Bylaws: A
Grievance Panel consisting of nine members of the Faculty of
professorial rank, elected for three-year terms, including at least one
member from the School of Engineering. No more than one member of a single
department may be a member of this Panel at any one time and no member of
the Committee on Tenure and Promotion may be a member of the Grievance
Panel.
The officers of the Panel shall be a Chairperson, a Secretary, and an
Ombudsman chosen annually by the Panel from its own members. The Chair and
the Ombudsman must be designated by the end of each academic year for the
following year, and their names should be sent at that time to the Secretary
of the Faculty to avoid a hiatus in the Panel's functioning. Members of the
Panel shall be assembled by the Chairperson upon the request of a grievant,
or upon the request of a majority of the members of the Committee, or
whenever, in the judgment of the Chairperson, a meeting is desirable.
A Faculty Ombudsperson chosen annually by the Grievance Panel from among
its members in their third year shall have the power to hear faculty
grievances informally and confidentially. The Ombudsperson may not serve as
a member of any subsequent Formal Hearing Board constituted to hear the same
grievance.
A faculty member (the grievant) who wishes to present a grievance should
notify the Ombudsperson requesting a meeting. After conferring with the
grievant, the Ombudsperson may advise the grievant, in confidence, of the
merits of the case and of further action that might be taken. The
Ombudsperson shall not take action or report further on the case without the
written consent of the grievant. With the written consent of the grievant,
the Ombudsperson may communicate with the interested parties in an attempt
to resolve the grievance informally.
The entire procedure shall not exceed two months at which time the
grievance will either move to the formal grievance procedure or be withdrawn
by the grievant. Under exceptional circumstances, this two-month period may
be extended by the Grievance Panel for no longer than another two months, on
request of the grievant or of the ombudsperson.
The Grievance Panel shall have the power and responsibility to compose
Formal Hearing Boards. The Formal Hearing Boards shall conduct Formal
Hearings of the Faculty grievances and shall make findings based on such
hearings. The composition and procedures of the Formal Hearing Boards shall
be in accordance with Formal Hearing Procedures adopted by the Faculty.
The Panel shall also have power to consider such other matters related to
faculty personnel as may be submitted to it by individual members of the
Faculty; and to make recommendations thereon to the President or, at the
discretion of the Committee, to the Board of Trustees.
For the complete text of the policy and procedure (informal and formal
procedure) see the Faculty Handbook.
Committee Description & Work Load:
One half-hour meeting per year if no grievance is pending, which is the case
most of the time. Convenor (and maybe ombudsperson): Some 50 hours per
grievance. Rank-and-file members: A few hours per grievance. |