Select one of the options below:
This online mediation training, offered by CSU's School of Social Work, helps you develop conflict resolution skills that can benefit you in a wide variety of professional and personal situations. It can add to your credibility as a professional mediator, if that is your end goal, but it can also give you skills to better handle everyday situations accompanied by tension, stress, and confrontation.
Some of the ways this certificate can benefit your professional expertise include:
Your personal life may also benefit in numerous ways, including:
This online conflict resolution training uses an approach that teaches you how to focus on clients' strengths rather than deficits, and how those strengths can be used to move toward a resolution. The challenging, practice-based curriculum focuses on this facilitative process throughout the program.
Upon completion of the program, you will have a better understanding of:
The program curriculum provides 40 hours of foundational material recommended by many mediation organizations, including the Mediation Association of Colorado.
Due to the nature of interpersonal human relationships, the need for conflict resolution skills can arise in any situation, and this online mediation training can benefit professionals in a variety of settings, including:
Visit Conflict Resolution and Mediation FAQ for answers to commonly asked questions about the program and the mediation field.
Find out how CSU’s research is making an impact by tuning into the Health and Human Science Matters Podcast, a collection of lively, engaging conversations with members of the college community.
This online mediation training program allows you to earn your graduate certificate while maintaining your current work and personal schedules.
Online courses are delivered using Canvas, an online learning management system. Courses are asynchronous, meaning you don't have to log in to watch lectures or participate at designated times. While the online format of this certificate offers flexibility, it still requires the same amount of work and time as campus-based graduate courses. Instruction for online courses is provided in a variety of methods that include:
All online courses are sixteen weeks long, requiring regular internet access the entire time. Please note, internet access should be at a speed that accommodates live video chatting with peers.
Yes, students enrolling in any of the mediation courses we offer must have successfully completed a bachelor's degree. If you do not meet this prerequisite, but would still like to enroll in our mediation courses, overrides may be granted on a case-by-case basis by the instructor of each course. Students must complete SOWK 551: Fundamentals of Mediation before enrolling in any of our other specialty courses, as the specialty courses will build directly on the skills learned in the foundation class.
As a transcripted Graduate Certificate, 3 courses totaling 9 credits are required for this certificate. The certificate requires SOWK 551, with no exceptions.
At this time, the certificate can only be completed online.
As the objective of the Conflict Resolution and Mediation Graduate Certificate is to teach students skills that can be used in a variety of settings, our program allows students the flexibility to utilize the skills learned in the ways that fit their professional goals.
Many students would like tools to better solve conflicts they find themselves needing to mitigate in their work, such as managers dealing with disputing employees or social service providers managing disagreements within client systems. Some learners may seek this training to foster healthy resolution to conflicts they find themselves in. Yet other students are interested in providing formal conflict resolution to people in the process of a divorce.
Regardless of how one might like to apply this training, the skills learned in these courses are applicable to countless professional and personal settings, and employers appreciate seeing conflict resolution training as part of anyone's background.
The State of Colorado does not regulate who can offer mediation services, and utilizing conflict resolution tools does not require membership in any professional association, but some students may wish to pursue association membership as a professional goal. Students who wish to pursue recognition by an association as a professional mediator are responsible for gaining practice experience required by the association. Please be aware that some states do regulate mediators, so please see the last link under professional organizations if you wish to practice mediation in a state other than Colorado.
Our foundation coursework, provided via SOWK 551: Fundamentals of Mediation, satisfies the industry standard of 40 hours of classroom time, which is one of the requirements usually set by professional conflict resolution associations, in addition to practice hours and professional development. For more information about membership of a professional conflict resolution association, please visit the web pages listed below.
Association for Conflict Resolution
International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution
Mediation Association of Colorado
Mediators Beyond Borders
National Association for Community Mediation
State-by-state mediator regulation and professional association membership
This online conflict resolution certificate requires nine credits and consists of two phases of courses. Phase I includes the Fundamentals of Mediation course, which provides 40 hours of foundation material recommended by many mediation organizations including the Mediation Association of Colorado. Phase II includes advanced skills courses.
You must be admitted to this program for the certificate to appear on your official University transcript.
Courses in this certificate may be common with those in other graduate certificates. A student may earn more than one certificate, but a given course may be counted toward only one certificate. You may take up to two courses before formally applying to the program.
Students can begin the program in the fall, spring, or summer semesters. Applications are reviewed as they are received.
Note: Applications submitted after the deadline may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.
| Fall semester | August 1 |
| Spring semester | January 1 |
| Summer semester | May 1 |
Start your application online and upload materials directly into the online system. You can save your progress and return any time.
Apply NowThe conflict resolution and mediation graduate certificate requires students to have a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution before applying.
Complete the online graduate application and pay the nonrefundable application processing fee (payable online).
Request one official transcript from the institution where you earned your bachelor’s degree. Transcripts must be received directly from the originating institution to be considered official. Transcripts from Colorado State University are not required.
Electronic (preferred): Digital Transcripts must be submitted by the originating institution using a secure service such as parchment, eScrip-Safe, the National Student Clearinghouse, or e-Quals. Transcripts received via emails are considered unofficial. Use institution code 4075 for Colorado State University or gradadmissions@colostate.edu if the secure service requires an email address.
Mail (if necessary): Graduate Admissions Colorado State University – Office of Admissions 1062 Campus Delivery Fort Collins, CO 80523-1062
View your application status at any time to ensure your application checklist is complete or to check on updates.
Once your complete application, including supporting materials, is received, the department admission committee will review your application and notify you of their decision.
Proof of English language proficiency is required for applicants from countries or United States territories where there are official languages other than (or in addition to) English. This includes the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and Puerto Rico.
We love learning about your goals and answering any questions you have.
