Staff Conflict Resolution Bookshelf
Note: Each issue of our Conflict Management in Higher Education Report includes some reviews of books and resources. See our table of contents to past resource reviews for quick access.
On this page we provide somewhat random selection of books on topics we think might interest staff and administrators working in our field.
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Recently Released - Mediation-related
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- Mediating Dangerously: The Frontiers of Conflict Resolution
From Our Bookshelf
Title: Spiral of Conflict: Berkeley, 1964, The
By: Heirich, Max
Date: 1971
This sociological study focuses on the dynamics of communication and conflict among students, faculty, and administration. Heirich's careful documentation makes this the most detailed and reliable chronological record of the conflict's events and interactions (Free Speech Movement).
Publisher: New York: Columbia University Press
Title: Strengthening Departmental Leadership: A Team-Building Guide for Chairs in Colleges and Universities The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series
By: Lucas, Ann F.
Date: 1994
This book demonstrates how academic chairs at institutions of higher education can learn the skills that are essential to their becoming leaders and faculty developers and having a significant impact on their departments. The book assists chairs in building cohesive teams in their departments and facilitates learning and using survival skills. It is designed to be highly practical, presenting sensible advice on handling problems that occur frequently in college and university departments. The book provides a goal-setting framework and action steps that result in leadership knowledge and skills. Specific chapters address: (1) opportunities departmental chairs have to handle specific challenges confronting higher education, and barriers that prevent chairs from becoming leaders and team builders; (2) a leadership matrix which measures nine major leadership and faculty development responsibilities and assesses strengths and target areas for development; (3) step-by-step method for developing a vision that will elicit the commitment of the department; (4) motivating, evaluating, and rewarding faculty members; (5) supporting effective teaching; (6) providing feedback on classroom teaching; (7) enhancing commitments to scholarship and service; (8) team building through supportive communication; (9) managing conflict and playing the role of third-party facilitator; (10) using feedback from the department; (11) the dean's role in developing departmental leadership; (12) stress reduction interventions; and (13) personal strategies for strengthening leadership effectiveness. Contains approximately 260 references. (JDD)
Publisher:
Pages: 295
Title: Directory of Law School Dispute Resolution Courses and Programs: A Directory of Courses, Clinics, Professors, Key Contacts, Sample Course Descriptions, and Teaching Methods in Dispute Resolution
By: Conlin, Ellen; Kumamoto, Brian; Clare, Anne L.
Date: 1986
Washington, DC: American Bar Association Standing Committee on Dispute Resolution
Publisher: 95
Title: Campus Life: In Search of Community
By: Boyer, Earnest
Date: 1990
In this book, Boyer offers six principles of community that when combined together lead to a successful and friendly learning environment. They include: a purposeful community, an open community, a just community, a disciplined community, a caring community, and a celebrative community.
Publisher: Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
Title: Managing Faculty Disputes
By: McCarthy, Jane; Ladimer, Irving; Sirefman, Josef
Date: 1984
This highly focused book (developed by staff from the now defunct Center for Mediation in Higher Education) explores sources of conflict with and among faculty and reviews various sample grievance procedures, advocating for the increased use of informal mediation options. The book is out of print, so check your library or used book sources. -Conflict Management in Higher Education Report
Publisher: San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Pages: 257
ISBN/ISSN: out of print, obtain from used bookstores, libraries
Obtain From: 1
Title: Conflict and Change on Campus: The Response to Student Hyper-Activism
By: Brickman, William; Lehrer, Stanley
Date: 1970
Publisher: New York: School and Society Books
Title: Managing Conflict Dynamics: A Practical Approach
By: Capobianco, Sal, Ph.D.; Davis, Mark H., Ph.D; Kraus, Linda A., Ph.D.
Date: 1999
This is a resource for practical approaches to conflict resolution.
Publisher: St. Petersburg, FL: Eckerd College Management Development Institute
Pages: 135
Obtain From: Management Development Institute
Title: Power and Conflict in the University: Research in the Sociology of Complex Organizations
By: Baldridge, Victor
Date: 1971
This classic book, based on Baldridge's experiences working at NYU during a time of great changes, argues in favor of viewing universities as political organizations as opposed to collegial, bureaucratic or purely rational systems. Baldridge explains Rather than a holistic enterprise, the university is a pluralistic system, often fractured by conflicts along the lines of disciplines, faculty subgroups, student subcultures, splits between administrators and faculties, and rifts between professional schools. (p. 107)" -Conflict Management in Higher Education Report
Publisher: New York: John Wiley & Sons
Obtain From: 2
Title: Fairweather's Practice and Procedure in Labor Arbitration, 4th Edition
By: Schoonhoven, Ray J., ed.
Date: 1999
You get complete, updated coverage of: -Labor Arbitration and Enforcement of Statutory Rights In-depth discussion of Gilmer v. Industrial Johnson Corp.--and the line of cases following that case--with regard to compulsory arbitration of statutory claims of employees covered by collective bargaining agreements -Employment Arbitration and Enforcement of Statutory Rights Use of Gilmer by lower courts in requiring arbitration of statutory claims of employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements -Vacation, Enforcement, or Correction Listing of the application by various U.S. Circuit Courts of the Misco decision involving vacation of awards based on public policy" -Posthearing Procedures New standards for newly discovered evidence and the use of posthearing briefs." -BNA Books
Publisher: Edison, NJ: BNA Books
Pages: 825
ISBN/ISSN: ISBN: 1570181713
Obtain From: Major booksellers and libraries.
