This online Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate (ADR) program is offered in partnership with IADR® GLOBAL. Dispute Resolution is a rapidly growing field of study and a process commonly used in federal and local government agencies, corporations, non-profit and for profit agencies as well as in private ADR practices. This online training program will give you the educational background you need to break into this fast-growing field. The three course program of study offers a highly comprehensive conflict resolution education that can help you advance in your present job, add a sought after skill to your resume, or help you set up a private practice as an alternative dispute resolution specialist.
AND, when you complete your course you receive a complimentary one year membership to the Mediators Without Borders® International Association for Mediators and ADR Specialists. This association provides you with networking opportunities, consultations from our experienced faculty, professional insurance, and discounts on International Mediators Without Borders conferences and continuing education seminars.
What is Mediation?
Mediation is a formal process of negotiation which uses a third-party neutral who provides a framework for disputants to resolve their conflict. The mediator establishes the ground rules for the process, recognizes the needs and wants of each party and plays a pivotal role by assisting the people involved to focus on the real issues underlying the positions of the dispute. Through the use of specific skills, the mediator is able to assist in the settlement of disagreements among conflicted parties, even in cases where deep rooted tensions have not responded to initial attempts at negotiation. The required foundational CORE Mediation Certificate course will provide you with a comprehensive set of mediation skills.
Why is it called Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate?
The word Alternative refers to the methods of dispute resolution that are used as alternatives to litigation. Mediation is just one skill set of the much broader field of dispute resolution. This field is becoming increasingly specialized and requires more focused training on the various specializations. An ADR Certificate includes not only mediation certificate training but, depending on the two specialty courses you choose, can provide you with training in arbitration and ombuds, workplace dispute resolution systems, health and eldercare dispute resolution, divorce mediation and resolution, and construction mediation.
The ADR program of study begins with the foundational course, CORE Mediation Certificate, and then allows students to choose two additional specialty options from among 6 possible advanced courses. When you successfully complete a course, you will receive a certificate for that individual course. Additionally, upon completion of the three course program, you will receive an additional Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate.
- Divorce Mediation Certificate
- Workplace Mediation Certificate
- Arbitration Certificate
- Health and Eldercare Mediation Certificate
- Advanced Dispute Resolution Skills Certificate
- Construction Mediation Certificate
Each course is described briefly below:
CORE Mediation Certificate (Required)
The Core Mediation course provides the core skill sets necessary to begin a new career as a mediator and help disputants take charge of their own destiny. The course presents an overview of the mediation process, including the application of negotiation techniques, the critical issue of timing, the usage of caucuses, as well as other tools to deal with impasses in the process. Students will also become adept at communication by learning essential communication skills, such as reflective listening and the handling of critical moments in mediation.
Students will select 2 courses from the following:
Divorce and Parenting Time Mediation Certificate
Divorce mediation is perhaps the fastest growing field within the mediation profession. More separating couples are being directed to mediation than ever before, which is why the demand for mediators specifically trained in this area is strong. Students will get an overview of the field of family dispute resolution followed by an exploration of family systems theory and development. The course will present legal and financial concerns of divorce, including how to work with attorneys and how to help couples with asset division. Special issues such as domestic violence, mental health concerns, and child abuse are also covered. The course will also discuss the issues concerning children, including how divorce affects kids, how to negotiate parenting plans, and how to actually work with children and teens in mediation. Mediation skills specific to divorce mediation and an overview of non-divorce cases such as lesbian and gay relationship dissolutions, pre-nuptials, teen parent issues, and grandparents in mediation, conclude this course.
Workplace Mediation Certificate
The high costs of workplace conflict are driving companies and regulatory agencies such as the EEOC to use mediation and other conflict resolution practices in the workplace, making workplace conflict resolution and mediation an emerging specialty within the field. This course builds on the core mediation course and provides an overview of workplace dispute resolution including an overview of conflict management systems in the workplace, conflict and communication in the workplace, and the influence of culture on conflict. As organizations have dealt with the costs of conflict such as the loss of productivity, low morale possibly leading to turnover, and litigation costs, processes and systems have been developed to reduce these costs. For the purposes of this course, you will learn to be a “conflict manager” in your place of employment and add this skill to your resume.
