Good Neighbors: MSU Center for Dispute Resolution

What do you do when relations between neighbors--or even family members--break down? One solution is to call Missouri State University's Center for Dispute Resolution.

RANDY: This week we’re looking at what it takes to be a “good neighbor”… but what happens when relationships with neighbors--and even loved ones--hit the rocks? This afternoon you’ll hear how the Missouri State University Center for Dispute Resolution can help. So what exactly is dispute mediation? Associate Director Heather Blades considers it a last resort when everything else has failed--short of taking someone to court, that is.HEATHER BLADES: Mediation is an alternative to the judicial system, where two or more parties who are in a conflict can come together with a person who is trained to help them identify what their issues are, talk about their concerns, and work out a resolution hopefully they can both live with.RANDY: If you take someone to court--or vice versa!--the judge will impose a solution of his or her own devising. Mediation avoids this.HEATHER: A mediator doesn’t decide who’s “right” or “wrong,” or tell the parties what to do. Instead, they help them talk together and work out a solution that they are going to be satisfied with, oftentimes helping people see possibilities that they didn’t see when they first came to the mediation.RANDY: The Center’s webpage (www.missouristate.edu/cdr) notes that most people are only aware of three possible “solutions” to a dispute: somehow work it out themselves; go to court; or simply give up and give in! Professional mediation offers a fourth, and often more satisfactory, alternative. Because, says Associate Director Heather Blades:HEATHER: When we try to avoid conflicts--or ignore them--they don’t go away, they just tend to escalate to the point that they’re ready to go to court. And at that point there’s a lot of hard feelings, and you are taking a risk of winning all… or losing all. And a judge is going to make the decision FOR you. In contrast, mediation allows you to work out a resolution that you’re going to be happy with, as well as the other party. It helps repair the relationship between the two parties whenever possible. It’s a lot less expensive than going to court; it’s a lot faster than going to court.RANDY: Mediations also tend to be more SUCCESSFUL than what happens in the court system. A judge orders your neighbor to do something… which they may or may not follow through on. But in mediation, both parties agree VOLUNTARILY to the resolution. Thus, the actual follow-through is upwards of 90% or more. Depending on the type of conflict, the typical mediation session lasts no more than a few hours, though multiple sessions are sometimes necessary.HEATHER: When people contact us because they’re wanting to mediate a case, if they can afford to pay a mediator, we refer those out to mediators working in the community. If they are people who can’t afford to pay, or it’s a very simple case--for example, we get a lot of neighborhood complaints, you know, “My neighbor’s dog is barking, and I need it to stop!”--we have volunteer mediators who work with the Center, who would take those kinds of cases.RANDY: One former volunteer mediator is MSU graduate student Nathan Hamilton, who is now a Graduate Assistant at the Center for Dispute Resolution. He’s been involved in mediation for almost three years.NATHAN HAMILTON: Honestly, I was walking down the hallway and saw the office and said, “What in the world is that?”…and started looking at some of the literature that was posted outside, and said, “Wow, this is really for me. This looks like there’s some skill-sets that I might be able to help here, and went in and found it to be a good fit. So they provided training that I was able to attend, and started mediating that way.RANDY: So who can be a mediator? Again, Graduate Assistant Nathan Hamilton:NATHAN: I think that, first and foremost, the qualifications are, people that have a desire to help people within their community. I think anyone who has a desire to help could attend one of the trainings, and benefit in one way or another from the materials that are presented in the trainings.RANDY: Among the Center’s offerings are: 40 hours of Civil and Family Mediation training twice a year, open to anyone, as well as workshops for the campus community and workshops for organizations within the Springfield community. As a part of the MSU Communication Department, the Center for Dispute Resolution offers interdisciplinary Certificate Programs for undergrads and graduate students. There’s also a “Juvenile Victim/Offender” program in conjunction with the Greene County Juvenile Court. The courts refer cases to this program, which allows victims of vandalism and other petty juvenile crimes to sit down with the juvenile offender and help make the situation right in whatever way possible. Mediators are often profoundly and positively affected by the cases they work, says Nathan Hamilton.NATHAN: It’s AMAZING, not only the type of cases that we see, but I think also the OUTCOMES that we see as a result of those cases! Going into it, you’d think “there is NO way that this is going to be resolved!” Two hours later? “There is NO WAY that just happened!” So, it’s really, really amazing to see some of the impact.RANDY: You heard from Graduate Assistant Nathan Hamilton, and Associate Director Heather Blades, at the Missouri State University Center for Dispute Resolution. To contact the center, call 836-8831, or visit www.missouristate.edu/cdr.