The Center has come a long way since its inception in 1992 when its main mission was to teach peace to local school children. In 1997 the center was spun off from Salisbury University to become an internal 501(c)3 nonprofit with the intention of allowing it to pursue grants and contracts to fulfill an evolving mission. In 2000 the center, in conjunction with Salisbury University, led the development of the undergraduate Bachelor of Arts degree program located in the Department of Sociology.
Also in 2000 the center, in an effort to more fully enhance student learning opportunities, launched a three pronged program modeled after a teaching hospital that includes a teaching/training team, a research team and a practice team. Each supports the mission of providing students with unique extracurricular opportunities to gain much needed experience in all facets of conflict intervention activities. The purpose is to more fully prepare students for employment as well as a more competitive stance when applying to graduate school and law school.
In 2006-2008 the center received a grant that allowed us to conduct research that led to the design and launch of the Masters of Arts degree program in 2009. The program was then reconfigured into the Department of Conflict Analysis and Dispute Resolution which now has six full time faculty and several adjunct professors. Department faculty, adjuncts faculty and faculty form other university departments are an integral part of each of the center teams.