Faculty Grievance Code

Approved June 10, 2021

Introduction

This Code provides the procedures under which a faculty member believing himself or herself aggrieved by department, school or administrative action described herein is able to seek a remedy within the University. The faculty member is obliged to exhaust these procedures with regard to any grievance covered by this Code before pursuing remedies outside the University.

1. Applicability

For purposes of this Code, faculty members are defined as all part-time and full-time tenured, tenure eligible and non-tenure eligible persons who are appointed by the University as faculty to teach and/or conduct scholarly research, and librarians of professional rank.

University administrators and staff, however, are not covered by the Code, except that any such person may invoke the Code if, in his or her capacity as an individual faculty member (and not because of any action or omission in his or her administrative or staff capacity) he or she is subjected to any of the disciplinary actions listed in Sections F.2.a through F.2.g of this Code. Specifically, for example, no such person is entitled to grieve the decision of the University to terminate his or her administrative or staff appointment. Similarly, trainees (e.g., graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research associates, clinical interns, residents and fellows) and employees of MedStar Health or other non-University entities are not covered by the Code except insofar as they have a faculty appointment and the grievance concerns their faculty appointment. [1]

This Code does not cover conflicts between faculty members, unless the faculty member against whom the grievance is lodged was in that case acting administratively in a manner described by Section F.2 (Grievable Matters).

Resolution of questions concerning which capacity gave rise to the grievance shall be a jurisdictional matter for the Initial Review Panel (Section F.9).

No part of a final decision specifically recommended by the Faculty Responsibilities Committee under Section III.G can be grieved under this Code. However, any disciplinary or corrective action taken by the Executive Vice President (or President, as applicable) beyond an action specifically recommended by the Faculty Responsibilities Committee, or taken when the Faculty Responsibilities Committee does not recommend disciplinary or corrective action, is covered by this Code. A grievance on these grounds may be filed only after the final decision.

If a provision of this Code conflicts with a specific term of a collective bargaining agreement between the University and a union representing faculty members, the terms of the collective bargaining agreement shall apply in that instance.

2. Grievable Matters

A grievable matter arises when any of the following department, school or administrative actions involves a violation of academic freedom or of University procedures or of other faculty rights as set forth, for example, in individual faculty contracts, the Faculty Handbook, or other appropriately authorized University documents:

  1. Recommendation of dismissal
  2. Suspension
  3. Recommendation of revocation of tenure
  4. Recommendation of reduction of academic rank
  5. Recommendation of reduction of individual salary
  6. Denial of tenure or promotion or reappointment
  7. Any other action that significantly harms the faculty member in his or her professional capacity as a faculty member. As used herein, the term “action” encompasses a discrete action or a series of closely related actions.

In general, this Code does not cover the merits of refusal of tenure, promotion or reappointment. It does, however, require that the rules and regulations applicable to the grant or refusal of tenure or promotion or reappointment promulgated in the current issue of the Faculty Handbook and in other relevant University publications be fully complied with and administered fairly. This Code also covers situations where tenure or promotion or reappointment is denied for reasons that allegedly involved a violation of academic freedom.

This Code also does not cover allegations of discrimination (including discrimination in the denial of tenure, promotion, or reappointment), which are handled by the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity, and Affirmative Action (IDEAA). (See Section IV.A: Affirmative Action Grievance Procedures.) If discrimination is alleged at any point in a grievance proceeding under this Code, the Grievance Code Committee Chair shall notify and consult with IDEAA. Based on such consultation, the Grievance Code Committee Chair shall determine the order of proceedings as between this Code and IDEAA’s procedures. Generally, only one process will proceed at a time, and IDEAA’s process will proceed first. However, if IDEAA and the Grievance Code Committee Chair both agree that an exception is in order, then the two grievance procedures may proceed simultaneously.

While this Code covers actions that involve a violation of a faculty member’s rights under the Policy on Speech and Expression (Section IV.L), actions by an administrator that constitute speech or expression protected by the Policy on Speech and Expression are not grievable under this Code.

3. Extraordinary Disciplinary Action

Corrective and disciplinary actions specifically recommended by the Faculty Responsibilities Committee under Section III.G are not grievable.  If the Executive Vice President (or President) decides to take any of the following disciplinary actions – dismissal, suspension without pay, revocation of tenure, reduction in rank and reduction in salary – and the action is either beyond that recommended by the Faculty Responsibilities Committee or taken when the Faculty Responsibilities Committee has not recommended a disciplinary or corrective action, then such disciplinary action(s) shall take effect only if the faculty member affected by the proposed action does not file a “Notice of Grievance” under this Code within 30 days [2] after he or she is notified of the action that gives rise to the grievance (see Section F.7.a below).  A faculty member may, however, be placed on administrative leave with pay in accordance with Section G.2 “Emergency Administrative Actions” of the Faculty Responsibilities Code.

