Mount St.Mary’s Cope with Conflict

A look into conflict management in the

higher education system

Mount St.Mary’s University

Mount St.Mary’s University’s UndoingWhen Mount St.Mary’s University hired a new president with a business background, they thought they were making an investment in the college’s future. Simon Newman promised the university financial success and prosperity to the 2,500 student population.

- Conflict struck as the Newman was caught stating that struggling freshman needed to be removed from the university in order to improve the school's ranking.

- Because of the comments created animosity, Newman fired two professors that openingly protested the administration.

Notorious words that sparked the controversy:

“This is hard for you because you think of the students as cuddly bunnies, but you can’t. You just have to drown the bunnies … put a Glock to their heads,”- Simon Newman

Domino effect: - Protest from the students and faculty became rampant, and the story made national

news.

- As of Monday, February 29, 2016 Simon Newman stepped down as President of Mount St.Mary’s University, one of the oldest Catholic universities in America.

- The school’s admission rates have been dwindling and the financial standing of the university has been shaky to say the least.

- USAToday questions if the existence of the university should continue.

Isn’t the first, won’t be the last- Universities struggle with retention and admission rankings every

where, in fact this isn’t the first University to find conflict within the administration or within the higher education system.

- From an American Sniper controversy at University of Michigan to the unpopular EAA ruling with the board of Regents at Eastern Michigan University, conflict arises all the time.

- If Mount St.Mary’s wishes to continue as an institution of higher education than the university must continue exercising conflict management practices.

Conflict Management to the Rescue!

- Conflict can be healthy, and good in the higher education. In fact, if universities weren’t engaged in certain conflict management styles, they wouldn’t exist.

- The five conflict management styles can be used in all aspects of higher education are:

- Competition

- Collaboration

- Compromise

- Avoidance

- Accommodation

- Each style of accommodation depends concern for yourself and your concern for others.

CompetitionCompetition may have a negative connotation to some, in fact Simon Newman was thinking competitively when he said his career killing comment. However, if universities weren’t competitive with each other, here are a few things we’d be missing:

- BIG TEN network

- Competitive scholarships and financial aid

- Staff and faculty that are best fit for the job

CollaborationWorking together to achieve a similar goal is easy, but adding conflict and opposing goals it can get complicated. However, just because you have different goals, doesn’t mean you can’t help one another out.

- University of Michigan Flint and Eastern Michigan University have a very similar applicant pool, and attract many of the same students. However, when the Flint water crisis struck, EMU took a stance to help the Flint area however they could, even though the two universities competes against one another.

Darius Simpson, EMU student carrying water to those affected by the contamination

CompromiseThink of a university like a machine; every department, every organization, and athletics all asked $5,000 for their own needs. The budget only has $20,000 dollars available. This style of conflict management would suggest each group can take less money for each group to get some money.

- Balancing budgets are a prime example for compromise

Avoidance http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/12/08/eastern-michigan-board-doesnt-vote-eaa/76986316/ Admittedly conflict isn’t always fun to

handle, in fact, it can cause a lot of stress. However, universities use this conflict management style when they aren’t ready to make a decision, or when a topic can be controversial and they don’t want to hold a stake in the fight.

i.e.: The Board of Regents EAA ruling took several sessions before it was voted on.Avoiding the issue only ended up causing protest and created more conflict. Beware when avoiding conflict, it may become bigger than before.

Accommodation No student is alike, and everyone has a different story to tell. Students have many need, and need to feel comfortable and ready to learn in any environment. Universities create resources in order for every student to succeed. Eastern Michigan accommodates those needs by providing resources like:

- Women’s Resource Center

- Disability Resource Center

- Center for MultiCultural Affairs

Three levels of organizational conflicts

- Three i’s, each level has a different type of conflict that is associated with it.

- Interpersonal conflict

- Intergroup conflict

- Interorganizational conflict

- All of these aspects can be seen within the higher education field.

Interpersonal conflictThis type of conflict happens when two people experience conflict with one another. Even though this conflict is only happening between two individuals, this conflict can affect the whole organization.

- Simon Newman and his firing of two professors caused people to protest and thus transpired into Newman finally stepping down as president of Mount St.Mary’s. A qualm between three people, contributed to a man losing his job.

Intergroup Conflict

This type of conflict happens betweens groups or departments within organizations. This is inevitable in higher education, because of diverse student populations. At any university student organizations are able to express their thoughts or feelings in many different ways. Some can even argue that those organizations conflict in values and morals.

When students from the same university disagree:

Interorganizational Conflict:• The higher education field has over 5,300 institutions that are committed to

bring students success and education. This can create conflict among universities.

• These universities need to tailor their services and goods in order to fulfill the need of every type of student.

• Community Colleges

• Online Universities

• Two year colleges

• Four year universities

In conclusion:• Conflict isn’t always a bad thing, it can spark competiveness and

allow for creativity.

• If colleges and universities weren’t completive in nature, then pricing and educational value would plateau

• When there is negative conflict it is important that there is a way to either diffuse or manage the conflict, like Mount St. Mary’s did when they lost Simon Newman.

A look into the article:https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/02/10/in-letter-to-parents-mount-st-marys-president-defends-his-tenure-amid-national-backlash/

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/12/08/eastern-michigan-board-doesnt-vote-eaa/76986316/

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2014/10/01/protests-and-controversy-over-how-u-michigan-responded-athletes-concussion

http://college.usatoday.com/2016/03/02/president-of-mount-st-mary-univ-resigns-after-comparing-struggling-freshmen-to-drowning-bunnies/

Sources Continued https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/02/29/mount-st-marys-university-and-the-dilemma-facing-american-higher-education/