Title: Creative Academic Bargaining: Managing Conflict in the Unionized College and University
By: Birnbaum, Robert
Date: 1980
The evolution of collective bargaining in higher education and factors that lead academic bargaining from destructive conflict to cooperation are examined. Academic bargaining is viewed as a form of shared authority, but one with unusual institutional and organizational problems that may lead toward destructive, rather than constructive conflict. The specific nature of the context, situation, and persons involved in bargaining, and their effect upon the nature of conflict are considered, as are perceptions, behaviors, and communication patterns that are likely to result when groups are locked into traditional bargaining structures. Behaviors and programs that may assist in conflict management and lead the parties toward more creative and constructive bargaining are suggested. A number of dispute resolution techniques that have been developed in industrial bargaining and their application in academic settings are described, as are changes in the traditional bargaining relationship that can be made prior to the initiation of bargaining, or during the bargaining interaction itself. Tactical considerations in creative bargaining, ways of increasing the problem-solving potential in the bargaining institution, the uses of third parties, and other approaches by which behaviors of the parties can change unilaterally to promote creative bargaining relationships are examined. References are included. (SW)
Publisher:
Pages: 270
Obtain From: ERIC
Title: Parable of a President
By: Haak, Harold H.
Date: 1982
A fictional account of 1 school year in the life of a university president is presented to illustrate the conflicts within the university. A meeting with state officials regarding the university's 1979-1980 budget request is described, including the president's pre-meeting anticipation and his thoughts about the dynamics of interactions. Diverse phone calls received by the president are interspersed with his serious reflections regarding the budget request document and the political influences to the state decision-making process. After the legislative budget committee meeting, the president's responsibilities included: an all-day planning retreat on general education; a meeting with the State Education Commission regarding the university's academic master plan; meeting with the campus attorney regarding employee and student litigation and grievances; and a session with the faculty executive committee. The concept of "up-tight management," which emphasizes the simultaneous, or mixed, presence of conflict-oriented models along with various models that de-emphasize conflict, is discussed in an afterward. The president placed a high priority on building a consensus on institutional purposes and priorities. The college was stressful because of disagreements about the university's goals as well as conflicting process or procedural models. The school was in transition from a teachers college to a liberal arts college, and then to a regional university. (SW)
Publisher: American Association of State Colleges and Universities, Washington, D.C.
Pages: 75
Title: Interpersonal Conflict, 5th Edition
By: Hocker, Joyce L.; Wilmot, William W.
Date: 1997
This book introduces students to the theory and practice of conflict management. The work discusses the primary elements of conflicts that arise in families, organizations, and interpersonal relationships. In addition to theory, the book teaches readers skills for handling conflict situations, thus tying theory to practice.
Publisher: McGraw Hill, College Division
Pages: 236
ISBN/ISSN: ISBN: 0697327248
Obtain From: Major booksellers and libraries.
Title: Academic Supermarkets: A Critical Case Study of a Multiversity
By: Altbac, Philip; Laufer, R.; et al.
Date: 1971
This edited volume chronicles some of the student upheaval evident in the late 1960s in the United States. Includes articles on topics such as the "Anatomy of Faculty Conflict", "Departmental Clashes", "Four Decades of Activism" (charting student initiated conflicts from 1930-1968) and "Generational Conflict."
Publisher: San Francisco: Jossey-Bass
Pages: 369
Title: Discrimination, Harassment, and the Failure of Diversity Training - What to do Now
By: Hemphill, Helen; Haines, Ray
Date: 1997
The focus of diversity trainers on awareness, understanding and appreciating differences has not resulted in effective training. Hemphil and Haines suggest that diversity training should focus on eliciting change in workplace behaviors.
Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group
ISBN/ISSN: 1567201091
Obtain From: Major booksellers, Libraries
Title: Lurking Evil: Racial and Ethnic Conflict on the College Campus AASCU Issues
By: Hively, Robert Ed
Date: 1990
This publication represents the views of a group of university presidents who met on the White House grounds and at the National Capital to survey the rise in violence in all American universities and to assist in appraising and solving the pressing problems that arise from racial and ethnic tensions on the country's campuses. Titles and authors of individual papers include: "Spirit of a Campus" (Anthony Ceddia); "Washington Forum on Campus Violence: Some Points of View" (Robert Hess); "The College as a Racial Model for Society" (Jimmy Jenkins); "The Identification and Elimination of Subtle Forms of Discrimination on the College Campus" (John LaTourette); "Extinguishing at the Flashpoint" (Craig Willis); "A Case Study of the President's Role in Creating a Healthy Racial/Ethnic Climate" (Kenneth Shaw); "Recruitment of Underrepresented Faculty and Administrators" (James Rosser); "A Case Study: Campus Action and Video Film, 'Still Burning'" (Michael Hooker); "A Design for Diversity: Proactive Planning to Reduce Ethnic Tensions and to Enhance Human Resources" (Eugene Hughes); "Preventive Planning at the System Level" (Bruce Johnstone); "A Model: A University's Strategies and Actions from 'Sit-In' to Resolution" (Donald Gerth); "Strategies to Accommodate Change" (John Welty); "Ethnically and Racially Diverse Faculty: A Response to Change" (Dale Nitzschke et al.); "Suppression and Controls on American College Campuses" (David Tatel); "The First Amendment and Racial Harassment on Campus: A Selective Bibliography" (David Tatel et al.); and "Now Liberals Are Censors" (George Will). (JDD)
Publisher: Washington D.C.: American Association of State Colleges and Universities
Pages: 135
Obtain From: ERIC