Mediation Students Learn Conflict Skills, Earn a Certificate

It occurred to George Mason University professor Pamela Struss that many disciplines equip their graduates with marketable skills that can be easily described on resumes. But conflict and analysis majors don’t always have that advantage.

So she created Mediation Theory and Practice, a course that teaches the useful arts of negotiation, dispute resolution and conflict analysis.

“I wanted to give our students a leg up on the competition,” she says.

The leg up is not just knowledge and insight, but something tangible: When students complete the course, they are ready for state certification as mediators. That means an employer can call on them to handle internal disputes among employees and clients. It’s a valuable and rare value-add on a resume.

“Most employers are finding these skills are helpful,” Struss says, who teaches at Mason’s School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution. “They know how to solve problems, know how to calm down emotional people and work toward resolution. And they understand the mediation process—what questions to use and not use—and can help facilitate conversations.”

A student from last year benefitted right away.

“His employer was so intrigued he offered him another position in human resources that would pay more,” she says.

Struss, who has worked in judicial systems for years and co-coordinates the city of Alexandria’s docket for mediation in the family and general district courts, developed the state certification program and wrote the manuals with two Mason undergraduate interns.

“They did a wonderful job, and they are now published,” she adds.

The course involves hands-on experience, as well as class work, as students observe two court cases and co-mediate three other cases with a certified mentor.

“Every industry can use people with these skills,” Struss says. And employers, she adds, “are happy with the things we do.”