The Center for Dispute Resolution (C-DRUM) at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law identified a need late last year to expand its Workplace Mediation Service’s (WMS) roster of employee mediators and turned to senior program specialist Aisha Samples, MS, to make it happen.

Samples spearheaded the six-month process, planning information sessions, recruitment, and training in the spring for WMS, which provides informal, confidential, and voluntary mediation services to University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) employees to discuss and resolve workplace conflict and improve the overall working climate. The service relies on trained employees to mediate sessions.

“The amount of work, attention to detail, and quality product were absolutely outstanding,” said Toby Guerin, JD, executive director, C-DRUM, and Samples’ supervisor. “It not only benefits the law school and our center, but the end product is to better the work environment for all of UMB’s employees.”

Samples’ efforts did not go unnoticed. During a videoconference July 23, UMB President Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, surprised Samples with the news that she had been named the University’s Employee of the Month for July. 

“We’re very proud of you. I’ve read through all the documents that Toby and others in the group have written, and it’s just stellar,” Jarrell said. “This is a well-earned honor.”

To expand the roster, Samples started by developing informational recruitment materials to advertise throughout UMB and creating a timeline for the process. She set up and hosted five information sessions, reviewed 12 applications, and conducted 12 interviews. The training featured 12 UMB employees from four of UMB’s schools, the Health Sciences and Human Services Library, and administration. 

Guerin said 100 percent of the participants who evaluated the training at its conclusion indicated that they would recommend the training to others, they understand their role as a result of the training, and the training delivered what was promised. One participant said, “Everything was so appreciated. I hope they know how valuable WMS’ work is to UMB and that in just six days, I feel like my life changed in a positive way.”

Samples worked with Guerin and Stacy Watson Smith, JD, director of special projects, C-DRUM, to hold training sessions online to expand the roster in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, they planned virtual and in-person sessions to accommodate employees’ schedules.

“We wanted to be considerate about having both in person and remote. So we had three in-person days and three remote days,” Samples said. “I like both of them, but in person helps people build relationships better.”

In addition to planning and organizing, Samples helped to train the mediators and is a mediator herself. She said the training includes role play with a focus on active listening and asking open-ended questions. 

“Everybody got to be mediators and participants at different times during the training and get that perspective. I think everybody did a really good job putting themselves out there,” Samples said. 

Corey Shdaimah, PhD, LLM, LLB, Daniel Thursz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice, University of Maryland School of Social Work, took part in the mediation training in the spring and praised Samples for leading by example.

“A lot of times it’s the people who center themselves that we tend to pay attention to, and you are a person who knows how to center others. I appreciated learning from you. You’re open-hearted, you’re open-minded,” she told Samples during the videoconference. 

Guerin said that throughout the process, Samples embodied UMB’s core values. For example, Samples exemplified Equity and Justice by updating and delivering the training content on culture and conflict to encompass “Culture, Ethnicity, Gender, and Ability.” Samples also incorporated Innovation and Discovery by including the current WMS mediators in the training. She gave them opportunities to attend parts of the training to build their own education and invited a select group to serve as role play coaches, providing valuable feedback to training participants as they developed their skills.

Her colleagues at Maryland Carey Law and the mediators who have taken part in the training say it is an honor to work with her. 

“Aisha is the total package of what it takes to become a well-rounded employee: loving, caring, professional,” said Kecia Hitch, MBA, accounting manager, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, who took part in the mediator training in 2020. 

She told Samples during the videoconference, “You have been my example, and you didn’t even know it.”

In her WMS role, Samples conducts the intakes for mediation requests, coordinates and schedules the mediation sessions, mediates some sessions herself, and asks participants to fill out evaluations at the end of the process. Employees turn to WMS to help resolve various conflicts, including relationships, scheduling, and communication. She said in the past fiscal year, WMS had 54 intakes, 33 individuals who participated in mediation, and nine cases that were mediated. 

Samples said what she likes most about her job is the consistent reminder from mediation sessions and intake conversations of the impact of communication.

“How we communicate with each other makes a difference in how well we understand each other, which helps determine our decisions and how we interact,” she said. “I encourage my family to communicate better and am more and more motivated in my interactions to address misunderstandings, make sure I am understood, and try to understand others better.”

Samples thanked Roger J. Ward, EdD, JD, MSL, MPA, UMB’s provost and executive vice president, for initiating and supporting WMS as well as colleagues Guerin and Smith.

She also thanked “all the mediators who have taken this responsibility seriously and the folks who have trusted our service to try to be of assistance to them.”

Samples, who has worked at Maryland Carey Law for five years, will receive a certificate, a letter of commendation, and an extra $250 in her next paycheck. She said she is appreciative of the honor.

“At times I have thought that I probably do work that’s worthy of something,” she said. “And so this is proof that I do.”

— Jen Badie