MEDIATE OHIO

Ohio Mediation Association

www.mediateohio.org

A Bi-Monthly Publication                                                                                  May 2006

President: Jay Patterson (614) 403-3825 E-mail: jmpmediation@ameritech.net

Immediate Past President/Newscaster Editor:  Shirley Cochran (614) 863-4775 E-mail: scochran@insight.rr.com

Vice President:  Phil Dunfee (740) 366-3297 E-mail: phil@phildunfee.com

Treasurer:  Dan DeStephen (913) 775-2067 E-mail: dandestephen@wright.edu

Secretary:  Christy Radigan (614) 855-6926 E-mail: cardigan@insight.rr.com

Web Guru:  Martha Antolik (937) 264-2336 E-mail: w004mla@woh.rr.com

Mark your Calendars for our exciting 2006 meetings!! (First Friday of the even numbered months except our conference or April meeting since it is at a facility for conferences.)

June 2, 2006               Case Study Kickoff.  As a result of the survey of members, OMA is starting a case study group.  Bring a case to discuss where you wish you had a co-mediator or to get someone else’s reaction to what occurred, or one in which something worked you did not think would, or just come to listen and learn from other mediators.

August 4, 2006           TBA

October 6, 2006          TBA

December 1, 2006      TBA

All meetings, except the Annual Conference, to be held at 11:30 AM at the MCL Cafeteria at Westerville and Schrock Roads in Westerville until further notice. (Directions on last page)

President’s Column

Ask Not What the Mediation Profession Can Do For You…

If you are satisfied with the state of mediation in our society, you need not read another line of this column.  If you think mediation has achieved it full potential, you can skip any column I ever write.  If, however, you believe as I do that we have not even begun to scratch the surface of the potential of mediation to improve the quality of life of countless people, then my comments are aimed at you. 

As I begin my term as President of OMA, I intend to use this column to share my thoughts, provoke you to think about your personal role in advancing the field of mediation, and challenge you to action.  You need not agree with me, but I submit to you that maintaining the status quo in our profession is simply not acceptable.  Therefore, I believe it is the responsibility of all mediators to take action beyond just the good work we do when we have clients in front of us.

So I ask you, when is the last time you took a specific concrete action to advance the field of mediation as a whole beyond simply providing services to your clients or marketing your own services?  If you can’t think of a recent action step you took to make the mediation pie bigger rather than simply getting your slice of it, then, with all due respect, you are part of the problem of the under- utilization of mediation.

Over the years, I have had countless conversations with mediators ruing the reality that mediation is extremely difficult to perform as a vocation.  There are lots of good reasons mediation has not fulfilled its potential; far too many to recite in this single column.  However, I posit that at the core of many of those reasons is a failure on our part as professionals to act in an organized, cohesive, and unified way to change the cultural paradigm of how society deals with conflict.  

One of the most important elements to advancing the field of mediation is a strong, active, articulate, and enthusiastic voice for the profession.  Although OMA has done some of this work in the past, I would like OMA to become even better and more active.  However, this will not happen just because we want it to happen.  It will only occur if you, as a serious professional engaged in the practice of mediation, put you talents, energy and ideas to use. 

OMA has endeavored to form several committees we think are crucial to becoming that true voice for the profession.    Those committees are: 1. Funding (to increase OMA’s financial resources to advance mediation), 2.  Membership (to maintain and increase the pool of professionals actively engaged as professional mediators, 3. Speakers/Topics (for our bi-monthly meetings), 4. Annual Conference (to plan and implement our annual conference), and 5. Case Study (to organize periodic review of cases to increase our skills).  In addition, we would like to have two ad hoc committees:  1. Technology (regarding our web site to serve our members) and 2. Public Policy (regarding issues or legislation with regard to mediation).  We need you to take the step to help OMA play a role in controlling our own destiny as a profession.  We need you to become a member of a committee.  Please contact me or another Officer of OMA to show your commitment to advancing the profession by becoming a member of the committee of your choice.

I invite you to share your thoughts about the mediation field with me personally, or better yet, in a letter to the editor of our newsletter, Mediate Ohio.

Thank you.

