MACADR - Program Mission

   The Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution addresses the local, regional, state, national and international need for highly skilled conflict resolvers to work within judicial, governmental and social service systems, as well as in educational and religious communities.  This program empowers students with the knowledge and advanced skills needed to work effectively in this field.  Conflict resolvers currently find employment in virtually every aspect of society, working in international capacities as well as within local towns and neighborhoods helping people deal productively with conflict and training others to do so for themselves.

   Although conflict resolution is a relatively young field, it is developing at a tremendous pace.  A 2000 survey, conducted by Price Waterhouse and Cornell University’s PERC Institute on Conflict Resolution of over 500 corporations in the Fortune 1000 category, found that 90% of the respondents saw Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) as a critical cost-control technique (Ford, 2000).  Of the thousand largest corporations in America, nearly 90% currently use mediation to avoid costly litigation and to get more satisfactory agreements and preserve relationships (Ury, 2000).  Conflict resolution is currently used in areas as diverse as federal and state agencies and law enforcement, and it is becoming routinely used in school, churches and communities world wide.

   The rapidly increasing interest in conflict analysis and dispute resolution is expected to translate into jobs in the profession.  The Alliance for Conflict Transformation (ACT) recently reported that “it is clear, based on the data presented in this report, that the peace and conflict resolution field is currently in a growth stage with an increasing number of positions at all levels and sectors…Moreover, an increasing number of institutions are creating conflict divisions and/or hiring staff to help mainstream a conflict perspective into their respective organizations.” In fact, 55% of the organizations studied in the research stated that they expected the number of conflict resolution related positions to increase over the next five years (Zelizer and Johnston, 2005).