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Paisley Richards, center, and Nour Mary Aissaoui, right, work with their group on problems on polarity and charge in Chem 31AC. Chemistry 31AC taught by Charlie Cox is a companion to Chem 31A. Credit: Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Peer Mediators

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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.

There are three ways to engage in the program:

More information on each component is below

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*This site and all programs are only intended for Stanford Students

**The Peer Mediation program strongly advises undergraduate students with roommate conflicts to contact RAs, RFs, or RDs before engaging in this process.

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Watch our All About Mediation Video

Times to contact 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

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.

 Escondido Village Graduate Residences. Credit: Andrew Brodhead

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.

 Main Quad Credit: Andrew Brodhead

What Does Mediation Look Like

The process to request a mediation should be simple and seamless.

Stanford University Main Quadrangle. View from corridor looking into Main Quad court with palm trees. Credit: Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News Service

Peer Mediators FAQs

Explore frequently asked questions about Peer Mediators. 

More than 200 pianos are available to be played on the Stanford campus. The Department of Music oversees their care and maintenance. Senior Stephanie Webb, a classical piano performance major, uses the practice rooms in Rains Housing. Credit: Linda A. Cicero / Stanford News

Peer Mediators Resources

In addition to Peer Mediation, Stanford offers a variety of conflict resolution resources for all campus community members. 

Questions? Email peermediation@stanford.edu