There is a great deal of literature written on conflict mediation and Resident Assistant (RA) training. This literature not only helps to define what each area is, but it provides readers with the knowledge necessary to become skilled in mediation or to effectively design training programs to educate students employed to work in residence halls. However, there is little literature regarding how RAs are trained in conflict mediation. This study attempts to address this gap.

The purpose of this study was to determine how RAs and professional staff at three public institutions perceive conflict mediation training provided to RAs.

To answer the research questions posed in this study the researcher used a self-designed questionnaire. The design of this questionnaire specifically asked questions focusing on the conflict mediation training RAs receive, how often these skills are used, and how important these skills are as perceived by professional and student employees as well as by gender.

One hundred seventy-nine responses representing a 31 percent response rate were used in this study. Twenty percent of the participants were professional residence life staff members. The other 80 percent were RAs. In addition, 34 percent of the participants were male and 67 percent of the participants were female.

This study's findings illustrated five significant differences in perception among professionals and RAs as well as differences among male and female RAs. Professionals responsible for training RAs may wish to consider these differences as they design future training workshops.

However, the study's findings also illustrated that there is an overwhelming, positive consensus in perception regarding RA training in conflict mediation. Not only are RAs trained in conflict mediation but they use and value these skills as well. In addition, these findings indicate that paraprofessional staffing models are successful.