During their years at Princeton, few students can avoid a messy roommate or neighbor who constantly turns up the bass. A new student peer mediation program created this semester aims to help students handle such conflicts.
"Think of peer mediators as a kind of supplement to the college adviser program," said Hilary Herbold, associate dean of undergraduate students. "It can be hard for the residential adviser to be impartial and neutral. It's helpful for the adviser to have this as an alternative."
The mediators, who were chosen from a pool of 20 applicants last fall, went through eight hours of training, which involved several role-playing situations. Most peer mediators this year are sophomores, though all non-freshman students can apply.
Herbold said the new program is designed for situations in which residential advisers (RAs) need assistance resolving conflicts. Currently, freshmen and sophomores are encouraged to go to their RAs with problems.
"There are situations when the residential adviser tries to do his or her best and the situation is just spiraling," Herbold said. "We really felt that there was a need that wasn't being met. There might be advantages to sitting down with a trained, neutral party."
Yet some students question whether the peer mediation program will be be neficial, or even necessary. Peer mediators will have no authority to implement a resolution to a conflict, so students will still have to consult their residential college dean if an agreement is not reached.
"The University has a lot of resources already with the RCAs in place," said Jose Leonor '06, a Wilson College RCA. "Peer mediators are serving the same purpose as the RCAs. We're not talking about really helping the problem as much as adding another layer to the process."
He added that students may need to make more of an effort to solve conflicts on their own. "Students in conflict should be able to resolve their conflict through compromise," he said. "We're young adults."
Nearly all of the funds for the program are allocated to paying salaries, Herbold said, calling it "very economical." Mediators will be paid $80 per dispute regardless of the outcome.
The mediators will be assigned in pairs to each of the residential colleges, though they will also resolve disputes between upperclassmen or members of different residential colleges. Freshmen and sophomores will be referred through their residential college dean, while upperclassmen will be referred through Herbold.
"I feel pretty optimistic about it," Herbold said. "I have enormous confidence in the training that the peer mediators have received . . . [they] have been chosen very carefully."
One of the peer mediators, Jon Elist '07, said he applied for the job because he was involved in a similar program in high school.
"Not only could you use your skills to help people," he said, "but you learn skills to use in the real world."
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