The interactivity of the classroom is not lost through online classes through the use of a specially designed program that allows students in locations across the nation to talk directly to each other.

Lipscomb University's Institute for Conflict Management (ICM), nationally known for its work advancing conflict management skills within business, faith-based organizations, schools and nonprofits, is now offering its unique master's degree in an online format beginning in September, announced Steve Joiner, managing director of the institute.

The institute was created by Lipscomb president L. Randolph Lowry, who came to the university in 2005 after founding the renowned Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution at Pepperdine University school of Law. In the four years since Lowry founded the Lipscomb institute with a more interdisciplinary approach, the ICM has earned a reputation as one of the nation's finest conflict management schools, offering both master's degrees and certifications.

Lipscomb's master's of conflict management is noted for its practical, hands-on approach to teaching the theories of conflict management, applicable to a variety of industries from human resources to health care to nonprofit management. With the majority of the institute's students being mid-career professionals, the addition of an online program will be an attractive alternative for potential students across the region and the nation, Joiner said.

Master's candidates in the online program will take 24 of the required 30 hours online, with the remaining six hours conducted on the Lipscomb campus. Details of the program, including video demonstrations of the online curriculum, can be found at studyconflict.lipscomb.edu.

"By adding the online option, we have removed an obstacle for professionals who want to further their careers with a degree in conflict management, but simply don't have the ability to take all of their classes on campus due to the demands of work or family," Joiner said. "Students who earn their degrees online will not be missing out on a thing; they will receive instruction from the same nationally recognized faculty members who teach on campus, and they will come away with the same thorough understanding of theory and practical technique that will pay dividends in their professional and personal lives."

Conflict resolution is an increasingly attractive field of study, Joiner said, with applications in virtually any professional setting. Graduates of the Lipscomb program have returned to careers in fields as diverse as higher education, religion and politics, health care, and business or human resources, taking with them a deeper understanding of the principles and practical tactics surrounding dispute resolution.

The ICM practices the practical dispute resolution techniques it teaches every day through providing consultations and mediation services as well as providing voluntary services such as the anti-bullying curriculum developed for a Nashville middle school, negotiating water rights for natives living in the mountains of Guatemala and coordinating significant conversations among diverse groups with common interests, such as religious groups and health care providers. The institute has also been contracted to provide mediation training for Tennessee state judges, Nashville law enforcement agents and state employees.

The faculty at the Institute for Conflict Management represent some of the leading minds in the field, coming to Nashville from all corners of the country to teach their classes. In addition to the nationally distinguished faculty, Lipscomb University has built its reputation in the conflict management field in two other key ways:

• ICM classes present a blend of theory and practical applications, whereas most other conflict management schools focus on one or the other.
• Unlike other conflict management programs that are included within a law degree, the tenets of conflict resolution at Lipscomb are part of the very fabric of the university; drawing students in fields ranging from theology to business to human resources who all take classes at the institute.

"At Straus we learned that the skills of negotiation, mediation and arbitration have very broad applicability, and I wanted to bring the very best of what we learned and present it in a different way, because our environment is different," Lowry of the new online program. "We began with strategically drawing in faculty from all over the country. The teaching in this program will highlight experiential learning because the skills of negotiation and mediation can’t be learned without interactive moments drawing on your experience and experience of faculty."

For more information on applying for admission to the institute, potential students should visit the ICM website studyconflict.lipscomb.edu or call Beth Morrow, assistant director of the institute, at (615) 966-2502. More information on the institute is available at icm.lipscomb.edu, and those interested can follow the ICM on Twitter at @LUConflictPros and on Facebook at facebook.com/lipscombicm. Applications are being accepted now, with classes beginning Sept. 8.

Institute for Conflict Management - Lipscomb University

Institute for Conflict Management - Lipscomb University

Lipscomb University's Institute for Conflict Management (ICM) provides academic and business specific resources to equip students, organizations and professionals with skills to minimize the costs of unresolved conflict. Growing out of the internationally recognized dispute resolution work of Lipscomb University President Randolph Lowry III, the ICM provides degrees, certificates, seminars and research dedicated to the advancement of conflict management practices.
The ICM's masters degree, certificate, research and conference offerings impact most areas of commerce and education, model evolving best practices in conflict management, and instruct participants in more cost effective and efficient solutions for unresolved conflict. The ICM also offers programs featuring national leaders and experts in dispute resolution.

Within the Institute for Conflict Management faculty are expert sources for employment law issues, conflict resolution strategies for a variety of sectors including health, religion, family, schools and cross-cultural among others.

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