4. Composition of the University Grievance Code Committee and Panels

The University Grievance Code Committee shall consist of seventeen tenured members of the faculty, seven from the Main Campus of the University and five from each of the Medical and Law Center campuses of the University. Tenured faculty members simultaneously serving as administrators are not eligible for appointment to or continuing service on the Committee. The Faculty Senate shall elect nine members and the University President shall appoint eight members. The normal term is three years, but members of the Committee are eligible for reelection or reappointment for an unlimited number of terms, and Committee members serving on an Initial Review Panel or a Grievance Panel at the expiration of their term or terms shall continue to serve until that Panel has completed its consideration of that particular grievance, including any remand thereof. Terms commence on July 1st and expire on June 30th. The President of the Faculty Senate shall appoint, from the members of the Committee, a Chair and a Vice Chair of the Committee to serve three year terms each. The Senators from each campus shall designate a total of six tenured faculty members (two from the Main Campus, two from the Medical Center Campus and two from the Law Center Campus) to act as an alternate source of members of any Initial Review Panel or Grievance Panel. These members will be used only if the requisite number of panelists from the Committee are not available in a particular case. Members shall serve on this alternate list for a three year period. The names will be submitted to the Chair of the Committee by July 1 of each year.

When in the judgment of the Committee Chair the volume of Committee work demands, he or she may request the designation, in such even number as he or she sees fit, of additional alternate members of the Committee, such designation to be made half by the Faculty Senate President upon the advice of the Faculty Senate caucus of the campus or campuses to which the request is submitted, and half by the Executive Vice President of such campus or campuses. Alternates thus designated shall serve only during the University fiscal year during which they are appointed, provided that, if any is serving on an Initial Review Panel or a Grievance Panel at the end of that fiscal year, he or she shall continue to serve until that Panel has completed its consideration of that particular grievance, including any remand thereof. Alternates designated under this procedure shall be, as in the case with previously authorized alternates, from the ranks of tenured faculty. Alternates selected in either of the ways described above have the same rights and duties as a regular Committee member to participate and vote in full Committee proceedings with regard to the decision of a Panel on which the alternate has served.

The President of the University shall convene the Grievance Code Committee at least once a year to give the full Committee its charge.

In making appointments to an Initial Review Panel and or a Grievance Panel, the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee shall seek to assure that appointees are free of bias, conflict of interest, or such previous association with the issues raised by the grievance as would determine that the appointee not serve. Before the appointments are made, both parties—grievant and respondent—shall be afforded the opportunity to challenge the appointment of a Committee member or alternate to a Panel. A grievant’s or a respondent’s challenge must supply evidence that supports the claim of bias or conflict of interest, and the challenge must be submitted to the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee. The Chair of the Grievance Code Committee will decide whether the evidence of bias or conflict of interest is sufficient to exclude a Committee member or alternate from the Panel. The Chair of the Grievance Code Committee is permitted under these circumstances to consult with the President of the Faculty Senate. If the Chair himself or herself is alleged to have a relevant bias or conflict of interest, the President of the Faculty Senate shall decide the matter. Any Committee member or alternative who is excluded from a Panel due to bias or conflict of interest may not participate with the full Grievance Code Committee in a review of the Panel’s decisions.

5. Confidentiality Requirement

Unless confidentiality is waived in writing by the grievant, members of the Committee and participants in all proceedings of this Code shall make every effort to maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings, but a breach of confidentiality will not invalidate the proceedings. The confidentiality requirement also applies to any communications at any time between the President of the Faculty Senate, or any conciliator (see section F.8), and the parties to the grievance.

