Cloverdale College in Mishawaka, Indiana, the undergraduate division of the Graduate Theological Foundation, has developed an innovative Bachelor of Mediation. The program grants college credit to students who attend qualified mediation and alternative dispute resolution courses held at multiple training center locations in the state. To graduate, students are required to complete 30 credits from the mediation training centers, submit documentation of their coursework, and complete a senior paper.
Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont, offers a 42-credit Master of Science in Mediation and Applied Conflict Studies. The program combines on-campus residency sessions, online training and real-life application in a student's home community. The curriculum's core classes include negotiation, interpersonal conflict, principles of conflict analysis, research methods for mediators, ethics and impartiality, legal issues in mediation and conflict intervention skills. Graduates will be qualifed to work as mediators and conflict arbitrators.
Fresno Pacific University, an accredited Christian university that emphasizes moral and spiritual development, has developed a 40-credit Master of Arts in Peacemaking and Conflict Studies. The program's instructors are practicing mediators, and provide training in real-world mediation. To graduate, students must decide on a concentration in studies such as restorative justice, church conflict and peacemaking, school conflict resolution and peacemaking, or mediation. Required classes include alternative dispute, violence and nonviolence, theological ethics of conflict and peacemaking, and mediation and the law.
The College of Professional Studies at Marquette University in Milwaukee, has created a 33-hour Master's in Dispute Resolution that trains law, health care, business and education professionals in dispute resolution. Students are given comprehensive instruction in mediation, arbitration, facilitation, negotiation and consensus building. To graduate, students must show proficiency in dispute resolution theory, and their thesis should demonstrate strong research and critical-thinking skills. The program can be undertaken on a full-time or part-time basis, with courses held on Friday nights and Saturday. Required classes cover mediation, dispute resolution theory, negotiation and dispute resolution systems design.