Campus Mediation Program Planning Guide

Important Questions to Consider During
Program Development Include:

Whom will the program serve? (population)
1) students who live in university affiliated residences;
2) all students (or just undergraduate or graduate, or students from specific colleges/schools);
3) staff (including those represented by union?);
4) faculty (including part-time?);
5) the full university population including students, staff, and faculty;
6) students and the non-university community with whom they
frequently interact (thus including landlords, merchants, residents of close-by
neighborhoods, etc.).

What types of problems will be appropriate/inappropriate for the program to handle?
What are the likely boundaries you would need to set on types of cases handled?
1) roommate problems;
2) vandalism;
3) harassment;
4) noise;
5) violence;
6) use of drugs, including alcohol;
7) problems around work shifts, ethnic and lifestyle tensions;
8) family disputes, if residents of married student housing are part
of the population;
9) student/faculty conflicts;
10) grievances covered under collectively bargained agreements;
11) co-worker disputes among university staff members;
12) off-campus landlord/tenant cases;
13) inter or intra group conflicts;
14) policy disputes.

Who are your major sources of support on the campus?
1) Residence Life staff
2) Dean of Students/University Judicial System
3) Student Activities staff
4) Security officers
5) Fraternity/Sorority councils
6) Student Government groups
7) Chapel staff
8) Counseling and Guidance staff
9) Academic Programs, department heads, Senate
10) Chancellor or President's office
11) Student Legal Services
12) Ombudsman's office

Where are you likely to get referrals from? (see above list)

Who is most likely to feel threatened by the program?
(see above list, being aware of potential boundary/turf conflicts)
How will you involve them in the project? 

Is there a big enough core group to get the program off the ground?
(a committed core group of 3-5 people seems to be the minimum)

Where will the program be housed, both physically and organizationally?
(an image of impartiality is important here)

Where will mediation sessions be held?
-privacy and maintainance of confidentiality is important
-relatively quick access is important (scheduling is much easier if a waiting period to confirm the room availability is not necessary)
-The mediation room(s) should probably be separate from the traditional disciplinary offices

What are some options for funding the program?
1) Chancellor's office
2) Residence Life
3) Campus Judicial System
4) Academic programs interested in a "clinic" for student interns
5) Student fee funded groups
6) Multi-party funding from student/faculty/staff groups
7) External funding sources, program development funds

Will participation be completely voluntary, or will it be a mandatory
first step in various grievance/disciplinary procedures, or some kind of combination?

What model of mediation service delivery makes the most sense for your setting?
1) single mediators (easiest to schedule)
2) co-mediation with teams of two mediators for each session
(quality control and learning opportunities increased, possibility of matching mediator team
to disputants characteristics increased, models cooperation)
3) a panel approach using 3-5 mediators (good for community disputes, can have a panel representing diverse parts of community structure to facilitate cases, requires more coordination and teamwork training)

Who will do the mediation?
1) paid staff
2) volunteers
3) students
4) staff
5) faculty
6) community members

How will training of mediators be achieved? Are there on-campus
resources in that area, or must outside trainers be brought in?
Possibilities include:
-college staff (perhaps some who go to a "training for trainers" elsewhere first...)
-Private training consultants
-Local community mediation program staff
-Staff and trainers from neighboring colleges and universities

Some things to consider regarding training include:
-The training class should be as diverse and representative of a cross section of the college community as possible (ethnic, racial, socio-economic, academic and personality diversity).
-Can an existing group be trained (i.e. student government members, student org., RA group, staff committee members) or will a new group be created?
-Will the training be advertised and open to any student or staff member (using campus newspapers, radio announcements, etc), or will it be by invitation only?
-Once potential trainees are located, what criteria will be used to select the trainees?
-What incentives, if any, will be offered to students and staff to encourage them to participate? (i.e., course credit, awards, release time, etc.)

Who will coordinate the program?
Depending on the design and resources of the program, coordinators can work anywhere from full time to just a few hours weekly. It is also possible to have more than one individual "co-coordinate" a program. Responsibilities of the coordinator may include:
-overseeing the training
-overseeing selection of trainees
-coordinating publicity and education of both staff and students
-coordinating mediator availability
-designing program forms
-taking referrals
-explaining mediation to parties and encouraging them to try mediation
-scheduling mediation sessions
-locating appropriate mediators for each session
-supervising mediation sessions
-helping mediators improve their skills
-following up on all cases and keeping records
-recruiting new mediators
-keeping the college community updated on the program's progress

How will the college at large be informed about mediation?
-Presentations with demonstration roleplays at new student orientations, staff trainings, etc.
-Short seminars on mediation and conflict resolution presented to classes, staff groups, student clubs, etc.
-posters, flyers, table-tents, etc.
-ads in the college paper, on the campus radio station, etc.
-articles in campus newspapers, staff newsletters, etc.
-Presentations and discussions at faculty meetings
-Printed information in student handbooks, staff policy manuals, etc.

How will the program be evaluated and who will do it?
(this is important for ongoing funding support)
-short-term "satisfaction with mediation" questionaire given to disputants at end of mediation sessions
-longterm follow-up questionaire later
-interviews with disputants and referral sources,
-a tally of the #s of people trained, volunteer hours invested, # of inquiries, etc, etc.

This guide was authored by Bill Warters