Cornell students learn mediation skills in Scheinman seminar

Professionals share techniques for resolving conflicts at home, on campus, at work

Worker Pat and supervisor Carrie have a problem – each other.

Tension between them disrupts their workplace. 

Pat says her workload "is completely unreasonable."  Carrie counters "the work needs to be done.  That’s what you were hired for." 

This fictitious, yet realistic scenario is one defused by 26 Cornell University students through an Aug. 20-22 seminar offered by ILR's Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution.

"This is harder than it looks," said J.R. Rothstein, a second-year Cornell University Law School student.  He played mediator in the Carrie and Pat role repartee Thursday in the ILR Conference Center.

Jon Auerbach Arts and Sciences '10, cast as Carrie, said he learned that "mediation is not inferior to law, it's separate from the legal system."

"I was very skeptical about mediation when I first got here.  I am much more now" a believer in its value, he said.

Understanding that most mediations provide closure, not necessarily justice, was another insight that sunk in during the training, Auerbach said.

Undecided where he is headed professionally, Auerbach said the mediation experience will serve him well, wherever he ends up.  "It's cool.  I like it."

Chad Hall, ILR '09, said he learned that "negotiations positions are usually fronts for underlying issues.  Probe for those, that's where the resolutions come."

"There are a lot of people skills" -- including tone and body language -- required of mediators, said Hall, interested in a career in manufacturing operations management.

Ninety applicants competed for limited slots in the student workshop, offered free of charge twice a year by ILR's Scheinman Institute.  A January student workshop will focus on cross-cultural issues and mediation.

Julie Crotty of New York City and Richard Fincher of Phoenix, Ariz., taught students how to mediate interpersonal, community and workplace disputes.  A complex securities mediation was also covered.

Crotty received a bachelor's degree from Cornell in 1986 and law and MBA degrees from Cornell in 1996.  She is assistant director of mediation at FINRA, a non-profit organization that helps regulate the investment industry.

She told students a career in mediation took her by surprise.

"I didn't know this was out there," she said.

Crotty's advice to students: "Follow your gut.  Follow the things that interest you."