Faculty Handbook

Policy No. FSEC.2003.009

9.6 FACULTY GRIEVANCE POLICY

Approved by University Council, April 10, 2003

1. Purpose

The Faculty Grievance Policy is designed to provide due process for faculty members. This policy will apply anytime a grievance is filed by a UHCL faculty member against a faculty member or an academic administrator where no other UHCL policy is appropriate.

Although grievances can concern any action affecting a faculty member, they might include promotion and tenure decisions, dismissal of untenured faculty, work assignments, violations of academic freedom, merit raises, and committee assignments. A grievance may also be filed against a faculty member who violates University policies, School By-laws or other policies as appropriate.

2. Definitions and Clarifications  

2.1 Respondent - the individual against whom the grievance is filed.

2.2 Grievant - the person initiating the grievance.
 
2.3 Faculty - includes tenure track and tenured faculty and those appointed to non- tenure track academic positions. The positions are defined in the Faculty Handbook.

2.4 University Grievance Panel – a panel consisting of 16 tenured, full-time faculty members who are eligible for election to the Faculty Senate.

2.5 Grievance Committee – a committee consisting of five people.  Three members   are to be selected from the University Grievance Panel. The two others must be full-time tenured faculty who are eligible for election to the Faculty Senate.

2.6 If the provost is a respondent, the president of the University will assume the responsibilities assigned to the provost in this Grievance Policy.

2.7 Working day – a day in which classes are in session at UHCL and all offices are open at least four hours.

3. Selection of University Grievance Panel

3.1 The University Grievance Panel shall consist of 16 tenured, full-time faculty members who are eligible for election to the Faculty Senate. Each school will have four members on this University Grievance Panel. The four members of the panel chosen from each school shall be elected by those full-time faculty members of the school who are eligible for election to the Faculty Senate. Each school will elect two representatives every spring semester to serve a two-year term starting September 1.

3.2 By April 15 of each year, the Faculty Senate president will issue a ballot to all the full-time faculty of each school who are eligible to be elected to the Faculty Senate. Faculty members receiving ballots will vote for up to four faculty members of their School to serve on the University Grievance Panel. These ballots will be signed and returned to the Faculty Senate Office where they will be counted.

3.3 Faculty members receiving the highest number of votes will be asked to serve on the University Grievance Panel. If any of those elected is unable to serve, the faculty member receiving the next highest number of votes will be asked to serve.

3.4 Should a member become unable to serve during their term the faculty member receiving the next highest number of votes in the latest election shall be asked to serve.

3.5 Upon completion of the election, the president of the Faculty Senate will provide the provost with the names of the members selected to serve on the University Grievance Panel. The provost will in turn notify the deans of the schools and the faculty members elected to the Grievance Panel.

4. Informal Resolution

4.1 Both informal and formal procedures for redress of grievances are available to, and may be initiated by, any faculty member. An attempt to settle grievances informally should be made through discussions between the grievant and the respondent. This informal process may include discussions with appropriate persons who are not parties to the grievance.
 
4.2 If informal discussion does not resolve the grievance, the grievant may petition for a formal hearing of the grievance by a University Grievance Committee. This petition must be submitted to the provost's office within 120 calendar days of the grieved event.

5. Formal Resolution

5.1 If informal resolution of the grievance is not possible, procedures for formal resolution of the grievance can be initiated. In such cases, after a formal notification to the provost's office by the grievant, a Grievance Committee will be selected. The Grievance Committee will hold hearings and make a recommendation to the provost. In turn, the provost's recommendation and the Grievance Committee's recommendation will be sent to the president of the university for final resolution of the grievance.

6. Grievance Procedure

6.1 The procedure begins when the grievant delivers in person or by U.S. Mail certified, return receipt requested a written grievance to the provost's office. The grievance shall be submitted on the Faculty Grievance Form. Receipt of the written grievance must be acknowledged in writing and dated by the provost.

