Integrating social justice‐based conflict resolution into higher education settings: Faculty, staff, and student professional development through mediation training

Abstract

This paper will share highlights of an approach used to target professional development of faculty and staff at one of the largest public, land grant, research‐intensive universities in the United States. We will share a practical model designed to build individual and organizational capacity by integrating conflict management techniques that are based on social justice principles into higher education settings. This model has been successfully utilized for more than 2,500 faculty, staff, and students (undergraduate and graduate) at the university, and is an ongoing proactive and responsive strategy in creating a mindful culture and sustaining a cohesive workplace climate.