Faculty Grievance Policy
Approved: June 15, 1978; Revised May 15, 1982; Revised June 15, 1989; Revised November 14, 1990; Revised June 22, 1995; Revised December 4, 2014 (eff. 1/1/15); Reviewed and Approved with No Changes April 22, 2022; June 12, 2026
Scheduled Review Date: June 2031
- Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to supplement the administrative and academic procedures of 黑料不打烊 and to provide a grievance procedure which will ensure academic due process and fair treatment for faculty.
- Application
Only faculty under full-time teaching and research contracts and professional librarians may use the procedure described in this policy. A teaching and research administrator with departmental designation may use the procedure but only to grieve, in accordance with the requirements described herein, an action concerning the academic promotion of or the award of tenure to that administrator. Actions that were grieved or grievable under University Policy 6604, School of Medicine Grievance Policy, including matters eligible for grievance but that were deemed not to have been timely filed, are not grievable under this policy.
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Definition of Grievance
As used in this policy, a grievance is an allegation by a faculty member that he or she has suffered direct injury as a result of the following:
- An action, refusal to act, or a failure to act by an administrative officer of the University which deviated materially from the existing policies or procedures of the University; or
- An action by an administrative officer of the University, which was arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable, or contrary to the facts.
"Administrative officer," as used in this policy, refers to any individual exercising administrative authority, including, but not limited to, a department chair or a program director.
- An action, refusal to act, or a failure to act by an administrative officer of the University which deviated materially from the existing policies or procedures of the University; or
- Remedies
- Except as otherwise provided herein, a faculty member who chooses to grieve under this policy may seek any remedy appropriate to the grievance which the University has the authority to provide.
- The remedy available to a faculty member who chooses to grieve a personnel action, i.e., a non-reappointment, promotion, evaluation, salary increment, a decision not to award tenure, or appointment to emeritus status, is the initiation of a proper reconsideration of that decision through the applicable procedures of the University.
- Except as otherwise provided herein, a faculty member who chooses to grieve under this policy may seek any remedy appropriate to the grievance which the University has the authority to provide.
- Limitations Upon the Application of the Grievance Policy
- Except as provided in Section I.E.3 herein, a faculty member must exhaust existing administrative or academic procedures for review of an action about which the faculty member chooses to grieve prior to filing a grievance under this policy.
- An action concerning the imposition of a sanction upon a faculty member or the dismissal of faculty from employment member due to a financial exigency, etc. must be reviewed in accordance with the applicable policies for review of such an action and may not be reviewed under this Grievance Policy unless the applicable policies so provide.
- An action concerning the promotion of a faculty member or the award of tenure to a faculty member must be grieved by that faculty member after action by the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs but before the faculty member's request for review by the president.
- An action concerning the promotion of a faculty member, the non-reappointment of a faculty member, or the award of tenure to a faculty member only may be grieved by that faculty member upon the ground that there was a material deviation from the applicable procedures of the University during the process leading to the action.
- Except as provided in Section I.E.3 herein, a faculty member must exhaust existing administrative or academic procedures for review of an action about which the faculty member chooses to grieve prior to filing a grievance under this policy.
- Maintenance of Records
- The complaint and all records developed during the investigation of the complaint shall be considered confidential and shall not be released except as required by law or by the provisions of this policy.
- The complaint and all records developed during the investigation of the complaint shall be retained in the University Counsel鈥檚 Office for a period of three years after the date of the final determination. Records developed as a result of the grievance will be filed separately from the faculty member鈥檚 official personnel file. Thereafter the records shall be destroyed unless state or federal action is pending.
- The complaint and all records developed during the investigation of the complaint shall be considered confidential and shall not be released except as required by law or by the provisions of this policy.
- A faculty member who chooses to grieve under this policy should first discuss the matter with the administrative officer whose action or failure to act is the basis for the grievance.
- If the discussion does not produce a resolution, the faculty member may request mediation provided by the Faculty Mediation program through the Faculty Ombuds Office.
- If, following the faculty member's discussion with the administrative officer, the matter is not resolved to the faculty member's satisfaction, the faculty member shall discuss the matter with the immediate supervisor of the administrative officer whose action is the basis of the grievance. The faculty member shall not discuss the matter with the immediate supervisor of the administrative officer if the immediate supervisor is the president.
- If, following these discussions and/or mediation, the matter is not resolved to the faculty member's satisfaction, the faculty member may proceed to formal resolution of the grievance.