This is the home page for CJS/SOC 345, Conflict Resolution, at Le Moyne College. This version is designed for the Spring 2020 semester. Please report any problems to Cliff Donn.

Syllabus: Here you will find a link to the syllabus and reading list for CJS/SOC 345. This includes a description of the course requirements, the schedule of topics and activities, the reading assignments, supplementary reading materials, and the expectations that the instructor has for the students and that the students should have for the instructor. If you are registered for the course, you will be provided with a "hard" copy of this but you can print one out from here if you need another copy.

Office Hours: This will link you to Cliff Donn's office hours and teaching schedule for the current semester. You are welcome to drop by or to try to contact me at times other than my office hours. Those are just times when I try not to schedule activities that take me out of my office. However, I am around and available at lots of other times.

Announcements: Here you will find announcements of changes in the class schedule and reading assignments. You may also find postings of job announcements, relevant meetings of clubs and professional groups, lectures, etc. Please check this link regularly.

Reserve List: This is a list of all the items I have asked the library to place on reserve for the current semester. It should include everything on the reading list. If you cannot find something on the reading list on reserve, please check to see if it is here. Please report any problems to Cliff.

Journals: All students in CJS/SOC 345 are required to maintain a journal listing cases of conflict and dispute resolution that they find during the semester. The guidelines for journals are described here. There is also a rubric for the journals. This will tell you how journal assignments are evaluated and what the "short-hand" comments on journals that have been returned mean.

Format: The format and writing style for any written assignments in CJS/SOC 345 can be found here. This includes information about citations and information about plagiarism and how to avoid it. Note that certain citation styles that may be acceptable in some of your other classes (e.g. APA, ASA) are not acceptable in this class.

Presentations and Critiques : Students in CJS/SOC 345 will be required either to take a mid-term examination, to write two critiques or to make a class presentation. These links will describe the requirements for those assignments. The rubric (standards by which critiques will be evaluated and graded) can be found here. A rubric for the presentations can be found here.

Examinations: Sample examination questions of the type that are asked on quizzes, the mid-term and the final examinationcan be found here. These sample questions are in fact actual questions asked on exams in this course in past years. Here you will find a schedule of quizzes which indicates exactly which readings will be covered on each quiz.

Evaluation: All assignments and the value they will have in terms of students grades for the current semester can be found in this evaluation link.

Definitions: Here you will find a list of definitions of many of the more important terms that are used in class in this course. You should bring a copy of this list to class every day and it will also be a helpful aid in studying.

Cases: You are welcome to attend arbitration, mediation and/or fact finding cases with Cliff. However this does not serve as an excuse to miss any of your other classes so please check with your other instructors to make sure that this is not a problem. You can earn extra credit in this class by attending such a case with Cliff and writing a one-page description and analysis of what you observe. In order to attend a case, you must sign up on Cliff's office door. You must also call him the night before to make certain the case has not been cancelled (many are).

Slides: The powerpoint slides presented in class on each topic can be found here after the topic has been completed in class.

Introduction

Origins and Nature of Conflict

Interpersonal Conversations

Negotiation and Problem Solving

Mediation

Arbitration

Arbitration Variations

Non-Arbitration Variations

Summary and Conclusions

Links: Here you will find links to a variety of sites and organizations involved in the processes of dispute resolution. These may be useful in preparing class presentations, understanding journal entries, etc.

The American Arbitration Association is a private, non-profit organization that promotes arbitration and alternative dispute resolution for labor disputes as well as many other types. It maintains panels of arbitrators for a variety of different kinds of disputes.

The Association for Conflict Resolution was founded in 2000 from three separate existing groups including the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution. Its members are interested in all aspects of the resolution of conflict. There is a section specifically devoted to online dispute resolution.

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is an agency of the U.S. federal government. Its commissioners mediate disputes all over the country and it maintains a panel of labor arbitrators and makes lists of those available to labor unions and management.

The Labor and Employment Relations Association (until recently, the Industrial Relations Research Association) is a group that includes unionists, managers, neutrals, academics and others with an interest in employment issues. It holds annual and spring meetings and produces several interesting and useful publications. There is a Central New York chapter that holds meeting five times a year (see the announcements section of this home page).

The National Mediation Board is an agency of the U.S. federal government created to administer the Railway Labor Act. It provides mediation and arbitration services and has an office of Alternative Dispute Resolution.