Mediation in universities : oil on troubled water or perplexity in the cloisters

Abstract

Whilst universities are about understanding and knowledge (including knowledge of oneself), they are not immune from disputation at many different levels. This brief paper examines the incidence of mediation in policies of selected universities. It examines the understanding of mediation in universities through an examination of those policies. The question could be asked: Why is this examination of the policies and practices surrounding mediation important? The answer is that we need to know how universities perceive mediation because it gives us an understanding of whether mediation is well understood and whether the policies allow mediation to be effective means for solving problems. That is, if mediation practices are not well understood, it follows that the policies might be difficult to implement and the solution to problems may not be expedited.