Peer Mediators
The Peer Mediation Program is a peer to peer program where trained mediators serve as an impartial 3rd party to assist students in navigating a conflict or concern with another student.
Three Ways to Engage
There are three ways to engage in the program:
- Request a mediation
- Request a consultation
- Request a workshop
Times to Contact the Peer Mediators
Mediation
Academic disagreements
- Ex 1: Lab mates who need to figure out how to work better together
- Ex 2: Teaching team who had in-fighting that is disruptive to their teaching
Disagreements in student organizations
- Ex 1: Someone is not pulling their weight and the entire board needs mediation
- Ex 2: Two student organizations are struggling to work together or feel like they have competing interests
Interpersonal disagreements
- Ex 1: Two people with very different approaches to their friendship want mediation to continue to be friends
- Ex 2: Two people do not want to be friends, but have to work together on a team or project
Consultation
Have a concern, but don't want to go through the whole mediation process? Request a consultation and someone from the mediation team will contact you to give you feedback about that situation. You will not go through the mediation process but instead have some tools and tips to help you talk to a the person you have concerns with.
Workshop
Would you rather learn about skills and tools to address conflict, proactively? If so, then a workshop may be for you. Have a peer mediator run a workshop for your organization, dorm, friend group, etc so that everyone learns a little more about conflict
More About Peer Mediators
Our Approach
Techniques will focus on dialogue facilitation, conflict mediation, restorative justice and circle practices in a peer-to-peer model rooted in Indigenous and POC scholarly work.
History
In 2005, Stanford established a Center for Communication and Mediation (C-MAC) which was a collaboration with the County of Santa Clara and helped students to help their peers with issues on campus, as well as help folks off-campus. After the staff person who managed that passed away, the program momentum for the project dwindled. There has not been a peer mediation center for some time until 2021 when the program was revived and updated to accommodate and apply to the current student population.
Meet the Mediators
The peer mediators are talented undergraduates and graduates who have undergone 20+ hours of training in conflict resolution. Your conflict may be within a personal relationship, a student organization, or something else—the mediators adjust to the needs of the group, facilitating a conversation that considers all participants’ needs and thoughts. They will not control the discussion, instead creating a space that will allow underlying tensions to be recognized, addressed, and resolved.
What Does Mediation Look Like
The process to request a mediation should be simple and seamless.
Peer Mediators FAQs
Explore frequently asked questions about Peer Mediators.
Peer Mediators Resources
In addition to Peer Mediation, Stanford offers a variety of conflict resolution resources for all campus community members.