6. Administrative Procedures

The University Grievance Code Committee shall establish operating procedures necessary to implement the Code. The procedures include the following:

  1. The Committee shall establish a hierarchy of members in the order of precedence to act in the absence of the Chair of the Committee.
  2. The President of the Faculty Senate shall similarly designate one or more Senate Vice Presidents to act in his or her absence.
  3. Subject to the disapproval of the President of the Faculty Senate, the Chair of the Committee shall have discretion, before the expiration of the time limits set by the Code or within ten days thereafter, to enlarge the time or times within which action must be taken under this Code if in his/her judgment such extension of the time is appropriate, as, for example, when Committee members are unavailable due to holiday recess. It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to notify all parties affected by any enlargement of the time granted under this section. Nothing in this set of provisions gives the grievant or respondent a cause of action should the Grievance Code Committee or any Panel fail to act within applicable time limits under this Code.
  4. The Committee shall establish any procedures to the extent not defined by this Code such as, but not limited to, balloting, quorum, and time frame of activities. The Committee shall also define any terms not defined in this Code and shall establish any other guidelines to protect equitably the interest of the grievant and the University. The Committee shall file its operating procedures with the President of the Faculty Senate.
  5. When a grievance proceeding ends, the Chair shall forward the file to the Secretary of the University so that the University may maintain a record of proceedings. The file consists of all written evidence and documentation, including recordings and transcriptions used by any Panel or the Committee in connection with the proceeding, except documents generally circulated, such as the Faculty Handbook. The University Secretary shall keep the contents of the file confidential.
  6. Other than the Chair of the Committee or a Panel, Committee and Panel members should not engage in ex parte communications with a party to a grievance. If the Chair engages in ex parte communications with a party to a grievance, the Chair shall promptly notify the other parties of the content of such communications.
  7. The Chair of the Committee or a Panel has the authority to convene virtual meetings of the Committee or Panel that do not require the members’ physical presence when the Chair believes that the issues to be decided can be adequately considered and resolved through such a meeting. The Chair’s decision to convene a virtual meeting can be overruled if a majority of the members object because they believe that a physical meeting is necessary.

7. Filing Procedure

  1. Notice of Grievance
    A current or former faculty member who believes that he/she has a grievance shall file a “Notice of Grievance” with the President of the Faculty Senate within 30 days after he or she is notified of the action that gives rise to the grievance. When the action constitutes a series of closely related actions, the 30 day filing period begins when the grievant is notified of the latest action in the series. The Notice of Grievance shall contain a concise statement of the reasons that lead the faculty member to feel aggrieved, shall include the name of the administrator whose action has given rise to the grievance, and shall state a requested remedy. In addition to specifying a particular remedy, grievants may state that they seek any further or other relief which the Grievance Committee deems appropriate.

    The President of the Faculty Senate has the discretion to begin the 30 day filing period when the faculty member discovers or reasonably should have discovered the action or harm that gives rise to the grievance.

    It is the responsibility of the grievant to properly file the Notice of Grievance within the specified time frame, and to ensure that it complies with the other requirements of this section. If the President of the Faculty Senate decides that the 30 day deadline has been exceeded, the faculty member can appeal the decision to the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee, whose decision regarding the timeliness of the grievance is final. If the President of the Faculty Senate decides that the Notice of Grievance fails to comply with the other requirements of this section, the faculty member shall have three days to amend and refile the Notice of Grievance.

    To qualify as a “former faculty member” eligible to file a grievance, the grievant must have been a faculty member under contract at the time the events occurred that constitute the grievable matter. Grievances may be filed and/or completed after the grievant’s contract expires if the filing is within the 30 day deadline. [3]

    If the President of the Faculty Senate is unavailable or will be a respondent to the grievance, the faculty member may file the Notice of Grievance with the Secretary of the University, who shall forward it as soon as possible to an appropriate Senate officer. In any case a copy of the Notice of Grievance shall also be forwarded by the official receiving it to the appropriate Executive Vice President, or, if that Executive Vice President will be a respondent, to the University President. If the University President is a respondent, the Notice of Grievance shall be forwarded to an Executive Vice President selected by the President of the Faculty Senate from a campus other than the one on which the grievance arose.

  2. Respondent
    The respondent is the administrative officer whose action gives rise to the grievance. If that officer has been replaced, the respondent is his or her successor in office; provided that the former officer shall be a corespondent if the requested remedy includes corrective action by or disciplinary action against the former officer (and the former officer is still employed by the University). If more than one administrative officer was responsible for the action, all current office-holders may be named as respondents.

    The President of the Faculty Senate shall determine at the outset whether the named respondents are all “properly named respondents,” i.e., whether each is a properly named party in the action giving rise to the grievance.

