Minutes

Kim Brown from the USPS REDRESS program spoke first regarding the development of their roster of mediators. She discussed the beginnings of the Postal Service's initiative in Florida and their partnership with a local mediation organization. As the program has expanded to almost all areas of the country, the REDRESS initiative has developed a national roster of mediators. Ms. Brown explained that the program only accepts trained, highly qualified mediators, who are paid negotiated fees for their services. The minimum requirements to apply for the program are completion of at least 10 mediations as the lead or co-mediator, and a 20-hour mediation course. Each prospective mediator fills out an ADR provider survey, which is evaluated and then entered into a national database. The regional coordinators choose the mediators for each Postal region. Because the Postal Service subscribes to the transformative framework of mediation, all chosen mediators must attend a two-day mandatory advanced training on transformative mediation. Mediators are then required to provide one pro-bono mediation for the program, which is evaluated by REDRESS staff.

Deborah Dalton spoke next regarding the U.S. EPA's ADR program. The types of mediations the EPA convenes are with multiple external parties. Ms. Dalton explained that the EPA has a very small ADR unit and has historically contracted out for the administration of ADR services. A private ADR provider recruited and managed a national roster of neutrals with environmental experience and assigned them to EPA conflicts around the country. In the past year, the EPA has established a working group to explore the development of their own national roster. The working group has so far established guiding principles and a list of issues in the development of the roster.

Christopher Honeyman, a private mediator and researcher discussed his recent efforts to bridge the gap between practitioners and academics.

Martha McClellan from the FDIC discussed her agency's efforts to create and administer a roster of neutrals. The FDIC's nationwide caseload is varied and requires qualified, experienced neutrals. Thc agency developed a neutrals questionnaire and evaluates potential neutrals on the basis of their experience. If accepted, the neutral's qualifications and expertise are entered into a database. The parties choose a mutually acceptable mediator from the database.

Margaret Porter is the administrator of the Federal Interagency Sharing Neutrals Program. The program provides a roster of federal employees who are trained mediators available to act as neutrals at other federal agencies at no cost. The program is run by the Department of Health and Human Services, however, Ms. Porter administers the program as a collateral duty to her other full-time functions at HHS. The program also trains interested federal employees in mediation and assigns them a mentor to act as co-mediator. The greatest challenge the program currently faces is the lack of cases to assign their trainees.

Charles Pou is a private ADR professional who previously served as the director of the Dispute Resolution Program at the former Administrative Conference of the United States. He discussed the importance of maintaining quality controls and professional criteria for neutrals as well as the ethical role of mediation administrators and program managers.