Volume 2, Number 3, May 2002

Recently Found in the Periodicals

Costanzo, W.V. (11/2001). Friendly Alternatives to the Argumentative Essay. U.S. New York: 8.

This paper presents a sequences of six classroom exercises leading to a writing assignment in which students are asked to mediate in the resolution of a conflict instead of arguing persuasively for one side.

This article is available from ERIC.

Gerdy, J.R. (2001). Facing up to the Conflict between Athletics and Academics. U.S. District of Columbia: 18.

This article explores the college athletics reform movement. Attempts at the reform of college athletics are common. However, trustees and governing boards of institutions can expect an increase in athletics-related agenda items, as well as an increase in controversy. Colleges will soon be forced to discuss whether an institution is best served by sponsoring college athletics. At the least, leaders will be asked to clarify the role of athletics on campus. The challenge for leaders in higher education is to honestly assess the role of athletics in the life of the college.

This article is available from ERIC.

Groth, B.I. (2001). Brit Trips - Midway Hotel: A Simulated Negotiation. Business Communication Quarterly 64(1): 63-78.

This article notes the value of using simulations to teach negotiation in business communication classes. It offers advice for designing and writing effective simulations.

This article is available from ERIC.

Gumport, P.J. & Bastedo, M.N. (2001). Academic Stratification and Endemic Conflict: Remedial Education Policy at CUNY. Review of Higher Education 24(4): 333-349.

This article examines the remedial education policy change at City University of New York. It explores the historical context of the change, as well as system design.

This article is available from ERIC.

Kelman, H.C. (2001). The Role of the Scholar-Practitioner in International Conflict Resolution. Peace Research Abstracts 38(4): 451-600.

This article focuses on whether unofficial, academically based, third-party approaches contribute to the prevention and resolution of international and intercommunal conflicts. The author had applied this interactive problem solving approach primarily to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The full abstract can be viewed at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/~mboyer/isp/dec_2000/
kelman.html.

Maher, M.A. (4/2001). Professional Living Situations: Cohorts as Communities of Living and Learning. U.S. South Carolina: 40.

This study looks at the way students' understand cohort membership and learning in a cohort. It uses interviews and observational data collected over a 10-month period from 13 graduate students in a Master's Degree of Education cohort program. Development of student roles and norms, resolution of student-faculty conflict, development of cohort agency and specific ways in which cohort membership facilitated and constrained learning were major themes of the data analysis Results suggest that students learned how to live in a cohort community.

This article is available from ERIC.

McDaniel, L. (2001). Law and Community Service: The Appalachian School of Law. Appalachia 34(1): 10-15.

Students at the Appalachian School of Law volunteer 25 hours each semester on community service projects. Projects fall into two categories. One is pure service by sharing a skill or interest. The other is service that draws on legal skills, such as presenting legal seminars or conducting conflict resolution training in local schools.

This article is available from ERIC.

Monaghan, P. (10/12/2001). High Volume and High Jinks over Control of Rice's Radio Station. The Chronicle of Higher Education: A46.

This article is about an incident that occurred at Rice University. Rice University has a student-run radio station, KTRU 91.7 FM. Until 1998, the university had allowed students to control the station. The station managed with a yearly budget of $15,000, which was support from fees paid by Rice students. The station had a volunteer staff of students and a few outsiders. However, in 1998 Rice administrators decided that the radio station should be a university asset, and not something solely for the students. Rice demanded that KTRU accept a university-paid general manager. Two years of heated discussions over control, programming, content and direction followed. In November 2000, university administrators took over the station and locked out the student staff. The station was reopened to students after eight days of negotiations.

The full-text version of this article is available to Chronicle subscribers at http://www.chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i07/
07a04601.htm.

Neilson, L & English, P. (2001). The Role of Interest-Based Facilitation in Designing Accreditation Standards:
The Canadian Experience. Mediation Quarterly 18(3): 28.

Seabury, M.B. & Barrett, K.A. (2000). Creating and Maintaining Team-Taught Interdisciplinary General Education. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education (87): 15-24.

This articles describes the University of Hartford's All-University Curriculum, which includes 25 interdisciplinary courses. The article addresses institutional buy-in, resources, team formation, conflict resolution, institutional policies and ongoing development.

This article is available from ERIC.

Stackman, W.B. (2001). A Study of Conflict and Methods of Handling Conflict at Small Liberal Arts Colleges. Dissertation for Boston University.

This dissertation is an examination of the nature of conflict and the conflict resolution process at small liberal arts colleges. It also looks at the differences among senior student affairs officers in the methods they use to resolve conflicts, the theories they report as underlying these methods and the sources of these theories of conflict resolution.

The most important findings are as follows: 1) deans have a firm understanding of how to handle conflict, 2) deans have a strong dislike for conflict, 3) one-third of the deans report that they avoid conflict whenever possible, 4) deans see it as their responsibility to handle any conflict involving students and they have the potential to be directly and indirectly involved in almost any such situation, even outside their divisions, 5) handling conflict is reported to take up three-fourths of their time, 6) half of the deans attempt to mediate violations of policy while others deem it inappropriate, 7) factors which most frequently contribute to conflict include communication and diversity, 8) deans view issues of diversity as being the most difficult to handle because of their emotional intensity and 9) deans reported a predominately trial-and-error preparation for dealing with conflict rather than through formal education.

Vestal, M.A. (2001). How Teacher Training in Conflict Resolution and Peace Education Influences Attitudes, Interactions and Relationships in Head Start Centers. Dissertation for Nova Southeastern University.

This dissertation focuses on the key role of the teacher in facilitating conflict resolution in Head Start. The study assessed changes in teachers' conflict knowledge, attitudes and behaviors after a training intervention that exposed them to theory and practice of conflict resolution, violence prevention and peace education for young children.

Findings demonstrate an expanded understanding of conflict and improved use of conflict resolution strategies.

Wilson, R. (10/12/2001). Divided Loyalties at UMass. The Chronicle of Higher Education: A8.

In this article, Wilson discusses a tenure dispute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. According to Wilson, Neta C. Crawford lost her bid for tenure for 2001 even though her accomplishments and credentials were considered excellent by her department (political science). The department asserts that Crawford was denied tenure because she was "more concerned with building her curriculum vitae than in teaching undergraduates and working with colleagues". Supporters of Crawford say the department was resentful of her accomplishments. Others, believe that Crawford, being a black lesbian, was the victim of racism and homophobia. The controversy continues over Crawford and the case has gone to several departments. Crawford is currently away from UMass working as a visiting associate professor at Brown's Watson Institute. Meanwhile, the trustees at UMass voted in early October to grant her tenure.

The full-text version of this article is available to Chronicle subscribers at http://www.chronicle.com/weekly/v48/i13/
13a00801.htm.

Zweibel, E.B. & Goldstein. (2001). Conflict Resolution at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine: The Pelican and the Sign of the Triangle. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges 76(Part 4): 337-344.