  3. Letter of Intent
    When negotiations between the grievant and the respondent are pending or other circumstances suggest that formal initiation of the grievance procedure would best be deferred in the interest of all concerned, the grievant, at the discretion of the President of the Faculty Senate, can satisfy this filing requirement by filing a letter of intent with the President of the Faculty Senate within the same 30 day period indicating an intent to file a formal grievance. The President of the Faculty Senate will notify the grievant if the request to defer filing has been granted. If the dispute is not resolved within 25 days after the approval of a deferral, the President of the Faculty Senate shall notify the grievant and require him or her promptly to submit the Notice of Grievance unless a further extension is agreed to in writing by both the grievant and the respondent. The confidentiality requirements of Section F.5 shall apply while a letter of intent is pending.
  4. Dismissal of Grievance
    With the consent of the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee, the President of the Faculty Senate can dismiss a grievance if the grievant is not a person covered by Section F.1 “Applicability” of this Code. Any such dismissal may be appealed to the full Grievance Code Committee following procedures outlined in Section F.10.c. If not thus dismissed the case shall proceed to a conciliation (Section F.8).
  5. Subsequent Filings
    After the Notice of Grievance, whenever any notice or written submission is filed by the grievant or the respondent, with the Chair of either the Grievance Code Committee or any Panel, the Chair shall promptly forward a copy of such notice or submission to the other parties and, if the matter is then before a Panel or the full Committee, to the members of such Panel or the Committee.

  6. Advisors
    If they wish, each party can choose one advisor to assist them in the grievance process. If a party does so, the party must notify the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee of the advisor’s name. Advisors do not represent their parties/advisees in the grievance process. The advisor’s role is the grievance process is not that of an attorney or lawyer, even if the advisor is an attorney (including University counsel). The role of the advisors and their participation in the grievance process are limited as follows:

    1. Advisors may assist their parties/advisees in drafting any notice or written submission contemplated by the Code, including the Notice of Grievance and any notices of appeal.
    2. Advisors for the parties are not permitted to have any contact with a conciliator during the conciliation process contemplated by Section F.8.
    3. Advisors for the parties are not permitted to participate in the Initial Review contemplated by Section F.9, except by written submission.
    4. Advisors for the parties may accompany them to the formal hearing contemplated by Section F.11.c. During such hearing, advisors may be present but are limited to off-record consultation with their parties/advisees. If an advisor speaks or otherwise disrupts a hearing, he or she may be dismissed from the hearing by the Panel Chair.

8. Conciliation

Within three days after receiving a Notice of Grievance from the grievant or from the Secretary of the University judged to be complete by the President of the Faculty Senate, or as soon thereafter as circumstances permit, the President of the Faculty Senate shall appoint a conciliator who shall attempt to resolve informally the issues that gave rise to the grievance. The conciliator shall be a tenured faculty member of this University and may be the President of the Faculty Senate if the grievant approves. The conciliator shall meet with the grievant and the respondent, either individually or together. Any such meeting shall be closed and confidential.

Conciliators are properly authorized University officials for purposes of accessing and reviewing confidential information relevant to the case. Conciliators may view confidential information relevant to the case only with permission of the grievant or the respondent (or both parties if they each have a confidentiality interest in the information) while respecting the conditions requested by either party.

The conciliation process should proceed expeditiously and should ordinarily be completed within fourteen days after the appointment of the conciliator. The process may be extended, however, if in the judgment of the President of the Faculty Senate, and with the agreement of the parties, special circumstances make such an extension desirable. At the conclusion of the conciliation process, the conciliator shall promptly report in writing the results of the process to the President of the Faculty Senate. This report shall not contain a recommendation on the merits of the dispute, but shall simply state whether or not the dispute has been resolved. If the issues that gave rise to the grievance have been resolved to the satisfaction of the grievant and the respondent, the matter is ended. If the issues have not been satisfactorily resolved, the President of the Faculty Senate shall, within three days of receiving the conciliator’s report, inform the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee.

9. Initial Review

When a grievance has been neither dismissed under Section F.7 nor resolved by conciliation under Section F.8, the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee shall promptly appoint an Initial Review Panel to decide whether the Committee has jurisdiction, whether the matter warrants investigation, and whether the University has the authority to award the requested remedy. The Initial Review Panel shall consist of the Chair and two other members of the Committee designated by the Chair. The Initial Review Panel may be a standing panel appointed at the beginning of the academic year to review all grievances filed that year or an ad hoc panel appointed specifically to review the particular grievance. Before reaching a decision, the Initial Review Panel shall offer the respondent an opportunity to submit a letter containing the respondent’s views on the questions before the Panel. The Initial Review Panel shall make a decision as expeditiously as possible. In reaching a decision, the Initial Review Panel shall construe all factual allegations in the light most favorable to the grievant. If the Initial Review Panel decides that the Committee lacks jurisdiction, that the matter does not warrant investigation, or that the University lacks the authority to award the requested remedy, the Panel shall dismiss the grievance, and the Chair shall inform the parties and the appropriate Executive Vice President. (If the Initial Review Panel decides that the University has the authority to award the requested remedy in part but not in full, the Panel shall dismiss the grievance in part.) The merits of the grievance shall be decided only if the Initial Review Panel does not dismiss the grievance. If there is an appeal of the Initial Review Panel’s decision (Section F.10), the merits of the grievance shall be decided only after such appeal has been exhausted.

