Toby Guerin, C-DRUM executive director (l) and Aisha Samples, C-DRUM senior program specialist (r) with Corey Shdaimah, School of Social Work professor, who completed mediator training
Everyone agrees, disagreements are an inevitable part of human interaction. At work, interpersonal conflict can negatively impact morale, productivity, and overall wellness.
That's why the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) Provost and Executive Vice President Roger Ward engaged Maryland Carey Law’s Center for Dispute Resolution (C-DRUM) to establish the Workplace Mediation Service (WMS). Celebrating its fifth anniversary this year, the Workplace Mediation Service offers UMB employees a conflict resolution option for issues that may not require official grievances.
“Once you bring people together, you will have conflict,” said Ward. “You need ways to manage that.”
Mediation sessions facilitated by highly trained C-DRUM professionals and WMS volunteers give employees a safe and compassionate space to work through tensions without escalating disagreements into formal complaints. Cases commonly involve communication challenges, personality or work style clashes, and disputes or tensions between coworkers or supervisors and subordinates. Employees can directly request mediation or may be referred by offices, including Human Resource Services, Office of Accountability and Compliance, Office of the Ombuds, and University Counsel, all of which contributed input in the service’s development phase and continue to partner with WMS.
The mediators are neutral, which means they don’t give advice, take sides, or make decisions about outcomes. Instead, they listen and help the parties resolve the matter on their own terms. The service is free, voluntary, non-judgmental, and confidential. Nothing is recorded in an employee’s personnel file.
"Our focus as mediators is to help individuals feel heard and understood and help the group work collaboratively to address the situation,” said Aisha Samples, senior program specialist at C-DRUM, who heads up the program. In just the past fiscal year, 33 UMB employees participated in mediation, and nine cases were mediated. “We are thankful for the UMB community for entrusting us with their work-related situations,” added Samples.
Launched in 2019, the service's fifth anniversary marks a moment of significant progress in its evolution, particularly in the area of capacity building.
Employee mediation services are already a rarity at American universities. The Workplace Mediation Service offered out of Maryland Carey Law is exceptional because of its “train-the-trainer” model through which the service expands its impact by not just offering mediation sessions but also training employees across campus to serve as mediators. The group of WMS mediators and apprentice mediators comprises individuals from five schools on campus, administration, and other departments.
“We wanted to create another professional development opportunity for UMB employees,” said Ward, who touts the valuable listening skills people trained in mediation develop.
In the past five years, Samples and her colleagues C-DRUM Executive Director Toby Treem Guerin and C-DRUM Director of Special Projects Stacy Watson Smith have trained two cohorts totaling 23 people from across campus to facilitate mediation sessions. This capacity building answers increasing demand for the service.
Kecia Hitch, accounting manager at the School of Medicine was in the first group trained in 2020 and was the first to complete all the requirements to mediate with WMS.
Hitch was eager to join the cohort and looked forward to all 40 hours of training, which included role play and simulations to build skills and knowledge in areas such as active listening and being a non-judgmental conversation facilitator.
“The Workplace Mediation Service,” enthused Hitch, “is the best thing that has happened to UMB in a long time.”
Professor Corey Shdaimah from the School of Social Work agrees. Part of the spring 2024 cohort of trainees, Shdaimah is often called upon to help people work through differences as leader of the School of Social Work’s faculty organization. She appreciated that C-DRUM staff made the training highly accessible and unintimidating for participants from a variety of backgrounds.
“You don’t need to be a lawyer or a social worker to become a mediator,” said Shdaimah. “This can be for anyone who comes with an open mind and an open heart.”
That has everything to do with the atmosphere C-DRUM creates for clients and trainees alike. “Aisha, Toby, and Stacy were fantastic,” said Shdaimah. “What I experienced with the three ladies is total professionalism,” echoed Hitch.
That’s no accident. For more than two decades, the Center for Dispute Resolution at Maryland Carey Law has been a driving force in expanding and improving the quality of Maryland’s dispute resolution processes in courts, schools, workplaces, and communities. C-DRUM also leads one of the top-ranked law school dispute resolution programs in the country and is home to the law school’s Mediation Clinic.
“UMB has a variety of resources and services to manage workplace conflicts, which the Workplace Mediation Service complements,” said Guerin. "For 20-plus years, C-DRUM has been supplying mediation services to external entities. This program is a way to take that experience and direct it to benefit our own institution.”
That expertise also comes through in annual WMS-sponsored programming including “Discovery Chats,” informal conversations around communication and listening, and modules on conflict resolution and negotiation at UMB leadership programs around campus.
Starting in October, C-DRUM will celebrate the Workplace Mediation Service’s anniversary by hosting special events and sharing resources centered on the theme “Conflict Works.” Employees are invited to participate in interactive workshops and other events to gain practical communication and conflict management skills and better understand the benefits of mediation. The service will launch an online course on communication this year.
As the service marks this milestone, Ward is pleased with its progress and looks forward to continued program growth. The first five years were about building and marketing the program, he said. Next up is continuing to build capacity and increase impact. By the 10th anniversary, Ward hopes to “look outside of UMB to offer our program as a model for other institutions.”
Samples is equally enthusiastic about WMS’s future, saying, “We look forward to more years of service.”
To learn more about the Workplace Mediation Service or to request mediation, visit the WMS website.
To support the Center for Dispute Resolution, visit the center’s giving page.