The Dean of a small, private college has contacted you about serving as a third-party to address an escalating conflict within the Economics Department. Collegiality has disintegrated to the point where the most recent department chair resigned and the dean has been unable to find a replacement. There was only one department meeting during the current semester. The meeting resulted in a heated argument, primarily involving three members, and it ended abruptly after 45 minutes. Since the meeting, many of the professors are not speaking with one another. Rumors are flying about a pending tenure decision, the possible termination of a junior professor, and a potential EEO complaint based on "race" and "hostile work environment." Several cliques have formed. There are currently eight members of the Department, which is diverse in terms of age, seniority, race, ethnic background and tenure. Two tenure track employees requested a meeting with the dean and voiced their concerns because the last professor who sought tenure was denied and ended up resigning.

 

In order to determine what the most appropriate third-party, interest-based intervention should be, how would you go about conducting a Conflict Assessment? Assume that the first step would be to meet with the Convener, the Dean. What questions might you ask the Dean? Based on the dean's responses, what are the first three things you would want to do to assess the conflict and be sure you understand the issues involved?

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Introduction Addressing a conflict within the Economics Department of a small private college requires a strategic and comprehensive Conflict Assessment As a thirdparty intervener the initial step inv... View the full answer