10. Appeal from the Initial Review

  1. By the Grievant
    If the Initial Review Panel dismisses the grievance on jurisdictional grounds or decides that the matter does not warrant investigation or that the University lacks the authority to award the requested remedy, the grievant may appeal such determination to the full Grievance Code Committee using the procedure in Section F.10.c.

    If the grievant does not appeal, the matter is ended and the Chair of the Committee shall notify the President of the Faculty Senate, the parties, and the appropriate Executive Vice President.

    If the Committee does not sustain the grievant’s appeal, the grievant may appeal to the President of the University using the procedure described in Section F.15 “Appeal to the University President.” If the grievant does not appeal, the matter ends.

    If the Committee decides that the Initial Review Panel erred in dismissing the grievance on jurisdictional grounds, the Committee shall remand for a determination as to whether the matter warrants investigation and whether the University has the authority to award the requested remedy, as provided in Section F.9.a. If the Committee decides that the Initial Review Panel erred in deciding that the matter did not warrant investigation or that the University lacks the authority to award the requested remedy, the Committee shall refer the matter to a Grievance Panel for formal hearings, as provided in Section F.11 “Grievance Panel and Formal Hearings.”

  2. By the Respondent
    The respondent may appeal the Initial Review Panel’s determination that the grievance falls within the Committee’s jurisdiction or that the University has the authority to award the requested remedy to the full Grievance Code Committee using the procedure in Section F.10.c.

    If the Committee does not sustain the respondent’s appeal, the Committee shall refer the matter to a Grievance Panel for formal hearings, as provided in Section F.11 “Grievance Panel and Formal Hearings.” No further appeal by the respondent on the jurisdictional or authority issue is permitted until after the Grievance Panel decides the merits of the grievance, at the time of appeal (if any) to the University President described in Section F.15.

    If the Committee determines that the Panel erred in finding jurisdiction or authority, the matter is ended unless the grievant appeals to the University President per Section F.15.

  3. Appeal Procedure
    To appeal, the grievant or respondent shall, within ten days after receiving notification of the adverse determination, file a “Notice of Appeal from the Initial Review” with the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee. In the absence of the Chair, the grievant or respondent may file with the Secretary of the University or the Faculty Senate President. The Notice must be in writing and must state the grounds for appeal. The permissible grounds for appeal are limited to significant procedural error, clear misinterpretation of the Code (or other part of the Faculty Handbook), factual error pertaining to a fundamental issue, or evidence previously unavailable to the party. The Chair shall have the authority to dismiss an appeal that is not based on one of these grounds, provided that the President of the Faculty Senate concurs with the Chair’s decision. If the appeal is not so dismissed, the Chair shall within thirty days after the filing convene the full Grievance Code Committee to deliberate and decide whether to hear the appeal, and, if so, whether to sustain the appeal. Before reaching a decision, the Committee shall offer the opposing party an opportunity to submit a letter containing such party’s views on the appeal. A quorum of at least nine members of the Committee must be in attendance. The Committee’s decisions shall be made according to the majority of members in attendance and voting. The Chair shall report the Committee’s decisions to the President of the Faculty Senate, the respondent, the grievant and the appropriate Executive Vice President.

11. Grievance Panel and Formal Hearings

  1. Appointment of the Grievance Panel
    If and when it is finally decided that the Grievance Code Committee has jurisdiction over the grievance, that the case warrants investigation, and that the University has the authority to award the requested remedy, the Chair of the Committee shall promptly appoint a Grievance Panel to hear the grievance. The Grievance Panel shall consist of three Committee members, with one from the campus on which the grievance arose and two from outside that campus. If the grievance arose on the Main Campus, the Chair of the Committee may alternatively appoint a Grievance Panel consisting of three Committee members, with one from the school in which the grievance arose, one from another Main Campus school, and one from outside the Main Campus. The Chair of the Committee shall appoint the Chair of the Grievance Panel.