            As my terms as President wind down I must take this opportunity to thank everyone for all of the assistance provided to me over the years.  From our Vice President Jay Patterson who took every opportunity to learn about the ways things are done to copy or improve upon them; to Dan DeStephen who as our Treasurer looked after our money and invested it for the first time; to Sheri Center who was a great friend as well as wonderful Secretary; and Martha Antolik as our Past President providing another voice in the discussions and of course our web guru who tried to teach me how to put pages onto the web, unsuccessfully and how to send bulk e-mail successfully—almost to the point I think people were getting tired of getting them from me!  Our new board members were also invaluable.  Susan Shostak worked on membership, Ramona Inskeep on fundraising and Joe Palmer being the latest addition all providing their own perspective on the direction of OMA as well as hours of work to help meet those goals. 

            Most of all I want to thank our members who by renewing their memberships or joining have given me the idea that we may be doing something right to try to move our profession forward.  Thank you—all of you, Shirley Cochran

Ohio Mediation Association Membership Survey

In January 2006, the Ohio Mediation Association requested feedback from current members in the form of an online survey. The OMA Board has reviewed the results of the survey and have taken actions in a number of areas based on the results. Approximately 34% of OMA’s membership responded to the survey.

The survey generated a umber of possible topics for Robert Benjamin’s presentation on May 12^th at the OMA State Conference. Based on the responses, the OMA has asked Robert to speak on how to address combative parties and how to assist parties overcome impasses.

The responses to the survey on the day, time, and location of the OMA meetings reveal high levels of satisfaction with the day (91% preferring to keep the meeting on Friday) and the time (82% preferring to keep the 11:30 to 2:30 pm time). While the survey found a general preference for keeping the meeting in Columbus (68%), there is some interest in holding a meeting outside of Columbus. The OMA Board will therefore make every effort to hold one of the association’s meetings at a location outside of Columbus. The survey also generated a list of potential topics of interest to OMA members for the meetings. This list will be forwarded to the program chair.

The survey reported there is strong interest in an ongoing case-study group--74% of those responding to the survey indicated an interest. The Board has asked Susan Shostak to contact those expressing an interest in participating in such a group. OMA will send an announcement on a day, time, and location for the first meeting to all members.

A variety of members indicated a willingness to participate on a number of potential OMA Committees (Membership, Annual Conference, Fundraising, and Newsletter). The OMA Board will create a description of what each committee’s charge and contact those expressing an interest to serve on one of these committees. OMA will also send a second announcement to all members soliciting additional volunteers for these committees.

A number of individuals expressed an interest in either running for an office in OMA or serving as an appointed Board member. Jay Paterson, president-elect, has those wishing to run for an office with information on the steps necessary to appear on the ballot. The new OMA Board will meet in early April to discuss the question of how many appointed positions will be available for the OMA Board. The goal is to have a full Board in place by the May annual meeting.

The survey generated a list of functions/services members wanted from OMA. This list will be used as the foundation for planning/prioritizing the work of the OMA Board over the next year. The Board will keep the membership informed on actions coming out of this discussion via the newsletter and email. One item that did emerge from the survey question on how to find the resources for improving the quality of services provided to members by the OMA was membership dues. OMA has never increased membership dues since the creation of the organization. The Board has decided to increase dues to $50/year to enable serve members.

A sizable majority of members (80%) feel that OMA should conduct a state-wide public education program about mediation. A variety of ways were also suggested for how such a campaign could be funded. The Board will continue to explore ways to increase the public’s awareness of mediation.

Most members (56%) report satisfaction with the state of the Ohio mediation field in terms of the quality of services. About an equal number (59%), however, were not satisfied with how frequently mediation is used in Ohio. Over two-third’s (69%) of the respondents believe that some type of certification or licensure would be helpful to advance the field of mediation in Ohio. On each of these questions, members provided the Board with written comments to explain their feelings. In the case of certification/licensure, the comments also included what the certification/licensure process would look like.

The OMA Board has agreed to continue to discuss the question of mediator certification. At this time, however, the Board has not made a decision on the desirability of OMA becoming a certifying body for mediation within Ohio. The Board has agreed to continue discussing this topic in search of a consensus among Board members.

The Board wishes to thank all the OMA members who participated in the survey. Questions concerning the results of the survey can be directed to Dan DeStephen at dan.destephen@wright.edu.

