Certificate of Advanced Professional Development in Mediation and Conflict Resolution (MCR) - About This Program

This program is only available for contract (i.e. for employers who wish to commission and fund an exclusive cohort of the program for their employees). If you'd like to learn more about this program, please contact us by submitting the form on the left of this page. Thank you!

The State of California increasingly favors resolving disputes before they evolve into litigation or, alternatively, before litigation requires a trial. Mediation is the primary method of "alternative dispute resolution" because it allows disputants to resolve their issues voluntarily and quickly with the aid of a trained mediator, thereby reducing costs for both the disputants and the court system.

CSUN's certificate in Mediation and Conflict Resolution offers the most comprehensive training available in any single-semester program in this fast-growing field. Examples:

• While most California mediation-training programs provide only enough training to meet the state's minimum educational standards (28-32 hours), most California courts require a minimum of 40 hours of mediation education. CSUN's MCR program provides 100 hours of training.
• California law requires that mediation-training programs cover landlord-tenant, neighbor-neighbor, and customer-merchant disputes. CSUN's MCR covers not only these areas but also workplace and other matters commonly seen in small-claims courts statewide.
• Though many other mediation-training programs provide no actual experience for their students, CSUN students start by observing mediations, and the vast majority of them will "co-mediate" real litigated cases by the end of the program.

NOTE: Because this certificate program is so comprehensive, it is also valuable for those seeking careers or career advancement as counselors, educational administrators, teachers, human resource professionals, managers and others who must deal with conflict in professional and personal situations.

Additional advantages of the CSUN MCR certificate program:

• During the practicum, students network with top mediators in the field and work directly with organizations that utilize mediators.
• Students who successfully complete the "litigated-case practicum" will fulfill all of the educational requirements for the Random Select Panel of the Los Angeles Superior Court, which has the world's largest court-mediation panel. (I.e., after finishing the program, students will still need to complete five "solo" mediations.)
• Students who complete the CSUN MCR program receive 1) a certificate intended to satisfy the educational requirements of the Dispute Resolution Program Act (DRPA) of California; 2) a certificate intended to satisfy the educational requirements of most California Court panels; 3) a CSUN certificate in advanced professional development, and 4) 10 continuing education units (CEUs), which are recorded on their CSUN transcripts.
• Graduates of the CSUN MCR certificate program are eligible for membership discounts with the Southern California Mediation Association (SCMA).

CSUN ranks ninth among all universities whose alumni are members of the State Bar of California.