  2. Timetable for the Grievance Panel
    The Grievance Panel shall begin to review the grievance on a calendar proposed by the Panel Chair. The calendar proposed by the Panel Chair must be approved by the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee. The Grievance Panel must begin reviewing the grievance and hold a Panel meeting within 45 days after being constituted. The Chair of the Grievance Code Committee shall monitor the progress of Panel reviews. Panels shall endeavor to complete reviews within a period of 4 months from the time of appointment of the Panel. Nothing in this set of provisions gives a grievant a cause of action should a deadline be missed. All time frames mentioned in this provision are subject to extension pursuant to Section F.6.c of this Code.

    1. Mutual Resolution
      The parties may reach a mutually agreed resolution to the grievance at any time. If they reach such agreement, the parties shall notify in writing the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee and the President of the Faculty Senate that the grievance has been resolved. The specific terms of the mutually agreed resolution need not be shared. The Chair of the Grievance Code Committee shall inform the Grievance Panel of the resolution. The Grievance Panel shall cease work upon receipt of such notification and shall have no obligation to enforce the parties’ mutually agreed resolution. Any subsequent complaints from either the grievant or the respondent about failures to satisfy the terms of a mutually agreed resolution reached during the grievance process shall be addressed to the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee. In the event of such a complaint, the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee shall endeavor to resolve the matter in a timely manner and shall inform the President of the Faculty Senate and the appropriate Executive Vice President of the complaint and the outcome.

    2. Access to Information
      The Grievance Panel may seek additional information or evidence pertinent to the case from appropriate, informed, and relevant sources. However, the conciliation process shall remain confidential. Accordingly, a conciliator shall not be considered an available source, and neither party shall provide information about the conciliation process to the Grievance Panel. The Grievance Panel shall assess the accuracy, credibility, and relevance of any information it collects. In soliciting information from any third party, rights of privacy and confidentiality shall be protected. Panel members and other members of the Grievance Code Committee are properly authorized University officials for purposes of accessing and reviewing confidential information. This paragraph applies to all decisions a Panel or the Committee is called on to make.

    3. Decisions of the Grievance Panel
      In deciding the merits of the grievance, the Grievance Panel shall conduct as many formal hearings (Section F.11.c) as it considers necessary. The Panel shall make its decision as expeditiously as circumstances permit and shall promptly report its decision to the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee who shall inform the grievant, the respondent, and the appropriate Executive Vice President.

  3. Formal Hearings
    A grievance hearing is not a formal judicial proceeding. Its ultimate purpose is to evaluate the fairness of the administrative action that gave rise to the grievance. To achieve that end, the Grievance Panel can exclude irrelevant issues or evidence, and can place reasonable limits on argument and the questioning of witnesses.

    The Grievance Panel can decide when it has enough information to decide the merits of the grievance, except that the Grievance Panel cannot decide the merits of a case without holding a hearing unless both parties waive their right to a hearing in writing.

    Either party may at any time waive his/her right to a hearing and elect to proceed on the basis of written submission alone. Any such waiver must be in writing, must have the agreement of both parties and must be submitted to the Panel Chair. Written submissions on the merits of the grievance are to be thereafter submitted to the Grievance Panel in accord with a schedule prescribed by the Panel Chair, whose duty it is to see that the matter is advanced expeditiously.

    If the right to a hearing is not waived, the Panel Chair, after consulting the parties, shall promptly notify them of the time and place of the hearing, which the Grievance Panel should hold as promptly as possible after it is finally determined that the Committee has jurisdiction, that the matter warrants investigation, and that the University has the authority to award the requested remedy. The parties may submit written evidence or documentation before the hearing. Each party shall notify the Panel Chair and the opposing party of the witness(es) he/she intends to call no later than five days before the hearing. Each party has responsibility for arranging the attendance of any witness he/she intends to call. Neither party may call as a witness anyone who acted as a conciliator during the conciliation process contemplated by Section F.8.

    Each party can make oral presentations; can call witnesses or present other evidence; can examine any evidence submitted to the Grievance Panel by anyone else (except for evidence the examination of which by such party would breach or violate a duty or right of privacy or confidentiality); and can question witnesses he/she has not called. The hearing shall be electronically or otherwise recorded verbatim. Upon request, a copy of the recording shall be furnished to either party at the University’s expense.

