Policy Lab

In the fall of 2021, Dr. Jan Martinez and Carson Smith led the Conflict Resolution Policy Lab at the law school for six students. Over the course of the quarter, these students mapped the formal and informal conflict resolution processes that exist across the university’s campus with a special focus on its formalized grievance procedures. This work culminated in a 50-page final report authored by all six students.

Following this successful report and along with a set of comprehensive recommendations by the policy lab students, the Office of the Provost requested additional research be conducted on the design of a centralized campus conflict navigation office. A research team, including Dr. Jan Martinez, Carson Smith, and Vitto Mendez, a student from the Fall policy lab, carried out this research through additional interviews with peer universities and campus partners.

Below are the reports generated in both this Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 research as well as the resources created to support the policy lab and its students.

Policy Lab Report, Fall 2021 (to be added): This is the final report generated by the policy lab students, which was informed by campus policies and interviews with campus conflict resolution offices as well as peer universities. This report was then provided to the Office of the Provost and other relevant university offices.

Policy Lab Presentation, Winter 2022: The six policy lab students presented their findings to the Office of the Provost in the Fall of 2021. The following quarter, four of the policy lab students gave a similar presentation to the Office of the Provost and additional university partners. I have linked and embedded the latter of these presentations below.

Conflict Resolution Hub Report, Summer 2022 (to be added): Following the Fall 2021 Policy Lab Report, the Office of the Provost requested additional research be conducted on the design of a centralized campus conflict navigation office. This report includes our research team's recommendations on the design of a conflict resolution hub informed by additional interviews with peer university and campus partners.

Survey Report, Summer 2022 (to be added): This report outlines our research team's suggestions on how data should be collected from campus community members who use university conflict resolution processes. Such data would help identify additional areas for improvement in these processes.

Syllabus, Fall 2021: This is the syllabus for the policy lab we led in the fall of 2021.

Reading List, Fall 2021: This is the corresponding reading list for the policy lab we led in the fall of 2021.

Syllabus, Spring 2022: We originally anticipated that we would continue our research through a secondary policy lab in the spring of 2022. However, lacking enough qualified students, we canceled the policy lab and instead continued on with the research independently. However, this was the syllabus developed for students.

Reading List, Spring 2022: This is the corresponding reading list we anticipated using for the secondary policy lab in the spring of 2022.

Conflict Resolution At Stanford Packet: This packet includes a collection of all the conflict resolution policies, practices, and systems on Stanford's campus. This document was provided to Fall Policy Lab students to help them understand the range of resources at Stanford.