Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Pre-grievance
requirements
Before a grievance is initiated, the faculty member is expected
to engage in constructive discussion and consultation with the individual(s)
involved, in order to assure that concerns are understood, and to attempt to
reach a resolution. Faculty members are also encouraged to consult as
appropriate with deans, chairs, colleagues, representatives of the provost's
office, or the chair or any member of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities for advice and counsel. The objective of such consultation is
to resolve disputes and misunderstandings by clarification and conciliation, in
order to avoid the need to initiate a grievance.
(B) Scope of grievance procedure
(1) A grievance is a request for a particular
decision or action; or a request for modification of, or relief from, a
decision or action previously taken. The purpose of the grievance procedure is
to enable members of the faculty to raise questions and concerns, to attempt to
resolve differences and, where appropriate, obtain redress, in matters directly
affecting an individual or group relationship with the university.
(2) A grievance must identify a particular
action, inaction, or decision, and an individual or individuals within the
academic division of the university believed to be responsible for
it.
(3) A grievance may not be
initiated where the subject matter of the proposed grievance is:
(a) An action or decision exclusively
affecting one or more individuals other than the grievant.
(b) A decision or action as to which the
grievant has already been afforded the right to a university level hearing,
whether or not such right was exercised.
(C) Submission of written grievance
A grievance is initiated by the submission of a written
statement of the grievance to the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities via the chair of the committee. A grievance should not be
filed with the committee until after an individual has used the departmental
grievance and/or divisional appeal procedures.
(D) Grievance mediation procedure
The grievant may opt to bypass the mediation procedure and
request a hearing by the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities under
paragraph (E) of this rule. The grievant may first invoke the mediation
procedure described below, or the grievant and the person against whom the
grievance may be filed may create an alternative grievance procedure that is
mutually acceptable to both of them. Grievants invoking the mediation procedure
shall be afforded timely opportunities to reflect on offers and consult with
counsel before rendering their decisions.
(1) A mediation committee consisting of three
members will be convened by the chair of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities. Each of the following individuals will appoint one member to
the mediation committee within fourteen calendar days:
(a) The committee of faculty rights and
responsibilities will appoint a former member of that committee still employed
at the university.
(b) The
grievant.
(c) The person against
whom the grievance has been filed. If the grievance is filed against more than
one person, these individuals shall jointly agree on a single person to
appoint.
(d) All members of the
mediation committee must be either tenured members of the faculty or members of
the administration holding tenurable faculty rank and may not be serving on the
committee on faculty rights and responsibilities.
(2) The mediation committee will convene
within one month. The member appointed by the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities will serve as chair.
(3) The grievant and the respondent(s) will
be expected to attend the mediation meeting. Attendance by legal counsel will
not be permitted. Attendance by other individuals will be at the discretion of
the mediation committee. The meeting will ordinarily be private and
confidential to the extent permitted by law. In its discretion, the mediation
committee may review documents and other information presented to it by any of
the parties. The mediation committee will endeavor, at the meeting, to mediate
and conciliate the dispute, and to bring about an agreed resolution. The
members of the mediation committee may, in their discretion, schedule one
additional mediation meeting, to be held within fourteen calendar days after
the first. Faculty members participating in the mediation procedure shall be
afforded opportunity, not to exceed twenty-one calendar days, to reflect on
offers and consult counsel before rendering their decisions.
(4) If the matter is resolved to the
satisfaction of all parties as a result of the mediation procedure, the dean,
department chair, or other appropriate person will promptly implement the
action agreed upon. The chair of the mediation committee will report to the
chair of the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities that the matter
has been resolved.
(5) If the
matter is not resolved as a result of the mediation procedure, then the chair
of the mediation committee will transmit a memorandum to the chair of the
committee on faculty rights and responsibilities advising him or her of this
without elaboration.
(6) Once the
ad hoc mediation committee has either resolved the matter under paragraph
(D)(4) of this rule or advised the chair of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities that mediation was unsuccessful under paragraph (D)(5) of this
rule, the mediation committee will not make any other finding or recommendation
nor take any other action in the matter. Neither the mediation committee nor
any of its members will retain any written or other record of any of the
mediation committee's meetings or actions, except as provided in paragraph
(D)(4) or (D)(5) of this rule.
(E) Grievance hearing procedure
(1) If the grievance is not resolved as a
result of the mediation procedure or if the grievant opts to bypass the
mediation procedure, the grievant may request a hearing of the grievance by the
committee on faculty rights and responsibilities. The mediation procedure may
not be used to appeal a negative decision concerning promotion or tenure.
Paragraph (I) of this rule does not apply to negative decisions concerning
promotion and tenure.
(2) At its
discretion, the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities will determine
whether the hearing will proceed in one of two ways:
(a) According to the procedure described in
paragraphs (H)(1) to (H)(4) of rule
3339-8-03
of the Administrative Code; or
(b)
With the consent of the parties according to such procedures on file with the
office of
general counsel that have been developed by the
committee on faculty rights and responsibilities for the effective review of
grievances brought to it. In order to provide effective review in the different
types of situations with which it must deal, the Committee may, at its
discretion, adopt more than one grievance hearing procedure alternative to the
procedure in paragraph (H) of rule
3339-8-03
of the Administrative Code.
(3) The following regulations apply to any
grievance hearing procedure developed by the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities:
(a) A written copy of the
procedure to be followed in a particular case will be filed with the office of
general counsel, unless the committee on faculty
rights and responsibilities has chosen to use procedures already on file. In
either case, a copy of the procedures shall be sent to the parties involved. A
copy of the procedure shall be available to any person from the office of the
office of general counsel and from the chair of
the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities.