6.2 Within ten working days the provost must forward a copy of the grievance to the respondent who must acknowledge receipt of the grievance in writing by signing and dating the acknowledgement.

6.3 Within ten working days from the date it is received by the respondent, the respondent must submit to the provost a written and dated response to the grievance.

6.4 Within ten working days of receipt of the respondent's written response, the provost will instruct the grievant and the respondent to select their representatives to the Grievance Committee.  If the provost should fail to instruct the grievant or the respondent within ten working days, the president of the Faculty Senate shall within three working days act for the provost in forwarding the grievance and instructing both parties to select their grievance committee representatives.  They must notify the provost of their selection within ten working days. These representatives will select the other members of the Grievance Committee as described in this policy. The provost shall not be involved in the resolution of the grievance at this point.

6.5 If for any reason, either or both parties to the grievance do not select a representative within ten working days of notification by the provost, the provost will notify the president of the Faculty Senate who will select either or both of the representatives within an additional ten working days.

6.6 Within ten working days after their selection, the representatives shall choose the rest of the committee from the Grievance Panel

7. Grievance Committee

The Grievance Committee actually hears the particular grievance and makes a recommendation to the provost. The University Grievance Panel will serve as a pool for the selection of at least three members of the Grievance Committee.
 
7.1 Selection of the Grievance Committee. One member of the Grievance Committee will be named by the grievant, a second member by the respondent. These two members will be designated as representatives of the parties involved in the grievance. Both of these representatives must be full-time, tenured faculty members who are eligible for election to the Faculty Senate. However, the representatives do not have to be members of the University Grievance Panel.

Where multiple grievants file a grievance or where multiple respondents named, the group of grievants or the group of respondents must select a single mutually acceptable representative.  If the individuals cannot agree, the provost may decide to separate the grievance into multiple grievances.

Within ten working days, these two representatives shall select, in any manner they agree upon, the other three committee members from the University Grievance Panel.

If the representatives cannot agree on the choice of the other members of the Grievance Committee within the time allotted after their selections as representatives, the president of the Faculty Senate will select the remaining members of the committee within an additional ten working days.

7.2 Failure of Representatives to Participate. If, for any reason, either representative cannot participate in the grievance procedure, this representative will no longer be considered part of the grievance committee. The party without a representative shall choose a replacement representative within ten working days.

7.3 Failure of a Selected Committee Member to Participate. If, for any reason, one of the three selected committee members is unable to participate, the representatives of the grievant and the respondent must agree on a replacement within ten working days of written notification of a selected member's inability to participate. If the two representatives cannot agree within ten working days, the committee itself will choose a replacement within an additional ten working days.

8. GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE GENERAL PROCEDURES

The Grievance Committee shall determine its own general procedures, subject to the restrictions stated in this Section and Section 9. 

8.1 Committee Chair. The two representatives will call the initial meeting where the grievance committee will select the chair.  The committee shall select its own chair, but neither the representative of the grievant nor the representative of the respondent shall serve as chair.

8.2   Documents to the Committee. The grievant and the respondent will be asked by the chair of the Grievance Committee to submit all documents or exhibits that are to be considered by the grievance committee.

8.3   Formal Hearing. The committee will select a date, time and location for a formal hearing concerning the grievance. The chair of the committee will notify the provost, the grievant, and the respondent giving them at least ten working days notice before the scheduled hearing.

8.4   Recommendation of the Committee. After the hearing and due deliberation, the committee will make its recommendation on the grievance, and the reasons for it, in writing, to the provost. This shall be done even if the recommendation of the committee is to take no action.  All decisions will be made by majority vote of all members of the committee.

9. GRIEIVANCE COMMITTEE HEARING AND RECOMMENDATION TO THE PROVOST

The grievance hearing is not a formal legal proceeding.  Either party may be assisted by other faculty members or legal counsel in preparing for the hearing. However, these other faculty members or legal counsel will not be allowed to be present at these proceedings unless they are requested to participate by the chair of the Grievance Committee.

