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Governor's Office recertifies WCU's Agricultural Mediation Program
The N.C. Agriculture Mediation Program at Western Carolina University has been recertified by Gov. Mike Easley as the agricultural mediation service provider for the state of North Carolina and has received a grant in the amount of $144,066 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to continue operation.
Since its inception in 2006, the program housed in WCU’s College of Business has facilitated almost a dozen agricultural and rural housing cases. “NCAMP has mediated a wide range of disputes, including acreage determinations, farm loan participation, housing loan management and conservation program compliance,” said Bob Holbert, program mediation director.
The program is designed to assist farmers and ranchers across the state in settling disputes with the USDA and its agencies before those disagreements reach costly and time-consuming lawsuits or bankruptcy proceedings, said Jayne Zanglein, assistant professor of business law at Western and executive director of the program.
“Mediation is preferable to litigation—especially in cases where emotions run high. Our mediators are skilled in diffusing these emotions and encouraging parties to brainstorm about alternative solutions where the law provides flexibility,” Zanglein said.
In its first 18 months of existence, NCAMP conducted more than 100 hours of training; trained 25 agricultural mediators; entered into agreements with the Farm Service Agency, Rural Development and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide mediators for agency disputes; produced a mediation training video; created a Web site at http://www.wcu.edu/NCAMP; and made presentations at various meetings and conferences.
The state program also works with WCU students to teach them skills used in a campus mediation program. Sixteen students have been trained as community mediators and have co-mediated about a dozen campus disputes.
NCAMP, which plans to expand its outreach activities during the upcoming year, has created an advisory board, with an organizational meeting to be held in April.
For more information, contact Zanglein at (828) 227-7191 or jzanglein@email.wcu.edu, or visit http://www.wcu.edu/NCAMP.
Maintained by the Office of Public Relations
Last Modified: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008
Since its inception in 2006, the program housed in WCU’s College of Business has facilitated almost a dozen agricultural and rural housing cases. “NCAMP has mediated a wide range of disputes, including acreage determinations, farm loan participation, housing loan management and conservation program compliance,” said Bob Holbert, program mediation director.
The program is designed to assist farmers and ranchers across the state in settling disputes with the USDA and its agencies before those disagreements reach costly and time-consuming lawsuits or bankruptcy proceedings, said Jayne Zanglein, assistant professor of business law at Western and executive director of the program.
“Mediation is preferable to litigation—especially in cases where emotions run high. Our mediators are skilled in diffusing these emotions and encouraging parties to brainstorm about alternative solutions where the law provides flexibility,” Zanglein said.
In its first 18 months of existence, NCAMP conducted more than 100 hours of training; trained 25 agricultural mediators; entered into agreements with the Farm Service Agency, Rural Development and the Natural Resources Conservation Service to provide mediators for agency disputes; produced a mediation training video; created a Web site at http://www.wcu.edu/NCAMP; and made presentations at various meetings and conferences.
The state program also works with WCU students to teach them skills used in a campus mediation program. Sixteen students have been trained as community mediators and have co-mediated about a dozen campus disputes.
NCAMP, which plans to expand its outreach activities during the upcoming year, has created an advisory board, with an organizational meeting to be held in April.
For more information, contact Zanglein at (828) 227-7191 or jzanglein@email.wcu.edu, or visit http://www.wcu.edu/NCAMP.
Maintained by the Office of Public Relations
Last Modified: Thursday, Feb. 21, 2008