10.2190/A6P9-9336-64WN-73YR A6P9933664WN73YR 0 COMPULSORY VEVSUS VOLUNTARY CONCILIATION IN INDIANA PUBLIC SCHOOL BARGAINING 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=A6P9933664WN73YR 1 MARK WHITMAN The decision whether to allow parties to use an impasse resolution procedure voluntarily or to mandate compulsory intervention can be as important as the selection of the procedure itself. In a study of Indiana public education collective bargaining, the author discusses how conversion from voluntary to compulsory mediation and fact finding sharply reduced the statewide mean length of negotiations, but had no effect in reducing the number of severely protracted negotiations. The study sample included in excess of 1700 negotiations conducted by 289 school corporations over a six-year period from 1974-1980.