Sarah Miller Espinosa, J.D., is a labor arbitrator, mediator, and organizational ombuds. Sarah is a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators and is listed on a number of labor arbitration rosters and panels, including those administered by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the American Arbitration Association, the National Mediation Board, DC PERB, NJ PERC, and NY PERB. Sarah serves on various arbitration and mediation panels. Sarah served as the founding ombuds for the Prince William County Schools, a Pre-K – 12 public school division in Northern Virginia serving approximately 92,000 students and 11,000 employees and as founding ombuds for Montgomery College, a multi-campus community college in Montgomery County, Maryland. Sarah is a contributing educator for the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution at Cornell University. Sarah has also served as a part-time instructor at UMBC and Montgomery College. Sarah is a member of various professional organizations, and currently serves as the co-chair of the Association for Conflict Resolution’s Ethics Committee and president of the LERA Virginia Chapter. Prior to transitioning to full-time neutral work in 2013, Sarah served in a variety of roles, including vice president of human resources, labor relations director and chief negotiator, and as a mediator and assistant general counsel for the Connecticut State Board of Mediation and Arbitration and the State of Connecticut Board of Labor Relations. She is a graduate of the Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations and the University of Connecticut School of Law.
Professional
MediationCornell Certificate Program
Overview and Courses
In today's volatile global work environment, alternative dispute resolution is on the rise. Yet organizations are finding that there is a shortage of qualified mediation and dispute resolution professionals available to resolve complex commercial, international, and employment law disputes. This need creates exciting and viable opportunities for professionals to enter this field. A career in dispute resolution can offer personal flexibility and skills that can be used across multiple disciplines, provided you know where to start.
Cornell's Professional Mediation Certificate covers both the process and knowledge needed for this important work, while also devoting a considerable amount of time to helping participants build a successful practice by creating a personalized strategic business plan. By the completion of the program, you’ll have gained a strong foundation in the essential mediation and arbitration skills and practices that will help you build a successful career as a professional mediator in the workplace.
Course list
Two of the hardest and most stressful events of a person's life can be starting a new career, and starting a business. For many aspiring mediators, including those of you interested in mediation, arbitration, and facilitation, these events will go hand in hand. Whether you've just graduated and are looking to enter the field, or you're a seasoned professional ready for a change, you'll need a solid plan for your path into this new career. This course was designed for you by Dick Fincher. Dick is a Cornell alumni, lawyer, neutral and managing partner of Workplace Resolution LLC. In the course, he shares his deep knowledge and experience in neutral work, and creating a successful business. As he shares his experience, he challenges you to leverage his advice into creating your own successful business. During this course you'll complete a project that includes the key components of a business plan, you'll then receive feedback on that project from a successful neutral already working. This work will set you up to successfully take next steps in your career that are appropriate to your unique interests and situation.
Strong ethical awareness is an essential competency for mediators and arbitrators. Alternative Dispute Resolution is no longer a risk-free environment for mediators and other neutrals. As codes of conduct and grievance processes proliferate and second-guessing and litigation increase, you must become better aware of the variety of ethical dilemmas you will face.
Ethics in Mediation and Arbitration improves your ethical awareness and develops your competency for addressing sticky ethical situations. In this course you'll gain the clarity about the ethics of neutral roles and practice techniques to apply in practice. Sarah Miller Espinosa, a skilled neutral and expert in ethics, will guide you as you explore complex and real situations and cases that present ethical challenges. This work will prepare you to act ethically in your work as a neutral.
This intensive training program equips participants with knowledge and skills essential for successful employment mediation. A comprehensive blend of substantive law and training in mediation process skills prepares participants to become qualified mediators for employment disputes.
By the program's completion, you will be well prepared to become a qualified employment law mediator. The Employment Law Mediator Training program focuses first on employment law that is applicable to employment mediation, then on in-depth role-playing to help you learn and practice the skills to facilitate the process. Instruction is now available online for the one-month asynchronous knowledge building, followed by the synchronous five-day online training.
How It Works
Faculty Authors
After graduating from Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Dick began his career in human resources before moving into dispute resolution with the American Arbitration Association in Washington, D.C. He later became a labor and employment lawyer in Chicago. Today, Fincher manages a dispute resolution company. He is hired by law, union and management firms as a mediator and arbitrator to settle labor and employment disputes. He has also co-authored the text “Emerging Systems for Managing Workplace Conflict” with former ILR Dean David Lipsky and retired Professor Ron Seeber.
Key Course Takeaways
- Gain the building blocks needed to start a career as a professional mediator
- Learn techniques and resources you can apply in daily practice
- Draft a business plan for your workplace mediation practice
- Create a list of action items that will set you up to successfully take the next step in your career that are appropriate to your unique interests and situation
- Develop the mediation process skills needed to become a qualified mediator for employment disputes
- Evaluate compelling shared strategies deployed in successful arbitration
What You'll Earn
- Professional Mediation Certificate from Cornell ILR School
- 30 Credit hours towards HRCI recertification
- 24 Credit hours towards NYS Unified Course System's Office of ADR Programs, Part 146
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Who Should Enroll
- Mediators and those aspiring to build a career in mediation
- Arbitrators
- Attorneys and lawyers
- Independent consultants
- Union representatives and labor relations professionals
- HR professionals
- Entrepreneurs who want to mediate
- Recent graduates interested in becoming mediators/arbitrators
- Anyone looking to start their own practice as a mediation/dispute resolution professional
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$3,295
Professional Mediation
| Select Payment Method | Cost |
|---|---|
| $3,295 |