Bridge to the Community
Project Proposal - Summer 1998
The University of Central Florida's Dispute Resolution Services is offering a new service designed to introduce mediation to the university's surrounding community. Mediation is a voluntary process whereby two disputing parties meet with a trained mediator, who serves as a neutral third party, to come to a resolution that they both agree to. Over the past year, D.R.S. has been offering this service to the on-campus UCF students, faculty, and staff.
This new "Bridge to the Community" project will extend these services to the residents of off-campus housing facilities. Many university students experience a great deal of conflict as they learn to live independently. They share space with peers that are different from themselves in race, culture, ethnicity, and religious beliefs. They face personal conflicts involving moral standards, drugs, personal space issues, and responsibility. Mediation can provide these students with an opportunity to take responsibility for their actions and a structured environment where they can learn to confront and be confronted in a positive manner.
Through surveys and personal visits, we will discover the extent of disputes in these housing facilities. We will then educate the owners, supervisors, and landlords of these facilities on the process of mediation and its benefits. They will serve as a referral service; upon discovering various conflicts, they will inform the students of the D.R.S. mediation program as a way to confront and resolve their conflict. "Bridge to the Community" will not only benefit the students, but also the owners and landlords, as they will not waste time moving roommates around and trying to settle other's disputes. Overall, "Bridge to the Community" will provide for a more peaceful living environment for everyone.