This course begins with an overview of workplace conflict and the costs involved for companies, tips on how to handle difficult workplace behavior and a summary of informal and formal arbitration practices in the workplace. The more common workplace mediation issues of civil rights, sexual harassment, and disability disputes will be presented, as well as special issues such as power and emotions along with cross-cultural and multi-party cases. The course offers a presentation of the emerging concepts of appreciative inquiry and its application to workplace disputes. It concludes with an overview of implementing a workplace conflict management system, which includes proactive measures such as conflict management training for all employees as well as reactive measures in which trained internal and external professionals assist constituents of the organization to manage and resolve conflict.
Health and Eldercare Mediation Certificate
Due to advances in medicine, heightened attention to diet, and desire to maintain an active lifestyle, people are now living longer than ever. Consequently, more people are availing themselves of medical services, and that care may provide a source of conflict, which is why health and edlercare mediation is increasingly necessary in lieu of litigation. This course builds on the core mediation skills and provides an overview of health and eldercare dispute resolution including an overview of conflict in healthcare settings, heath and eldercare bioethical issues, and the unique features of family conflicts and patient-healthcare provider conflicts.
The course begins with an overview of the growth of dispute resolution in the healthcare and eldercare field and most common health and eldercare disputes. Special issues such as end of life conflicts, medical errors and the use of apology, and cultural issues in health and eldercare conflict will be covered as well. The course discusses interdisciplinary collaboration with physicians, nurses, administrators, attorneys and others involved in health and eldercare disputes. The course concludes with the growing field of bioethics and how mediation can effectively help deal with ethical concerns in health and eldercare.
Construction Mediation Certificate
Construction mediation and dispute resolution is an emerging specialization within the ADR field. The high costs of litigation in construction are driving companies and consumers to use alternatives such as mediation and other conflict resolution practices to resolve disputes. Mediation and other alternative dispute resolution techniques are poised to become the premier methods of dispute resolution used around the globe. This emergence is due, in part, to the lower costs associated with these resolution techniques when compared to more traditional dispute resolution alternatives such as litigation and arbitration.
This course is meant to offer students a fundamental understanding of the many attributes, players, and special concerns associated with construction mediation. Construction mediation offers a unique advantage to mediators. Unlike other industries, a great deal of effort and research has been devoted to dispute prevention techniques as well as dispute resolution interventions once the conflict has emerged. This affords practitioners two entry points into this growing field - as a mediator for an emergent conflict and as a consultant for companies desiring to be proactive in their dispute resolution prevention. This course is designed to offer students a background in successful mediation processes and an overview of some of the innovative prevention and dispute avoidance systems that are being employed in this industry.
Arbitration Certificate
In many western jurisdictions and in places around the globe, most individuals are free to arbitrate a dispute. In fact, anytime a manager or parent or other authority figure renders a decision in a dispute, they are informally arbitrating the conflict. This course teaches the formal arbitration process, which is a distinct form of dispute resolution wherein a third party renders an award to disputing parties much like a judge. This class covers the history of arbitration and the most common applications, the discovery process, and pre-arbitration planning including interviews and documentation. Students will learn about the actual hearing process, how to conduct fair and impartial presentations of evidence, and how to work with attorneys present in the process. The course concludes with lectures on analysis of evidence, rendering of the award, and the actual writing of an arbitration agreement. Case studies will be used extensively to illustrate concepts central to arbitration.
Advanced Dispute Resolution Skills Certificate
This course was created to help both long time mediators, and beginning practitioners, deepen their personal and professional understanding and application of dispute resolution skills. The course is organized to offer advanced concepts of theoretical orientations, models and approaches, and advanced techniques to apply to cases. Each phase includes case studies to help apply the knowledge from the presentations and readings to selected situations. The field of mediation is experiencing a period of intense growth and there is a need for the next generation of “pioneers” to make their mark in this profession. The original foundation has long been ready for the next building phase and mediators with creativity, passion, and innovation can become the next wave of researchers, theorists, and creative innovators of new approaches and models of analysis and intervention.
Mediators must not only understand the substantive processes of their work, but the theories that inform their interventions and approaches to each unique case. This course covers reflective practice as a means to develop from student to artistry. This includes the process of creating formulas based on theoretical perspectives and a thorough conflict analysis of each case. The practice of mediation is ultimately focused on the interactions between the disputants and between the disputants and the mediator. The course covers more advanced skill sets of reflective listening and assertion communication as well as key elements and interventions of the interactive processes in mediation. Students learn more advanced skill sets to deal with difficult clients. The course concludes with case study applications of the knowledge learned in the course.
Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate
GES 407 -- 180 hours
Course Overview/Description
- Divorce Mediation Certificate
- Workplace Mediation Certificate
- Arbitration Certificate
- Health and Eldercare Mediation Certificate
- Advanced Dispute Resolution Skills Certificate
- Construction Mediation Certificate
This online Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate (ADR) program is offered in partnership with IADR® GLOBAL. Dispute Resolution is a rapidly growing field of study and a process commonly used in federal and local government agencies, corporations, non-profit and for profit agencies as well as in private ADR practices. This online training program will give you the educational background you need to break into this fast-growing field. The three course program of study offers a highly comprehensive conflict resolution education that can help you advance in your present job, add a sought after skill to your resume, or help you set up a private practice as an alternative dispute resolution specialist.
AND, when you complete your course you receive a complimentary one year membership to the Mediators Without Borders® International Association for Mediators and ADR Specialists. This association provides you with networking opportunities, consultations from our experienced faculty, professional insurance, and discounts on International Mediators Without Borders conferences and continuing education seminars.
What is Mediation?
Mediation is a formal process of negotiation which uses a third-party neutral who provides a framework for disputants to resolve their conflict. The mediator establishes the ground rules for the process, recognizes the needs and wants of each party and plays a pivotal role by assisting the people involved to focus on the real issues underlying the positions of the dispute. Through the use of specific skills, the mediator is able to assist in the settlement of disagreements among conflicted parties, even in cases where deep rooted tensions have not responded to initial attempts at negotiation. The required foundational CORE Mediation Certificate course will provide you with a comprehensive set of mediation skills.
Why is it called Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate?
The word Alternative refers to the methods of dispute resolution that are used as alternatives to litigation. Mediation is just one skill set of the much broader field of dispute resolution. This field is becoming increasingly specialized and requires more focused training on the various specializations. An ADR Certificate includes not only mediation certificate training but, depending on the two specialty courses you choose, can provide you with training in arbitration and ombuds, workplace dispute resolution systems, health and eldercare dispute resolution, divorce mediation and resolution, and construction mediation.
The ADR program of study begins with the foundational course, CORE Mediation Certificate, and then allows students to choose two additional specialty options from among 6 possible advanced courses. When you successfully complete a course, you will receive a certificate for that individual course. Additionally, upon completion of the three course program, you will receive an additional Alternative Dispute Resolution Certificate.
Each course is described briefly below:
CORE Mediation Certificate (Required)
The Core Mediation course provides the core skill sets necessary to begin a new career as a mediator and help disputants take charge of their own destiny. The course presents an overview of the mediation process, including the application of negotiation techniques, the critical issue of timing, the usage of caucuses, as well as other tools to deal with impasses in the process. Students will also become adept at communication by learning essential communication skills, such as reflective listening and the handling of critical moments in mediation.
Students will select 2 courses from the following:
Divorce and Parenting Time Mediation Certificate
Divorce mediation is perhaps the fastest growing field within the mediation profession. More separating couples are being directed to mediation than ever before, which is why the demand for mediators specifically trained in this area is strong. Students will get an overview of the field of family dispute resolution followed by an exploration of family systems theory and development. The course will present legal and financial concerns of divorce, including how to work with attorneys and how to help couples with asset division. Special issues such as domestic violence, mental health concerns, and child abuse are also covered. The course will also discuss the issues concerning children, including how divorce affects kids, how to negotiate parenting plans, and how to actually work with children and teens in mediation. Mediation skills specific to divorce mediation and an overview of non-divorce cases such as lesbian and gay relationship dissolutions, pre-nuptials, teen parent issues, and grandparents in mediation, conclude this course.
Workplace Mediation Certificate
The high costs of workplace conflict are driving companies and regulatory agencies such as the EEOC to use mediation and other conflict resolution practices in the workplace, making workplace conflict resolution and mediation an emerging specialty within the field. This course builds on the core mediation course and provides an overview of workplace dispute resolution including an overview of conflict management systems in the workplace, conflict and communication in the workplace, and the influence of culture on conflict. As organizations have dealt with the costs of conflict such as the loss of productivity, low morale possibly leading to turnover, and litigation costs, processes and systems have been developed to reduce these costs. For the purposes of this course, you will learn to be a “conflict manager” in your place of employment and add this skill to your resume.
