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Mediation
by a trained dispute resolution professional is available through
the Labor Program office. This service is available to both students
and their supervisors in resolving potential or actual conflict
situations involving Labor Program issues.
What is mediation?
Mediation
is the intervention into a dispute by an acceptable, impartial
third person, who has no decision-making power, to assist the disputing
individuals in voluntarily reaching their own mutually acceptable
resolution of issues in dispute. Mediators are not lawyers, evaluators,
or therapists.
What are the benefits of mediation?
The process
of mediation is applicable in almost any dispute thus improving
the chance of a satisfactory outcome. Mediation teaches people
practical problem-solving techniques that can be utilized to resolve
future disputes. The educational component of mediation contrasts
sharply with other dispute resolution procedures, which are often
exclusively outcome-oriented such as in adjudication or litigation.
Mediated negotiations can provide a forum for learning about and
exercising personal power of influence. Many disputes occur in
the context of relationships that will continue in the future.
A mediated agreement that addresses all of the participants' interests
can often preserve a working relationship in ways that would not
be possible with other decision-making procedures. Mediation can
also make the termination of a relationship more amicable. Participants
are generally more satisfied with solutions that have been mutually
agreed upon than those that are imposed by a third-party decision-maker.
What transpires in a mediation is strictly confidential and therefore
private, although in a mediation done through the Labor Grievance
Process, a Labor Program representative will be designated to follow-up
with the participants within a designated time frame after the
mediation.
When is mediation most effective?
Mediation
is most effective in the early stages of a conflict situation.
It is a
misnomer to think that mediation is a last-ditch effort to salvage
the pieces of a broken relationship. The following additional factors,
when present, greatly increase the possibility of a successful
mediation outcome:
- Each participant has personal power/ability
to negotiate for self
- The participants do not have a long history
of adversarial relations or prior adjudication
- The number of participants
is limited and the dispute has not spread to tangential persons
or groups
- The participants hostility and anger toward
each other is moderate or low
- The participants have, or may have,
an ongoing
relationship
- The participants desire for resolution of
the conflict is high
- The participants accept the intervention and
assistance
of the third party
- Each participant mediates in good faith and
with full disclosure
Who may request mediation?
Mediation is a
resource for both students and their supervisors that compliments
the Student Labor Grievance Procedure as outlined on page 19 of
the Berea College Student Labor Program
Policies and Procedures Manual, 2002-2003. The results of
such mediation are official and binding. Students,
staff, and faculty who wish to resolve a non-labor program issue
with a third person
present may also request an unofficial
mediation—in this case, the mediation is simply a
facilitated dialogue—the
outcome is unofficial and the terms of the agreement are binding
only in terms of a good faith agreement.
Resources:
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