Mediation at Gettysburg College

The Mediation process continues to grow, both in popularity and in effectiveness as an emerging form of dispute resolution on college campuses. Mediation is, essentially, the process of having people with competing interests sit down with a mediator to attempt to address and manage their conflict. Mediation is a voluntary process in which the parties to a dispute attempt to resolve their differences through discussion, clarification, and orderly negotiation. Unlike an adjudicated settlement of a dispute, successful mediation does not consist of "winners" and "losers" but of students who have carefully examined and resolved a defined set of issues and practices. While mediation may address alleged past offenses, its main focus is prospective, forging a consensus on reasonable and necessary actions for the future. It is seen as a way to prevent destructive confrontation and empower students to take more responsibility in the handling of their own conflicts.

The Campus Mediation Program at Gettysburg is designed to assist students in effectively resolving conflict through the process of mediation. This process helps those in conflict find their own solutions by facilitating communication and clarifying issues. Problem solving, not judging, is the method of resolving problems. Through the skilled guidance of trained student mediators, disputants can get to the root of the dispute, tell their own sides of the story, understand each other's viewpoint, and agree on a solution which may enable them to mend their relationship and continue to live or work together more compatibly. Many student leaders on campus are trained as mediators each year through the Office of College Life.

Mediations occur in a variety of settings, both informal and formal. Informal mediations may be conducted by such individuals as a fellow player on an athletic team or a Resident Assistant in your residence hall. Should you be in conflict and need assistance in the form of a mediator, you simply contact the coordinator of the Campus Mediation Program. The other party in your conflict will then be requested to come for a mediation conference. The two of you will have the choice of having your conflict mediated by a member of the Dean's professional staff or by a pair of other students. The coordinator then assigns mediators based on the given information. The schedules of the mediators and the disputants are arranged to accommodate a mediation session. During this meeting, a trained mediator will explain the mediation process to both individuals and then have each person in the dispute present his or her position. The mediator(s) may then talk separately with both persons. Finally, a written agreement is drawn up by both parties.

Gettysburg's Campus Mediation Program has been in existence for three years, and boasts a successful 86% agreement rate of documented cases mediated. No matter what the outcome, improved communication is always a result! When you're involved in a conflict with someone: Don't get mad, don't get even, don't give in, and don't avoid it. Try Mediation!

[Campus Mediation Program - extension 6901.]

[717-337-6901]