This course begins with an overview of workplace conflict and the costs involved for companies, tips on how to handle difficult workplace behavior and a summary of informal and formal arbitration practices in the workplace. The more common workplace mediation issues of civil rights, sexual harassment, and disability disputes will be presented, as well as special issues such as power and emotions along with cross-cultural and multi-party cases. The course offers a presentation of the emerging concepts of appreciative inquiry and its application to workplace disputes. It concludes with an overview of implementing a workplace conflict management system, which includes proactive measures such as conflict management training for all employees as well as reactive measures in which trained internal and external professionals assist constituents of the organization to manage and resolve conflict.
Health and Eldercare Mediation Certificate
Due to advances in medicine, heightened attention to diet, and desire to maintain an active lifestyle, people are now living longer than ever. Consequently, more people are availing themselves of medical services, and that care may provide a source of conflict, which is why health and edlercare mediation is increasingly necessary in lieu of litigation. This course builds on the core mediation skills and provides an overview of health and eldercare dispute resolution including an overview of conflict in healthcare settings, heath and eldercare bioethical issues, and the unique features of family conflicts and patient-healthcare provider conflicts.
The course begins with an overview of the growth of dispute resolution in the healthcare and eldercare field and most common health and eldercare disputes. Special issues such as end of life conflicts, medical errors and the use of apology, and cultural issues in health and eldercare conflict will be covered as well. The course discusses interdisciplinary collaboration with physicians, nurses, administrators, attorneys and others involved in health and eldercare disputes. The course concludes with the growing field of bioethics and how mediation can effectively help deal with ethical concerns in health and eldercare.
Construction Mediation Certificate
Construction mediation and dispute resolution is an emerging specialization within the ADR field. The high costs of litigation in construction are driving companies and consumers to use alternatives such as mediation and other conflict resolution practices to resolve disputes. Mediation and other alternative dispute resolution techniques are poised to become the premier methods of dispute resolution used around the globe. This emergence is due, in part, to the lower costs associated with these resolution techniques when compared to more traditional dispute resolution alternatives such as litigation and arbitration.
This course is meant to offer students a fundamental understanding of the many attributes, players, and special concerns associated with construction mediation. Construction mediation offers a unique advantage to mediators. Unlike other industries, a great deal of effort and research has been devoted to dispute prevention techniques as well as dispute resolution interventions once the conflict has emerged. This affords practitioners two entry points into this growing field - as a mediator for an emergent conflict and as a consultant for companies desiring to be proactive in their dispute resolution prevention. This course is designed to offer students a background in successful mediation processes and an overview of some of the innovative prevention and dispute avoidance systems that are being employed in this industry.
Arbitration Certificate
In many western jurisdictions and in places around the globe, most individuals are free to arbitrate a dispute. In fact, anytime a manager or parent or other authority figure renders a decision in a dispute, they are informally arbitrating the conflict. This course teaches the formal arbitration process, which is a distinct form of dispute resolution wherein a third party renders an award to disputing parties much like a judge. This class covers the history of arbitration and the most common applications, the discovery process, and pre-arbitration planning including interviews and documentation. Students will learn about the actual hearing process, how to conduct fair and impartial presentations of evidence, and how to work with attorneys present in the process. The course concludes with lectures on analysis of evidence, rendering of the award, and the actual writing of an arbitration agreement. Case studies will be used extensively to illustrate concepts central to arbitration.
Advanced Dispute Resolution Skills Certificate
This course was created to help both long time mediators, and beginning practitioners, deepen their personal and professional understanding and application of dispute resolution skills. The course is organized to offer advanced concepts of theoretical orientations, models and approaches, and advanced techniques to apply to cases. Each phase includes case studies to help apply the knowledge from the presentations and readings to selected situations. The field of mediation is experiencing a period of intense growth and there is a need for the next generation of “pioneers” to make their mark in this profession. The original foundation has long been ready for the next building phase and mediators with creativity, passion, and innovation can become the next wave of researchers, theorists, and creative innovators of new approaches and models of analysis and intervention.
Mediators must not only understand the substantive processes of their work, but the theories that inform their interventions and approaches to each unique case. This course covers reflective practice as a means to develop from student to artistry. This includes the process of creating formulas based on theoretical perspectives and a thorough conflict analysis of each case. The practice of mediation is ultimately focused on the interactions between the disputants and between the disputants and the mediator. The course covers more advanced skill sets of reflective listening and assertion communication as well as key elements and interventions of the interactive processes in mediation. Students learn more advanced skill sets to deal with difficult clients. The course concludes with case study applications of the knowledge learned in the course.
