Would you like to hear from an alumnus?
Click here
Description
This degree is a 30 credit program that may be completed in no less than eighteen months and no more than four years.
The degree of Doctor of Mediation (D.Med.) is designed for professionals actively engaged in mediation and/or conflict resolution within the framework of pastoral care and nurture. As an ecumenical program, the D.Med. will prove valuable to professionals working in cognates of ministry including the various forms of mediation such as working with the courts, family life programs, child care and juvenile facilities, health care institutions, professional organizations, chaplaincy programs, and in ecclesiastical settings. Professional mediators will find the program designed to enhance their work within the judicial system by elevating their professional status as peers among attorneys, judges, legislative administrators, and other members of the legal profession. Ministry professionals, whether serving in health care, ecclesiastical, judicial or educational institutions, will find their profile elevated owing to the specialized training offered in this degree program.
- Baccalaureate degree or equivalent validated by a transcript.
- Master’s degree or equivalent in a cognate field of psychology, counseling or pastoral care.
- Five years of accumulated experience in some form of mediation, counseling or pastoral care.
- Completion of the Application Procedure.
++Return to top
Program Requirements
- Students are expected to thoroughly familiarize themselves with the Student Handbook of the year of their acceptance with particular focus on their particular degree program. Students are bound by the academic and financial requirements of the Handbook in use at the time of their acceptance. The current Student Handbook as well as past years’ Handbooks can be viewed here.
- Completion of six Units of Study: two required from the Graduate Theological Foundation (see below), and four completed through the Foundation, through other approved educational institutions, or through the use of transfer credit. Students may also choose to take advantage of the Foundation’s D.Med. online curriculum.
- Completion of the Doctoral Project (or NPO) and submission of one electronic copy including the Project Consultant’s evaluation forms. All academic requirements must be met by February 1 prior to graduation.
- Attendance at the Convocation/Graduation (Non-US residents are exempt from this requirement).
++Return to top
Study Options
This program requires the completion of six Units of Study. A Unit of Study is defined as 40 contact hours of instruction, and is equivalent to a 3-credit graduate-level course, one Unit of Clinical Pastoral Education, or 4 Continuing Education Units.
Units of Study may be completed through the Foundation, from other approved venues, or by using transfer credit.
The Study Options button on the Foundation’s website under the heading Academics lists the course offerings of the Foundation and provides information about the various methods of earning Units of Study for your degree.
++Return to top
Online Curriculum
For further information on the Foundation’s optional online curriculum for the D.Med, please click here
++Return to top
Two Required Courses
All students are required to take two courses directly from the Foundation. These two courses are a Research Methodology course, and a second course of the student’s choice from any of the Foundation’s online, distance, or residential offerings.
Research Methodology is a required course for all students completing an exit project. Students completing the Non-Project Option in lieu of the exit project must either complete the Research Methodology course or an alternate course from the Foundation’s online, distance, or residential course offerings. The Research Methodology course requirement is explained here.
The Study Options button on the Foundation’s website under the heading Academics lists the course offerings of the Foundation and provides information about the various methods of earning Units of Study for your degree.
Any student wishing to have previously completed academic work evaluated for possible transfer credit or wishing to complete coursework through a venue other than the Graduate Theological Foundation for use as transfer credit toward a degree, must contact the Office of the Registrar for approval. Accepted transfer credit has the potential to decrease the total tuition paid by the student. Requests for acceptance of transfer credit are reviewed on a case by case basis.
++
Return to top
Total Program Cost amounts include all required courses if taken through the Foundation. The acceptance of transfer credit will decrease total program cost.
Total Program Cost: $12,300
Degree candidates are bound by the regulations of the Student Handbook of the year in which they are accepted into their program of study. Tuition fees will not change during a student’s course of study, providing the student submits payments and papers on schedule and completes the degree program within the prescribed time. If the student does not conform to scheduled payment and/or paper submission deadlines, the student’s file will be deactivated. Upon reactivation, the student will be responsible for the tuition and degree requirements which are current at the time of reactivation.