The chair of the Grievance Committee will instruct the grievant and the respondent to submit all documents to be considered by the committee.  The committee must receive these documents for consideration no later than five working days prior to the hearing. 

The grievant and respondent will identify all witnesses that may be called upon by the committee to testify at the hearing and what relevant facts they may be able to contribute.  The Chair of the Grievance Committee will be responsible for contacting these individuals to ascertain their willingness to participate in the hearing.  No retaliatory action may be taken against any individual who chooses to appear or not to appear.

9.1 Evidence and Recording. The committee may consider only such evidence as is presented at the hearing, including the written statements from the grievant and the respondent. Evidence may include patterns and trends of behavior with respect to the current grievance.  The formal hearing will be tape-recorded. The only persons who will have access to the tapes are the committee members, the grievant, the respondent, the provost, and the president of the university. The grievance file will be retained in the provost's office for three years following the completion of the grievance proceedings.

9.2 Executive Session.  At the end of the hearing, the Grievance Committee shall consider the matter in executive session.

9.3 Negotiated Settlement. A negotiated settlement by the Grievance Committee to the grievance remains possible until the Grievance Committee makes its final report. In part, the role of the representatives is to make possible continued negotiation between the grievant and the respondent.

9.4  Grievance Committee Recommendation. The committee must make its recommendation to the provost, with copies to the grievant and the respondent, within 30 working days after the hearing is completed. The recommendation must be made by a majority vote of the full committee. If a delay is necessary, the committee must inform the grievant and respondent, in writing, of the reason for the delay and set a new deadline for the report.

10. PROVOST ACTIONS

 10.1   The Grievance Committee's recommendation must be acknowledged in writing and dated by the provost. The provost must act on the grievance committee recommendation within fifteen working days of receipt of the Grievance Committee's recommendation.

 10.2   The provost must provide a written response to the Grievance Committee's recommendation, either agreeing or disagreeing with it. If the provost disagrees with the Grievance Committee's recommendation, the provost must make a full explanation in writing, with reasons for the decision, and distribute it to the grievant, the respondent and the Grievance Committee. In either case, the provost's written response and the Grievance Committee's report will be distributed to the grievant, the respondent and the Grievance Committee.

 10.3   Within fifteen working days the provost will forward to the president of the university a copy of the Grievance Committee's recommendation along with the provost's written recommendation. The president must have the recommendation of both the provost and the Grievance Committee before making a decision.  If the provost should fail to meet the deadline for forwarding the Grievance Committee's recommendation to the president, or fail to make a recommendation of his own, the Grievance Committee's report automatically goes to the president.

11. PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY ACTIONS 

Receipt of the provost's recommendation and the Grievance Committee's recommendation shall be acknowledged in writing and dated by the president. Within fifteen working days of receipt of the recommendations, the president must act. Agreement or disagreement with either the provost's or the Grievance Committee's recommendation must be in writing. In particular, if the Grievance Committee's recommendation is not followed, the president must provide a full explanation in writing.

The president's decision, along with any necessary explanations, must be distributed to the grievant, the respondent, the Grievance Committee, and the provost.

12. ADHERENCE TO TIMELINES

Any request for departure from the established timelines in this policy should be made in writing to the provost before the Grievance Committee is formed or to the chair of the Grievance Committee after the committee is formed. When the chair of the Grievance Committee receives such a request, the committee will determine the appropriate action to be taken. The accompanying Table describes the timeline for a formal grievance procedure.

13. PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION AND RETALIATION

13.1  Nothing in this policy shall be used as a basis for illegal discrimination or retaliation against any individual or group.

13.2   No retaliatory action may be taken against any individual who files or assists with a grievance because of his or her involvement with the grievant.

Timeline for Formal Grievance Procedure

Signature:    _________________________________________________

William A. Staples

Title:   President

           University of Houston-Clear Lake

Approval Date: April 10, 2003

Sunset Date: April 10, 2003