Founded in 1842, the Citadel is a coeducational military college with a rich and storied history.

Eleven years ago, The Citadel, in collaboration with consultants from the Harvard Negotiation Project, began to restructure its internal dispute management system. Among other reforms, The Citadel created the office of the Ombudsperson, which began handling inquiries from students, faculty and staff, both informally and confidentially. This project seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of these reform efforts, and also to explore further ways to address conflict at the Citadel in a way that is appropriate given the school’s unique history and culture.

Our work

Step 1: Research the history of The Citadel, the dispute system design process, and any institutional or procedural reforms which have taken place since the creation of the system.

Step 2: Determine what kinds of indicators might be used to evaluate The Citadel’s dispute resolution process.

Step 3: Conduct a series of on-site stakeholder interviews to understand the nature of the disputes arising at the Citadel and how those disputes are typically handled.

Final Product

A background case-study of the Citadel’s dispute management system design process, a detailed report outlining the findings from student evaluations, and recommendations focusing on possible reforms to ensure that The Citadel’s dispute management system continues to be an innovative model for other institutions to emulate.