Transfer Credit
Any student wishing to have previously completed academic work evaluated for possible transfer credit or wishing to complete coursework through a venue other than the Graduate Theological Foundation for use as transfer credit toward a degree, must contact the Office of the Registrar for approval. Accepted transfer credit has the potential to decrease the total tuition paid by the student. Requests for acceptance of transfer credit are reviewed on a case by case basis.
Tuition payment schedule for Professional Doctorates
1/3 of total fees paid within 30 days of acceptance
1/3 of total fees paid within one year of the date of acceptance
1/3 of total fees paid by March 1 of the year of graduation
Payment Plan Option
Students who are unable to make tuition payments in three installments may request to be placed on a payment plan. The payment plan option allows the student to make small monthly or quarterly tuition payments for the duration of the degree program. There is no interest charged on payment plans. If a student requests a mailed invoice as a reminder to make payment, there is a ten dollar fee per invoice.
To make tuition and fee payments online click here.
If you have a question for the Bursar please click here or contact our office 9am-3pm est.
Selection of Faculty Consultant and Nomination Procedure
Students select a faculty member of the Foundation to serve as Project Consultant. This enables the student to receive helpful and pragmatic evaluative feedback from a member of the faculty in the developmental process of producing the Exit Project. The role of the faculty Project Consultant is responsive and suggestive rather than “supervisory” as is the case with academic thesis writing. The faculty person is encouraged to limit feedback to pragmatically helpful hints and suggestions and not to attempt any censorship of the project. The exercise of discretion with respect to time demands is very important for both the student and faculty member. The faculty Project Consultant must give final approval of the student’s work by submitting the Project Consultant’s Report Form. The assessment from the Project Consultant is due by February 1 of the intended year of graduation.
- The student peruses the Faculty Details page and makes a selection.
- The student completes the Faculty Project Consultant Nomination Form 107 (Forms).
- Academic Affairs provides the nominated faculty member with Form 107.
- The selected faculty member notifies Academic Affairs of acceptance of student nomination.
- Academic Affairs informs the student and faculty member of relationship approval and contact information is provided.
The Doctoral Project is a translation into practice of the insights, values and creative concerns developed during the course of the units of learning and intervening periods of reading, reflection, and application. The project should directly relate the implications of the evolving relationships within the actual practice of mediation to the concepts and theories studied during the degree program. The Doctoral Project must be submitted to the Foundation by February 1 prior to graduation.
The Doctoral Project is a demonstration of praxis. Its structure, focus and content, therefore, allows for a wide range of differing forms appropriate to the actual area of the practice of mediation addressed. The form of the project is dictated by the topic, but in most cases, mediation projects focus upon either case studies or administrative and institutional issues related to management and governance of mediation programs. For the mediation project, the expectation is that the manuscript will run between 35,000-40,000 words (140-160 pages), double-spaced, footnoted, and with significant bibliographical references of at least 35 sources. It is recommended that the bibliography include an annotated listing of the 10-12 sources that were key to the development of the project.
In keeping with the nature of the entire Doctoral Program as an open interaction with fellow professionals, the project is a demonstration of practice, an exploration of applied reflections, or creative work rather than a test submitted to prove competency. One copy of the Doctoral Project, in its final form, must be submitted to the Foundation by February 1 prior to graduation.
The NPO is available for this degree program. For information on the NPO, please
Click Here.
The Doctor of Mediation is offered in collaboration with the Worklife Institute of Houston, Texas, under the direction of Dr. Diana C. Dale. Mention of the P.R.I.M.E. relationship with the Worklife Institute has been placed here owing to the fact that this relationship has produced a separate and unique degree program in mediation. Please see the P.R.I.M.E. section for information on the Worklife Institute.
Professional Associations/ Training in Mediation
++Return to top
