12.14 Faculty Grievance Committee

12.14.1 Function

The Faculty Grievance Committee (Committee) is a standing committee from which panels will be chosen to hear faculty grievances.

12.14.2 Membership

The Committee will consist of twelve (12) faculty members and a Chair.  Selected faculty are expected to be available to serve on a Grievance Hearing Panel, unless excused by the Chair for extended absence from campus, medical reasons or a conflict of interest (e.g., participation in the actions or decisions that led up to the grievance, close professional or personal relationships with the Grievant or Respondent, direct or indirect supervision of the Grievant or Respondent, or factors of a similar nature).

The Associate Vice President for Human Resources and Title IX shall serve as Chair in an ex officio capacity and will coordinate training, schedule committee meetings, make determinations regarding whether matters contained in formal grievance filings fall within the jurisdiction of the Committee, participate in the selection process of initial grievance panels, and handle other matters that may arise.

12.14.3 Committee Member Appointment

The President will make appointments in a manner that ensures a diverse membership with respect to gender, ethnicity, age, departmental representation, tenure/tenure-track and non-tenure-track faculty, and other factors.  Appointments to the Committee will be recommended to the President as follows:

  1. Faculty Senate shall recommend eight academic faculty appointees (potentially including Department Heads). No more than two appointees may be from the same department.
  2. Administrative Faculty Council shall nominate four administrative faculty appointees.  No more than two appointees may be from the same department.
  3. No Vice President, Vice Provost, Associate Provost, Associate Vice President or employees of Legal Services may be appointed to the Committee.

12.14.4 Terms of Appointment

Committee members will serve staggered three-year terms with roughly one-third of the committee members being replaced each year. Committee members may serve consecutive terms if recommended and appointed.

12.14.5 Method of Operation

The Committee shall meet and receive training in the grievance procedures, process, and concepts as needed. 

12.14.6 Grievance Hearing Panel

Whenever there is a need to hold a formal grievance hearing under the Grievance Procedure, Section 11.3 of the Faculty Handbook, a Grievance Hearing Panel (panel) will be chosen at random from the Committee membership.  The panel will initially consist of five members. No member of this initial panel may be from the same department as the grievant or the respondent, nor can any member of the Committee be selected for the panel if that member is involved in a matter being grieved.  No two members of the panel should be from the same department. The respondent and grievant will each disqualify one member of the initial panel, resulting in a final panel of three members. The order of disqualification will be determined by a coin toss.