Monthly Presenters for OMA by Sandra Fredrick

I wanted to let the members of the Ohio Mediation Association aware that I will be coordinating the monthly presenters for our organization.  I am very interested in any appealing presenters and if you feel you have a new program or approach that you would want to share with your peers it would be appreciated.  Please contact me with ideas as well The following are ways to contact me:  Sandra Fredrick, (937) 225-4099 or I can be reached by e-mail at fredricks@mc.ohio.org I look forward to hearing from you.   

Editor’s Column

By Shirley Cochran

“Lasting change is a series of compromises. And compromise is all right, as long your values don't change." Jane Goodall

            We have been up to a lot here at OMA since January.  We elected new officers, appointed new non-voting members of the Board, had our annual conference and meeting as well as given out our Better World Award.  We have cleaned up our directory for membership through membership year 2004-2005 and are working on 2005-2006, figured out how to put pdf files on the website, (well Martha has anyway), and have sent out bulk e-mails about jobs we are aware of and other information we believe our members want to know.  We want this newsletter to be as helpful to our members as possible so let me know if there is anything we need to work on as months go by.  Thanks.

FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE

By Ed Krauss

Following is a scenario and then questions about the scenario. You are invited to respond, and responses (some or all, depending on volume) will appear in a future edition. We hope this will spark interest and responses, and if so there will be future scenarios for your consideration.

You are a mediator who recently retired from social work. Your background includes clinical counseling and school social work, and you have spent tens of thousands of hours talking to teachers, parents, and students in your career.

A man and woman come to you to mediate a parenting agreement for their pending divorce. They have four children. As you work through the arraignments for taking children to school, for sharing time with each parent, for holidays, you are confronted with both parents agreeing to what appears to be, from your perspective, a complicated package. They are both highly positional, and the way they are resolving their concerns is by structuring a schedule which calls for lots of transportation, lots of moving of children, with little room for realities such as car troubles or bad weather.

You have tried all the good techniques you learned; asking “Please help me understand how that will work well for your children” and “This is your agreement, you need to design what is best for you and your children, but it does seem to me that this agreement will place some time and travel burdens on all concerned” and other probing questions. The parents continue to move towards accepting an agreement that sets off lots of alarm bells in your head.

Two questions:

[1] Specific to this scenario: What should the mediator do?

[2] Second, general question: Is it ever acceptable for the mediator, who speaks from a legitimate, strong knowledge base (which could be small business, medical, environmental, etc.), to speak to the flaws in an potential agreement? If yes, please give an example, and how it should be done. If not, why not.

THE MEDIATION COUNCIL OF GREATER CINCINNATI

The Mediation Council of Greater Cincinnati, which has been in existence since the mid-1980’s, is a networking organization of mediators who live or practice in the greater Cincinnati area. The group meets at noon on the second Wednesday of each month from September – May to learn about matters of interest and share information. The schedule of meetings for the coming year is as follows:

Members as well as non-members are welcome to attend the meetings; annual membership fees are $15.00.  If you have questions or need information, contact Marie Bader at 859-380-2137.

Ohio State Bar Association Directory Web Site Revisions Make It Easier to Use.

            The Ohio State Bar Association has just completed its Web Site renovations at www.ohiobar.org.  If you visit the site, click on Public, Legal Services, ADR, and Search the Database of Neutrals, you should be able to find your information if you are already on the site.  There is also a place to click for neutrals to amend their information or contact the person in charge to provide information to be listed after the ADR link under This Is For Providers Of ADR Services.  Hopefully, you are in the directory and appropriately listed.  Contact Shirley Cochran if there is a problem.

Renewing, New Members and Additions/Corrections to the Directory (not the entire list of members—see the directory at our web site for that list):

New and renewing members may send applications to OMA’s President, Shirley Cochran at 2897 Liberty Bell Lane, Reynoldsburg OH 43068 Contact Shirley for membership applications or to provide updated addresses, phone numbers, etc, for OMA’s mailing lists and directory.  A membership application can be sent electronically for your convenience or you can download it from the OMA website www.mediateohio.org    If there is a correction or an addition, please let Shirley know but only you can correct the directory on the website.  If you have misplaced your membership number and password, please contact Martha Antolik for assistance. 

Corrections/Additions/Renewals

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