IDRAS, the Improving Dispute Resolution Advisory Service, offers a free email newsletter to help institutions improve how they approach disputes – a topical issue with increasing expectations and the growing focus on tuition fees. IDRAS is a new service set up to assist UK higher education with the effective and efficient resolution of disputes (with students, staff or external bodies). It promotes improvement of policies and procedures, and the appropriate adoption of alternative methods such as mediation and early neutral evaluation, with such approach likely to lower costs, reduce stress and avoid the ill-feeling that a blinkered resort to formal, adversarial and legalistic procedures often brings. JISC Legal has lent its experience to the development of IDRAS through membership of its board. The first two issues of the newsletter are available at http://www.idras.ac.uk/index.aspx?o=1572&newsletters=yes, as well as a link allowing you to subscribe.
For further information on what IDRAS can do for your institution, visit their homepage at http://www.idras.ac.uk.