The California Center for Public Dispute Resolution, a joint program of Sacramento State and the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, has added three new senior mediators/facilitators to its staff.

Scott Farris, Lisa Beutler and Marci DuPraw have joined Executive Director Susan Sherry and Eugenia Laychak in the Center’s effort to help various public entities work together to resolve policy issues.

The new staff members come from a variety of backgrounds and experience. Beutler worked on law enforcement and environmental management issues in the California Governor’s Office and was recruited by the Center to work exclusively on public policies. DuPraw will return to California from the environmental dispute resolution firm RESOLVE in Washington, D.C. Farris came from the University of Wyoming, where he served as director of government, community and media relations.

The Center tends to focus on diverse issues that are difficult to resolve through the legislation process. Mediators bring everyone involved in the policy together to identify the interests and facilitate the policy making process. For example, the Center worked on the issue of managing the American River for the next decade and collaborated on issues concerning transportation and air quality for the Sacramento area.

“We try to get them to identify the underlying interest and to understand the other side’s underlying interest as well, and work together on a compromise,” Farris said. “There’s been a surge of interest in problem-solving techniques over the years.”

The Center’s goal is to strengthen its relationship with the Master’s Program of Public Policy and to integrate with the public policy programs at Sac State.

“We are learning a lot about our practice in the field, and one of the goals is to transfer what we learn into the classroom,” Farris said.

For students interested in public policy, Farris suggests they explore this form of creative and non-traditional way of public policy making.

“We want them to be more familiar with the collaborating process and profession,” Farris said.

“It’s exciting because it helps, unlike the old way which is not working, and it’s based on human nature; how to persuade people to get along,” Farris added.

The Center’s relationship with Sac State was formed under President Gerth’s vision in 1992 to enhance the role of the school in state government. The California Center for Public Dispute Resolution grew out of that plan and began its operation with funding from Sac State and McGeorge School of Law. For the past four years, the Center has become self-supporting through fees and has been able to return the funding to the university.