least worst)
course of action? Useful in management or conflict resolution
courses.
Mammoth
Motors' New Paint Shop
Multilateral role-play with lively internal dynamics and
external relationships among corporate, state, local,
and environmental interests. Students gain insight into
conflict resolution by enacting an economic development/environmental
conflict.
Managing
Cutbacks at the Department of Social and Health Services
Agency head develops strategic, inclusive budget process
in response to drastic federal cutbacks. Powerful example
of internal and external consensus-building under extreme
pressure, as well as insight into political aspects of
good budgeting.
Negotiated
Rulemaking Exercise: Woodstove New Source Performance
Standard
An environmental role play in which a multi-party committee
employs a negotiated rule making process to achieve consensus.
Recommended for students already introduced to negotiation
and who have background in economics and management dilemmas.
Operation
Wilderness
A simulation exercise on environmental issues. Students
experience the process of conflicts and the personal responses
that both cause and result from it. Teaches key principles
in conflict resolution and multiparty negotiations.
Pacific
City Utilities Service Department
Role-play exercise in which a manager has to resolve a
conflict over the annual vacation schedule. Illustrates
and applies key principles of conflict resolution.
Radar
Controversy in Zalas
A civilian air traffic radar facility is proposed in a
popular recreational forest and the local administrator
must confront hostile environmental, political, and grass
roots opposition in a region of newly democratic Poland.
Solid
Waste Landfill Crisis
Although set in Eastern Europe, the problems besetting
short- and long-term waste disposal seem universal to
democratic regimes. How will the city manager resolve
the conflict?
St.
Joseph Shopping Mall
Role-play where participants--city planners, the mall
developer, two business groups and three neighborhood
groups--must reach consensus on plans to turn an abandoned
golf course into a shopping mall.
Page
last updated
11/27/2005
A
project of Campus Conflict Resolution
Resources.
Supported by a FIPSE grant from the US Department of Education
and seed money from the Hewlett Foundation-funded CRInfo
project.
Correspondence
to CMHE Report
(Attn: Bill Warters)
Campus Conflict Resolution Resources Project
Department of Communication
585 Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48201.
Please
send comments, bug reports, etc. to the Editor.
© 2000-2005 William C. Warters & WSU,
All rights reserved.
