Any county, municipality, accredited law school, school district, board, commission, department, or agency of this state or its political subdivisions is hereby authorized to establish programs for the purpose of providing mediation as an alternative dispute resolution process or for referring disputes to mediation on an ad hoc basis. For the purposes of the Choice in Mediation Act, “mediation” means a process in which an impartial person, the mediator, facilitates communication between disputing parties to promote settlement of disputes, whether before or in the process of litigation or administrative proceedings.