Staff Mediation
Mediation is a process in which an impartial person, the mediator, facilitates communication between disputing parties to promote reconciliation, settlement and understanding. A mediator does not impose his own judgment on the issues, rather the disputing parties are responsible for developing their own resolution.
It is the policy of Texas State to encourage the early resolution of conflicts arising on campus, utilizing dispute resolution processes such as mediation.
Mediation is available to both regular and non-regular staff employees.
Mediation is intended to meet the following objectives:
- •Participation is voluntary;
- •The process will be confidential;
- •The process will be timely and consistent;
- •The program will be evaluated on a regular basis;
- •The use of mediation will be actively promoted.
When requested, Human Resources is responsible for securing and compensating an outside professional mediation service. The parties involved in the mediation will be contacted directly by the mediation service. The mediation meeting may occur on campus, or the office location of the service. Time spent in the process of mediation, to include necessary travel, is considered “work time.” If travel is involved, mediation participants will be paid travel costs in accordance with normal university travel payment procedures. There is no cost to participate in mediation. All costs are borne by the university.
The following types of cases are examples of disputes appropriate for mediation:
- •Employment matters
- •Discrimination
- •Harassment
The following types of cases are examples of disputes deemed inappropriate for mediation:
- •Violation of a Regents Rule, such as:
•illicit use, possession, sale or distribution of drugs
- •use, possession, sale or distribution of firearms, etc.;
- •Violation of a university policy;
- •Disputes involving sexual harassment.
Please contact the Office of Human Resources at 5-2557 or hr@txstate.edu with further questions or to arrange a mediation.