Questions & Answers
about becoming
a Volunteer Mediator with

The Community Mediation Center

?        What is the CMC?s working definition of mediation?

Mediation is a process that helps clients to resolve their disputes to their mutual satisfaction on a reasonably informed and voluntary basis. The two volunteer mediators are impartial between the parties and committed to mediating a fair, open, informed, confidential, and honest process.

?         What is the commitment for being a volunteer?

A volunteer must be able to be counted on a weekly basis to be able to mediate. We recognize vacations, work emergencies, and illnesses, but we must have volunteers who are available almost every week.

Knox County General Sessions Court meets Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday beginning at 8:45 a.m. The General Sessions Court Judges encourage mediation. CMC is committed to have at least two teams for each of scheduled three days.

Knox County Juvenile Court referrals are almost all pre-scheduled mediations for the afternoons and evening throughout the week.

CMC pre-schedules cases to meet the schedules of the parties involved in the dispute and the mediators. Mediators provide CMC with their availability for "pre-scheduled" mediations. To successfully schedule each mediation takes an average of eight phone calls and e-mail messages.

The CMC has in the past trained good mediators who turned out not being available to mediate. That process of training and mentoring is expensive in many ways and CMC does not have the luxury to train unavailable mediators. We require all volunteers to sign a contract to be available to mediate for at least one year.

?         How long is the training and how much does it cost?

The CMC has adopted a 40 -hour training curriculum for our mediation-training program. Forty hours is considered standard for voluntary co-mediation courses to cover the basics and allows sufficient opportunities to practice role-play. We have scheduled the intensive time over two weekends to allow employed individuals to attend with only a half-day off from work the first Friday.

There is no cost for the training except for $30 to defray material and facility costs. The cost of commercial mediation training programs is between $900 and $1200. Your real cost is the contractual commitment to serve as a volunteer mediator for one year.

We all know the costs that industries incur to train good workers. The same is true with CMC. Perhaps a volunteer fire department trains its volunteers more rigorously than CMC, but we emphasize training. Volunteers attend training bi-monthly; volunteers observe other mediators and write critiques. Some volunteers share questions and answers on the CMC Internet list-serve.

?         Does it help if the mediator is an attorney?

No, however the CMC volunteer mediators are required to know the processes used by the General Session Court or the Juvenile Court to administer justice. Mediators do not give legal advice. Volunteers are required to know and apply some of the rules of the Courts and the applicable laws in conducting a mediation and in completing a mediated agreement. The training course covers that information.

?         Why don?t you train volunteer mediators to be both Sessions and Juvenile Court Mediators?

We do. The basic mediation skills training will be the same for all. CMC in its selection of volunteers has to consider individuals who can mediate on days when we have a shortage of mediators. So the mediator initially will be assigned to learn to mediate in one court. Many of our experienced mediators have been cross-trained as Sessions, Juvenile and Family mediators. New volunteers must acquire proficiency in the procedures of one Court before being considered for cross-training.

?         Do volunteers work with the Community Mediation Center in ways other than being mediators?

Yes, some of our mediators serve on the CMC Board. Volunteers do most of the interviewing and screening of new volunteers. Still others are involved in updating our training materials. Many of the volunteers will be coaches during the training sessions. While it is not required, we hope many of our new volunteers are able to make similar contributions.

?         How is the CMC staffed and funded?

CMC has a minimum of staff to operate the two Knox County offices, one on Gay Street in downtown Knoxville and one at the Juvenile Court.

The greatest source of funding is the volunteers who provide 1000's of in-kind hourly contributions. The Courts donate office space and other supplies. Primary support comes from the ADR Commission, Administrative Office of the Courts; the Tennessee Bar Foundation provides annual funding. CMC provides training to local organizations in conflict resolution. CMC seeks local contributions and also has an annual fund-raising drive.

?         Who are the current CMC mediators?

CMC represents the community it serves. The profile of the current volunteers is similar to the group of participants we will be interviewing. We have students, housewives and househusbands, business people, young professionals, middle-age professionals, and retired people. We have a number of working individuals who have permission from their employers to use flex-work/mediation schedules to do scheduled mediations during work hours.

?         Why does CMC use a co-mediation model?

Co-mediation is used by over 80% of the volunteer mediation centers. We consider the process superior to utilize our volunteers and to assist clients in mediating their own agreements. Almost all CMC volunteers prefer and enjoy working with a companion.

?         What can mediators tell other people about what happened in the mediations in which they participated?

NOTHING.

The volunteers are able to talk about specific mediations with their mentors and mediation supervisor. We specifically have that right written into the agreements that the clients sign. The discussion about the case is specific to improving the mediation process. Confidentiality is a most important requirement for trust with clients. Mental health workers, attorneys, and medical health staff abide by requirements for confidentiality. Volunteer mediators do also.

?         Does everyone who applies get to be trained as a volunteer mediator?

No, Many times we receive many more quality applicants than we can accommodate in our training class of 24. We defer some of those applicants to our next class. Usually we train twice a year. As discussed earlier we heavily weigh the available schedule of each applicant. Also we have learned than many wonderful people do not necessarily make successful neutral mediators. CMC has had to remove individuals both from training and from being volunteer mediators.

?         Is it worth it and am I up to it?

It is our experience and of most volunteer mediation centers that people who volunteer to mediate in a community based setting are doing so to "give back" to their community and are self motivated people. However, mediation is not for everyone. Few volunteer activities require the combination of time, plus intellectual and emotional energy, that volunteer mediation demands. Ask yourself the hard questions before you agree.

?         When is the next training?

Training is normally conducted twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. Click here for information concerning the next training to be offered.

?         Whom do I call for additional information?

Community Mediation Center
 912 South Gay Street, L-300
Knoxville TN 37902

(865) 594-1879
FAX 594-1890
mediate@esper.com

9/20/03