Grievance
Procedures Regarding Reappointment, Tenure and Promotion
1. When
a member of the teaching faculty has received notice that
he or she has not been granted tenure, has not had the contract
renewed, has been issued a terminal contract, or has not been
promoted, and believes that he or she has not been accorded
statutory due process as specified in Chapter II, Sections
F and G of The Statutes of the Faculty, or that considerations
which violate academic freedom, as defined in Chapter VIII,
have contributed to the decision, the individual may write
to the Chair of the Committee on Appeals subcommittee of the
Committee on Faculty Affairs requesting its assistance. In
the letter the faculty member shall specify as precisely as
possible the reasons for this request and shall include whatever
documentation he or she may have.
2. Any
member(s) of the Committee on Appeals subcommittee of the
Committee on Faculty Affairs who may have been involved in
the decision, either as the candidate or as a member of the
candidate's department or Committee on Tenure and Promotion,
may not sit with the Committee during the proceedings. Should
this result in having fewer than three members of the Committee
on Appeals available for the proceedings, then senior teaching
faculty member(s) who had last left the Committee on Faculty
Affairs and who had not been involved in the decision, shall
take part in the Committee's proceedings. For no case shall
fewer than three teaching Faculty members take part in the
Committee’s proceedings.
3. The
Faculty member, accompanied if so desired by a member of the
Faculty who will serve as an advisor, shall have the right
to appear before the Committee on Appeals subcommittee of
the Committee on Faculty Affairs. In deciding whether to proceed
beyond this point, the Committee shall keep in mind that it
is incumbent on the Faculty member to present reasonable evidence
that his or her rights have been violated. Once a year the
Committee on Appeals subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty
Affairs shall report to the Faculty on the number of requests
it receives for assistance as well as the fact and nature
of its decision. In each case in which the Committee decides
not to proceed the person who has brought the grievance shall
be so notified.
4. If
the Committee determines to proceed it will then convey in
writing to the President, in his capacity as chief executive
officer of the College, a copy of the complainant's charges
and evidence, as well as an explanation of the Committee's
reasons for pursuing the matter further.
5. If
the President is unable to resolve the situation to the satisfaction
of the Committee within six weeks and the Committee believes
that the individual has presented reasonable evidence that
his or her rights, as specified in Chapter II, Sections F
and G and/or in Chapter VIII, have been violated, it will
then proceed to make a non-formal and confidential inquiry.
For each case it shall have access to whatever documents the
departmental Chair and the tenured senior members of the department
had at their disposal, together with the signed departmental
report(s).
In cases
involving tenure and promotion to a senior rank, it shall
have access to whatever documents the Committee on Tenure
and Promotion and the Trustees had at their disposal. In cases
not involving tenure or promotion to a senior rank, it shall
have access to the individual's Faculty File in the Office
of the Dean.
The Committee
shall also, at its discretion, meet with the departmental
Chair, the tenured senior members of the department as a group
and with the CTP as a group, and when there was no CTP, with
the Dean together with the President. The Committee may also
meet with any individual who desires to come before it. The
purpose of these meetings would be to enable the Committee
to assure itself that academic freedom of the individual had
not been infringed upon. The Committee should keep in mind
that it is not to substitute its judgment for the judgment
of any of the groups or individuals in question; it is merely
to guarantee due process and academic freedom in adherence
to The Statutes of the Faculty. Only the members of the Committee
on Appeals subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty Affairs
shall have access to confidential documents made available
to them. No member of the Committee on Appeals subcommittee
of the Committee on Faculty Affairs will discuss either confidential
documents or oral testimony outside the Committee meetings,
except with other members of the Committee. No one who appears
before the Committee will reveal information gained during
the proceedings.
6. Cases
Involving Statutory Due Process
If the
Committee concludes that a significant violation of statutory
due process has taken place, it shall so inform the President,
who will have the case re-examined at the appropriate level,
calling attention to the violation of statutory due process
as delineated in the given case by the Committee on Appeals
subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty Affairs.
7. Cases
Involving Academic Freedom
If the
Committee concludes that the Faculty member has made a reasonable
case that considerations which violate his or her academic
freedom have contributed to the negative decision, it first
will so inform the President, who will take whatever action
he deems appropriate. If the President is unable to rectify
the situation to the satisfaction of the Committee, then the
Committee shall conduct a formal hearing. The Committee shall
prescribe rules of procedure for the conduct of such hearings
and shall inform the involved parties of such rules prior
to the commencement of the hearing. The parties involved shall
have the right to be present at the hearing at all times when
evidence is being presented to the Committee, and the right
to have the Committee call witnesses on their behalf. Apart
from meetings of the Committee, no member of the Committee
shall consult any non-member of the Committee as to any matter
at issue or discuss the case with any non-member. The hearing
shall be private. No legal counsel will be present and no
official record will be kept.
Upon completion
of the hearing, the committee shall submit to the President
and the complainant its written findings and recommendations,
together with any statement of dissent. If the President is
unable to rectify the situation to the satisfaction of the
Committee or does not accept the recommendation, the Committee
shall refer the matter to the Trustees.
8. Nothing
in the preceding should be construed as preventing any member
of the Faculty from approaching the Dean, the Provost, the
President, or the Trustees either before or after taking advantage
of the good offices of the Committee on Appeals subcommittee
of the Committee on Faculty Affairs.
9. If,
at any point, the complainant should institute legal proceedings,
the procedure is thereby aborted and the Committee on Appeals
subcommittee of the Committee on Faculty Affairs will cease
to function in the case.
