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Conflict Resolution
Case 1. A small faculty group had been locked in conflict for several years. The original disagreement was over the future direction of their field. Over the years this had expanded to include disputes over a myriad of governance and operational issues. The dean of their college would not allow them to conduct a search to fill a vacant faculty line until they forged some agreements to allow them to work together more effectively. The first achievement in the conflict resolution process was the faculty’s creation of "rules of engagement" – standards of conduct and communication by which they agreed to function. Abiding by those standards, they were able to reflect upon the interpersonal negativity that had accumulated between them, each take responsibility for their part in it, and then move forward with constructive dialogue on the substantive issues that still faced them. While not easy to resolve, they were able to design and agree to a program plan that persuaded the dean to award them a faculty line and authorize their search.
Case 2. Half of a department's faculty were ready to go to the dean and demand that the chair be replaced. The other half were either satisfied with the chair or were concerned that taking any position at all would endanger their promotion and tenure processes. The faculty conflict resolution process allowed them to sort through their long and troubled history and to identify the many areas in which motivations or actions had been misinterpreted. It also allowed some individual faculty to give and receive the apologies and forgiveness that they felt were necessary in order to move on. The department is now redefining itself and launching a new degree program.
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