    General procedures recommended for conducting a hearing are the following:

    1. The Panel Chair shall explain to all parties the purpose of the hearing, the procedures to be followed, and the rights of all parties.
    2. The Panel Chair shall provide the grievant with up to 15 minutes to summarize the major complaint(s) presented in the written evidence or documentation assembled prior to the hearing. The grievant has the right to not make this presentation.
    3. The Panel Chair shall provide the respondent up to 15 minutes to respond to the representations of the grievant and to add pertinent comments. The respondent has the right to not make a reply or presentation.
    4. The Panel Chair and the members of the Grievance Panel may ask questions that seek clarification of matters of fact and representations in the written materials and the prior presentations in the hearing. Both the grievant and the respondent shall be given the opportunity to reply to questions and to engage in the ensuing dialogue.
    5. The Panel Chair shall invite the parties to call witnesses. All parties shall be given the opportunity to ask questions of the witnesses.
    6. The Grievance Panel may adjourn the hearing to permit the parties to obtain further evidence.
    7. The Panel Chair may terminate discussion of matters that are not relevant to the issues to be decided by the Grievance Panel.
    8. The Panel Chair shall invite the parties to make brief closing statements.
    9. During hearings on the merits of the grievance, advisors may be present but are limited to off-record consultation with his/her party/advisee. If an advisor speaks or otherwise disrupts a hearing, he or she may be dismissed from the hearing by the Panel Chair.
    10. The Grievance Panel shall make a determination as to whether the hearing is complete and whether further evidence needs to be obtained. Parties to the hearing other than Panelists need not be present in the room when this determination is made. In the event of disagreement among Panel members, a majority vote will decide the matter.
    11. There may be cases in which additional procedures are needed. The Grievance Panel will determine which procedures are needed and in which order they should occur. Notification must be given to the grievant and the respondent in advance of the hearing.
    12. A member of a Grievance Panel shall serve until the particular grievance process is concluded, even though his/her term of service on the full Grievance Code Committee has expired.

12. Grievance Panel Report

Within fifteen days after the conclusion of the hearing, or of written submission in lieu of a hearing, the Grievance Panel shall submit a report of its findings and decision to the Committee Chair. The Chair shall promptly review the report for compliance with the requirements of the Code, including this section. If the Chair concludes that the report complies with the Code, the Chair shall immediately send the report to the grievant, the respondent, the appropriate Executive Vice President, the President of the Faculty Senate, and the other members of the Grievance Code Committee. If the Chair concludes that the report fails to comply with the Code, the Chair shall return the report to the Grievance Panel with instructions to revise and resubmit the report. Upon receipt of the revised report, the Chair shall send the revised report to the grievant, the respondent, the appropriate Executive Vice President, the President of the Faculty Senate, and the other members of the Grievance Code Committee; provided, however, that if the Chair believes that the revised report still fails to comply with the Code, the Chair may attach an appendix to the revised report stating the reasons for this belief.

The Grievance Panel’s report must include a narrow ruling for or against the grievant along with a comprehensive rationale for the decision. Although it is the responsibility of the full Grievance Code Committee to recommend a remedy when the Grievance Panel rules for the grievant, the Grievance Panel’s report may include a recommendation regarding a remedy for the Committee’s consideration.

The Grievance Panel is at liberty to make broader comments about policies, procedures and circumstances that may have contributed to the conflict, and to recommend to the University changes that might prevent future conflicts of the same type. All such recommendations shall be characterized as recommendations by the Panel Chair and forwarded (in a mailing separate from the Panel’s report in the case) to the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee and the President of the Faculty Senate.

13. Appeal from the Grievance Panel Report

To appeal, the grievant or respondent shall, within ten days after receiving the Grievance Panel Report under Section F.12, file a “Notice of Appeal from the Grievance Panel Report” with the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee. In their absence the grievant may file the Notice with the Secretary of the University or the President of the Faculty Senate. The Notice must be in writing and must state the grounds for appeal. The permissible grounds for appeal are limited to significant procedural error, clear misinterpretation of the Code (or other part of the Faculty Handbook), factual error pertaining to a fundamental issue, or evidence unavailable to the party before the hearing. The Chair shall have the authority to dismiss an appeal that is not based on one of these grounds, provided that the President of the Faculty Senate concurs with the Chair’s decision. If the appeal is not so dismissed, the Chair shall within thirty days after the filing convene the full Grievance Code Committee to deliberate and decide whether to hear the appeal, and, if so, whether to sustain the appeal. Before reaching a decision, the Committee shall offer the opposing party an opportunity to submit a letter containing such party’s views on the appeal. The Committee may reverse the Grievance Panel’s decisions or may remand the matter with appropriate instructions to the Panel. Such action shall be taken on the basis of the existing record and without further hearing or fact-gathering. A quorum of at least nine members of the Committee must be in attendance. The Committee’s decisions shall be made according to the majority of members in attendance and voting. The Chair shall report the Committee’s decisions to the President of the Faculty Senate, the respondent, the grievant, and the appropriate Executive Vice President.