(b) All grievance hearing committees shall
include at least five members of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities, unless all parties have given their written
consent.
(c) Any request by one of
the parties to the grievance that an individual member of the committee be
excused from the hearing, based on a claim that such member cannot be impartial
in the particular case, will be resolved by the chair of the committee on
faculty rights and responsibilities, unless the challenge is to the chair, in
which case the challenge will be resolved by the vice chair.
(F) Report
Once the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities has
made its determination, it will send a report to the parties to the grievance.
The report will include findings of fact, conclusions drawn from these facts,
and recommendations. At its discretion, the committee may include observations
germane to the case.
(G)
Implementation
(1) All recommendations made by
the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities are to be implemented
promptly unless appealed to the president.
(2) If there is no appeal and the committee
on faculty rights and responsibilities has recommended that some action should
be taken by a chair, dean, or other university official, the committee will
notify that person to implement the recommendation promptly. If a person
modifies or fails to act on the committee's recommendation, the committee may
ask the president to order that its recommendation be carried out. If the
recommendation is modified or not implemented, the committee may report this to
faculty assembly for its action or instructions.
(H) Appeal to the president
The report of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities may be appealed to the president within seven calendar days of
receipt. Appeals to the president must be made in writing, with copies sent to
all parties to the grievance and to the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities. The following appeal procedure is applicable:
(1) The party appealing must specify the
basis for objection to the committee's report. Failure to so specify may result
in dismissal of the appeal.
(2) The
president will establish a schedule for the submission of materials and for the
completion of any other steps involved in the appeal.
(3) The president will allow the parties to
present argument on appeal. The president may decide whether to receive these
arguments in writing, in person, or both. Regardless of the method used to
present arguments, the president will allow each party to learn what the other
has said and rebut these statements.
(4) The president's review on appeal will
ordinarily be limited to those specific issues of fact, conclusions or
recommendations brought to his or her attention by the party
appealing.
(5) The president shall
be bound by the findings of fact made by the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities unless those findings are against the greater weight of the
evidence. Due deference must be accorded to findings of fact of the committee
on faculty rights and responsibilities since it is the committee who is best
able to observe the demeanor of witnesses and weigh their
credibility.
(6) After deliberating
on the appeal, the president may respond in the following ways:
(a) The president may concur with and order
the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities' recommendations to be
implemented immediately, unless there is an appeal to the board of
trustees.
(b) The president may
remand the matter to the committee for further consideration, and shall remand
the matter to the committee if the president disagrees with any of the
committee's findings of facts stating why.
(c) The president may reach different
conclusions and/or determine not to follow the recommendations of the
committee, but only after consultation with the committee. If, after the remand
under paragraph (H)(6)(b) of this rule and after consultation with the hearing
committee, the president disagrees with the findings of fact of the committee
because, in the president's judgment, they are against the greater weight of
the evidence, the president may reach new findings. In any event, however, the
committee's conclusions, recommendations, and findings of fact will remain
unaltered as part of the record of the case.
(7) The president shall promptly provide a
written report of his or her decision on the appeal to the parties and the
committee on faculty rights and responsibilities.
If the president, after consultation with the committee, does
not accept the Committee's conclusions or recommendations, the committee may
report this to faculty assembly. If the president, after consultation with the
committee, does not accept the committee's findings of fact, the committee must
report this to faculty assembly. The committee may report to faculty assembly
in either its annual report or by placing it on the agenda of a meeting of the
faculty assembly for its action or instructions.
(8) If the matter is remanded by the
president to the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities, copies of
the remand determination and its reasons shall be provided to both parties. The
committee will reopen the proceedings and at the conclusion thereof submit a
supplemental report to the president and the parties. The president may then
act according to the options afforded by paragraph (H)(6) of this rule as if
acting on the committee on faculty rights and responsibilities original report,
except that a matter may be remanded only once unless the committee agrees to
additional remands.
(9) If the
president is a party to the grievance, then this paragraph (H) of this rule
does not apply and any appeal shall be to the board of trustees.
(I) Appeal to the board of
trustees
(1) The president's decision may be
appealed to the board of trustees, which has ultimate authority to take final
action to promote the best interest of the university and to protect individual
rights. The appeal must be filed with the secretary to the board within
fourteen calendar days of receipt of the president's decision.
(2) The board shall review the report and
supplemental report, if any, of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities and the decision of the president. In its review, the board
may consult with the president and shall give all parties to the grievance an
opportunity to present argument to it. The board may decide to receive these
arguments in writing, in person, or both. The board' action is final and shall
be accompanied by a statement in writing setting forth its reasons.
(J) General matters
(1) References in this rule of the
Administrative Code to a particular officeholder are to be read as including
another individual serving in an "acting or interim" capacity for the
officeholder and any other individual designated by the officeholder to serve
in his or her stead.
(2) Time
deadlines specified in this rule of the Administrative Code may be extended by
agreement of the parties involved or, in the absence of such agreement, by
decision of the chair of the committee on faculty rights and
responsibilities.
(3) The running
of any time period specified in these procedures will be suspended during:
(a) Thanksgiving recess
(b) Winter recess
(c) Spring recess
(d) The interval between the end of final
examinations for spring semester and the date on which faculty are required to
report for the fall semester.
Grievance proceedings are generally treated as confidential to
the extent permitted by law.
