Exhibit 5.1 SAMPLE FACULTY SENATE RESOLUTION
MEDIATION: A RESOLUTION
BY THE STEPHEN F. AUSTIN STATE UNIVERSITY FACULTY SENATE
WHEREAS, mediation can create a better university community by improving
the social and working climate for students, staff, faculty, and
administrators; by helping to resolve conflicts and facilitate policy;
by maintaining "good relationships between individuals and
groups on campus and between the institution and the local community"
(Warters, 1995); and by contributing to the recruitment and retention
of students, staff and faculty, AND
WHEREAS, mediation offers a life-long learning experience both through
involvement in the process and through awareness of its use, AND
WHEREAS, universities require flexibility and can benefit from a
mediation process empowered to respond to and to resolve any conflicts
that arise among the members of the university's diverse community,
AND
WHEREAS, "developing and nurturing diversity and tolerance
for differences is essential for campus survival" and "mediation
provides a good vehicle for working through differences in a respectful
manner,"(Warters, 1995), AND
WHEREAS, mediation as a means of conflict resolution supports the
improvement of the primary issues of concern at Stephen F. Austin
State University as defined by the ACE Project on Leadership and
Institutional Transformation (Ace Project, 1996) in their September
1996 update, AND
WHEREAS, mediation is increasingly used in educational, business
and personal settings to effectively resolve conflicts, AND
WHEREAS, the 75th Texas State Legislature passed Senate Bill 694,
in which the legislature affirmed that "it is the policy of
this state that disputes before state agencies be resolved as fairly
and expeditiously as possible and that each state agency support
this policy by developing and using alternative dispute resolution
procedures in appropriate aspects of the agency's operations and
programs," (S. Bill 694, 1997), AND
WHEREAS, the same said Senate Bill 694 defines state agencies to
include institutions of higher education (S. Bill 694, 1997), AND
WHEREAS, mediation is provided as one method of alternative dispute
resolution, as defined by the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies
Code (Mediation, 1995)
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the Faculty Senate of Stephen F.
Austin State University recommends that the goal of establishing
campus mediation services and policies for all members of the university
community be incorporated into the SFASU Commission of the Future
Goals for 2003.
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REFERENCES
Ace Project on Leadership and Institutional Transformation. (1996).
September, 1996 Update [Online]. Available: http://www.tahperd.sfasu.edu/ace/update.html
[1998, February 9].
Mediation, § 154.03, Civil Practice and Remedies Code (1995).
Vernons's Texas Codes Annotated. St. Paul, MN: West Group.
S. Bill 694, 75th Texas State Legislature [Online]. (1997). Available:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/: Path: View Individual Bill Information/75th
Regular Session - 1997/ Enter Bill Number: SB694 [1998, February
9].
Warters, B. (1995). Making the case for campus mediation [Online].
The Fourth R, 55, 13 paragraphs. Available: http://www.mtds.wayne.edu/Makecase.html
[1998, February 9].
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Dr. Darrel McDonald, Chair, Faculty Senate
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