Mediation program settles USU faculty disputes
The faculty mediation program offers an avenue to faculty members to resolve disputes.
Resolution comes through a confidential meeting with a mediator to help develop a mutually agreed-upon solution for both parties. The program is new to the university as of this semester, said Rob Morrison, reference librarian and board member of the program, and is designed as a positive alternative for faculty members to resolve disputes.
The program was created because of the number of faculty members, mainly female faculty, leaving the university due to problems with promotions or interpersonal problems, Morrison said. The program and mediator training received funding by a grant from the National Science Foundation, to help resolve the problem of faculty members leaving the university. If the program succeeds, it may extend to include students as well, Morrison said.
“Once you get people together, there will always be some type of conflicts,” Morrison said. “Some people handle it very civilly, others do not.”
The program operates on a volunteer basis, Morrison said, and the mediator acts as a facilitator. Therefore, the mediator does not act as an arbitrator or adviser; rather, he or she helps the disputing parties reach a beneficial solution.
Mediation is different from arbitration because the mediator sits down with the disputants to help reach a creative solution that resolves the conflict in the best possible manner, said Anne Hedrich, reference librarian and member of the mediation board.
“I think that [mediation services] is an excellent tool because it is so useful for conflict resolution,” Hedrich said.
The program offers a means for faculty members to resolve interpersonal disputes through a confidential meeting between both parties facilitated by a mediator, Morrison said. Because the process is completely voluntary and confidential, Morrison said, no records are kept about the mediation sessions or participants.
“The advantage to this is, [the mediators] might be able to help people who might have problems early on, and be able to resolve those and help the workplace,” Morrison said.
Mediation may not resolve all disputes, Hedrich said, but the option to offer mediation services is a beneficial resource to the faculty. Any option to resolve faculty disputes through university programs is valuable to the campus, said Ted Pease, professor of journalism and head of the department of communication.
“It gets emotional,” said Pease, who is a member of the Academic Freedom and Tenure Board. “Grievances can be a very difficult process.”
The mediation board consists of 10 members, one representative from each academic college, the USU libraries and University Extension/Continuing Education. All mediators received four days of training last fall from professional mediators from Salt Lake City, Morrison said. The training included textual instruction, lectures and role playing, Hedrich said.
Morrison said, “I think it is very good to have a pool of people [as mediators] because impartiality and neutrality are very important – that’s key for the mediator.”
To access the mediation program, the faculty member with a dispute contacts the Faculty Mediation Services and the representative, Sarah Phillips. The requests are then screened for mediation criteria and all parties are then contacted. The disputants are informed about the mediation process by the human resources department, and if the parties agree to meet, they are assigned to a mediator by the chair of the board of mediators.
-kcashton@cc.usu.edu