14. Decision on Remedy

The Grievance Code Committee shall decide on the remedy in all cases when there is a final ruling in favor of the grievant. A quorum of at least nine members of the Committee must be in attendance. The Committee’s decisions shall be made according to the majority of members in attendance and voting. A decision on remedy, along with both the assenting and dissenting vote count, will become part of the decision record. The Chair shall report the Committee’s decisions to the President of the Faculty Senate, the respondent, the grievant, and the appropriate Executive Vice President. The decision on remedy will be considered a final decision of the Grievance Code Committee, with appeal only to the University President, as provided under Section F.15.

Remedies may include corrective actions and/or any other remedies that the Committee deems appropriate under the circumstances. All remedies resulting from the procedures prescribed by this Grievance Code must comply with, and are subject to, applicable law and must be consistent with the University’s contractual and other legal obligations and University policy.

15. Appeal to the University President

Should either party desire to appeal the Committee’s decision to the President of the University, he or she shall file a “Notice of Appeal” within 15 days after the Chair has sent the Committee’s decision to the parties. The party shall file the Notice of Appeal with the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee, concurrently sending a copy to the adverse party. The Notice of Appeal shall contain a concise written statement of the reasons that lead the party making the appeal to believe that the Panel’s or Committee’s determinations were erroneous or that the Committee’s decision on remedy is inappropriate. Upon the filing of the Notice of Appeal, the file on the grievance shall be forwarded by the Committee Chair to the President of the University. At the President’s discretion, but not later than ten days after receiving the file on the grievance, the President may remand the matter to the Committee or to the Panel for further deliberations. If the matter is remanded, the Chair of the Committee shall report to the President as soon as possible on the outcome of the Panel’s and/or the Committee’s further deliberations.

Within twenty days of receipt of the Notice of Appeal, or, if there has been a remand, within twenty days of the receipt of the Committee’s additional report, and after such consultation as he or she deems appropriate, the President shall accept or reject the findings and decision of the Committee and shall state in writing the reasons for acceptance or rejection. Review by the President shall be confined to the file on the grievance forwarded to the President by the Committee Chair, in addition to whatever arguments the parties may make with regard thereto.

If the President is unavailable to act within the time provisions of this section, the President may request an extension or appoint an Executive Vice President from a campus other than the campus from which the grievance arose to review the appeal in the manner described. If the President is in a situation of conflict of interest, the President of the Faculty Senate shall designate an Executive Vice President from a campus other than the campus from which the grievance arose to review the appeal. The President or Executive Vice President who reviews the appeal may at his/her discretion appoint a senior member of the faculty as a special master to assist with the review.

In a grievance in which the University President is a properly named respondent, the appeal process prescribed in this section shall not be altered. All respondents shall be treated alike, without exception.

The President or Executive Vice President conducting such a review shall communicate his or her decision to the parties, to the Chair of the Grievance Code Committee, to the President of the Faculty Senate and to the appropriate Executive Vice President.[4] In the extraordinary event that the President or other officer designated above does not act within the time limits imposed by this section, the Committee’s decision shall become final and shall be immediately implemented by the appropriate University authorities.

16. Amendment

The Code may be amended only after:

  1. an advisory vote of a majority of the University Faculty Senate present at a meeting after the matter has lain on the table for at least one meeting and proposed amendment has been publicized to the full Faculty; and
  2. approval by the University Board of Directors.

Endnotes

  1. If a University administrator or staff person not expressly covered by this Code or any other University grievance code is aggrieved in circumstances where considerations of academic freedom indicate the Code should nonetheless apply, the appropriate Campus Executive Vice President is authorized, at his/her discretion, to extend the coverage of the Code at that person’s request. (Return to text)
  2. As used throughout the text of the Code, the word “day” refers to working days, Monday through Friday, excluding Federal holidays. (Return to text)
  3. Issues about remedies for a former employee will be handled in the same manner that remedies for current employees are handled. (Return to text)
  4. For purposes of these procedures, if the Executive Vice President is a respondent, the University President will be informed of the results and take the required actions. (Return to text)