Undergraduate Certificate in Conflict and Dispute Resolution

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Program Description
Program Requirements
Required Courses
Internship Experience
Elective Options
Steps to Complete the Certificate

 Program Description

This 15-hour program is designed to prepare students to analyze, address, and manage conflict effectively. The management and resolution of conflict is relevant across professions. This certificate, through its elective component, will allow students to tailor their course of study to fit their different interdisciplinary needs.

Conflict is a reality in all communities, workplaces, and educational settings. Understanding how conflict works and how to manage conflict effectively is a relevant and desirable skill for students in a wide range of disciplines. The knowledge and skills of conflict management directly apply to many professions, including communication, business, child and family development, criminal justice, education, psychology, and social service. This 15-hour program is designed to prepare students to analyze, address, and manage conflict effectively. The management and resolution of conflict is relevant across professions. This certificate, through its elective component, allows students to tailor their course of study to fit their different interdisciplinary needs.

This undergraduate certificate program will provide students with the following:

  • an overview of the types of conflict found in community, workplace, educational, and interpersonal and family settings.
  • a comprehensive overview of current theory and research on conflict in a variety of settings and disciplines, and within culturally diverse populations.
  • an overview and understanding of conflict management skills and tools.
  • practical experience in conflict management, mediation, and negotiation skills.

The Undergraduate Certificate in Conflict and Dispute Resolution  is a transcripted degree program. This means that once you have completed the program the degree will appear on your transcript, and it can be listed on a resume or vitae in the same way you list your bachelor's degree.

This program may be taken as a stand-alone degree, or in conjunction with a bachelor's degree. Hours in the certificate may be double-counted with a bachelor's degree (with advisor approval).

Program Requirements

This program includes 4 required courses and an internship experience or an elective that allows students to focus on conflict processes that are specific to their professional interest areas. Students should consult with the program director in choosing courses and in developing a program of study.

Required Courses (12 hours)

  • COM 205: Interpersonal Communication
  • COM 410: Communication and Conflict
  • COM 423: Contemporary Topics in Conflict (or advisor approved elective)
  • COM 521: Communication, Mediation, & Negotiation

Internship Experience (3 hours)

Students in this program may enroll in COM 494: Conflict Internship and select a 3-credit hour of internship experience that directly relates to conflict and its application in professional settings. COM 410 and COM 521 should be completed before enrolling in internship credit. Students may select from possible internship opportunities provided by the CDR, or they may locate their own outside internship position. With advisor approval, students may take an additional elective course in place of the internship experience. 

Elective Courses 

The list below, while not exhaustive, offers examples of appropriate elective courses that may approved in place of COM 423. There are elective options in nearly every department; for approval for a class not on this list, please talk with the program advisor. 

  • COM 206: Health Communication
  • COM 307: Gender and Communication
  • COM 325: Nonverbal Communication
  • COM 326: Effective Listening
  • COM 332: Small Group Communication
  • COM 336: Communication in Organizations 
  • COM 360: Introduction to Intercultural Communication
  • COM 390: Communication and Aging
  • COM 405: Interpersonal Communication
  • COM 406: Family Communication
  • COM 436: Communication and Leadership
  • COM 437: Advanced Organizational Communication 
  • COM 412: Communication & Diversity in the Workplace
  • COM 466: Social Movement Communication
  • COM 550: Political Communication
  • ANT 325: North American Indian Cultures
  • ANT 331: Peoples & Cultures of the Caribbean
  • ANT 335: Peoples & Cultures of the Middle East
  • CFD 257: Principles of Development in Middle Childhood
  • CFD 305: Multicultural Studies in Child/Family Development
  • CFD 361: Principles of Family Development
  • CFD 365: Families in Later Life
  • CFD 532: Family Advocacy
  • CFD 463: Administration of Programs for Children & Families
  • CRM 210: Intro. to the Criminal Justice System
  • CRM 317: Peacemaking Criminology
  • CRM 330: Delinquency & the Juv. Justice System
  • CRM 342: Victim Advocacy
  • CRM 356: Conflict, Communication, and Stress in Criminal Justice Professions
  • CRM 376: Restorative Justice

  • CSD 321: (461) Conceptually Accurate Signed English I
  • CSD 322: (462) Conceptually Accurate Signed English II
  • CSD 562: Psycho-Social Implications of Being Deaf and Hard of Hearing
  • EDC 345: Introduction to Multicultural Education and Diversity
  • ELE 302: Intro to Elem. Ed. & Clinical/Field Experience
  • FGB 307: Business in the Community
  • FGB 596: Negotiation, Mediation & Arbitration in Business
  • GER 310: Social Forces & Aging
  • HCM 301: Health Care Organization
  • HCM 303: Health Care Legal Issues
  • MGT 286: (AOS) Business Communications
  • MGT 320 (240): Patterns of Management
  • MGT 325: Fundamentals of Personnel Administration
  • MGT 340: Organizational Behavior & Management
  • MGT 345: Human Resources Management
  • MGT 398: (AOS) Managerial Communication
  • MGT 447: International Management
  • MGT 465: Industrial Relations
  • KIN 256: Community Health
  • PHI 302: Environmental Ethics
  • PHI 513: Bioethics
  • PLN 372: (CRP) Community Development
  • PLS 232: International Relations
  • PLS 255: Public Administration
  • PLS 316: Political Parties, Elections, and Interest Groups
  • PLS 317: American Political Behavior
  • PLS 356: Public Personnel Administration
  • PLS 419: The Judicial Process
  • PLS 515: Constitutional Law & Politics
  • PSY 250: Analysis of Interpersonal Behavior
  • PSY 339: Intro. to Clinical Psychology
  • REL 110: Paths of World Religions
  • REL 530: Topics in Religion, Self, & Society
  • SFR 250: (SFT) Foundations of American Education
  • SFR 351: (SFT) Philosophical Problems of Education
  • SFR 581: (SFT) Law & the Classroom Teacher
  • SOC 284: Social Movements
  • SOC 310: Social Deviance
  • SOC 314: Rural Sociology
  • SOC 315 (414): The Family
  • SOC 316: Urban Sociology
  • SOC 320: Political Sociology
  • SOC 336: Race & Ethnic Group Relations
  • SOC 341: Medical Sociology
  • SOC 351: Sociology of Childhood
  • SOC 390 (560): Religion in Society
  • SOC 420: Social Inequality
  • THE 515: Theatre for Social Change

Steps and to Complete the Undergraduate Certificate

Note: To be admitted you must have 30 credit hours and 3.00 GPA. 

  1. First, declare you intention to pursue the certificate:
    1. Current undergraduate students: add a certificate to your degree program by submitting a request through the Academic Advising and Transfer Center
    2. New undergraduate students: students not yet enrolled at MSU should apply through the university's undergraduate application website.
  2. Complete the required coursework for the certificate, maintaining a 3.0 GPA.
  3. Apply to graduate during your last semester of coursework through My Missouri State.

If at any point you would like discuss class and certificate options, you may email the program director Dr. Erin Wehrman (ErinWehrman@MissouriState.edu) to set up an appointment.