|
|
Motion 7
|
SUMMARY
Part 1 of this
motion creates a new committee, The Committee on Grievance. The charge and
functions of the committee replace the grievance procedures currently carried
out by the Faculty Executive Committee. Part 2 of the motion authorizes the
Faculty Executive Committee to conduct immediate election for new members to
the committee and authorizes the committee to begin its work on January 15, or
as soon after that date as members can be elected by the faculty.
RATIONALE
The Grievance Committee is a new standing committee of the
faculty, proposed by the Task Force on Faculty Governance and recommended by
the Faculty Executive Committee. It replaces the grievance procedures currently
in place that are under the auspices of the Faculty Executive Committee and
carried out through the formation of Ad Hoc Hearing Committees. The Grievance
Committee does not replace the policies and procedures in place in that section
of the Faculty Rules & Regulations for handling a charge of sexual
harassment against a faculty member, the power of the President to suspend a
faculty member in specified circumstances, nor the grievance procedures for a
faculty member in the
MOTION
Part 1
Motion to amend the Faculty Rules,
effective immediately, for the purpose of establishing the Grievance Committee,
a standing committee of the faculty, by removing the
Grievance Procedures described in the Faculty Rules and Regulations in Part 4,
Section 10, I, A. 1. and 2. a. through u., and inserting in the Faculty Rules
and Regulations as Part I, Section 2 the following charge:
J. Committee on Grievance
1. Charge
a.
The
Committee on Grievance shall review petitions of the following types:
1.
A
charge of one of the following types by a faculty member or other person with a
teaching or research appointment at
i.
a
violation of academic freedom;
ii.
failure
of the University to follow prescribed procedures in matters relating to
reappointment or promotion;
iii.
violation
of the Corporation Statement on Nondiscrimination;
iv.
abridgment
of rights as members of the university academic community as generally
understood or articulated in the Faculty Rules or other policy statements
approved by the Faculty and the Corporation.
2.
A
charge contesting a finding by the President that specified actions by a
faculty member warrant dismissal, during either a term appointment or tenure.
3.
A
charge by a student that his or her rights as a member of the University
Community have been abridged by specified actions of a member or members of the
Faculty or a person with a teaching or research appointment at Brown
University.
b.
The
Committee on Grievance may require reconsideration of the application of
procedures or of a decision by the a body involved in the petition of
grievance.
c.
The
Committee on Grievance shall not substitute its substantive judgment for that
of the a body
whose actions are questioned by the petition of grievance.
d.
Access
of
e.
These
procedures are intended to address matters that are unique to the academic
community. The Committee is not intended to serve as an appeals body for
decisions reached under other University procedures. Where other institutional
procedures exist within the University to
address the rights of members of the University community, those procedures
take precedence. Also see Graduate Student Grievance Procedures, Section 10,II,A. and Medical
Student Grievance Procedures, Section 10, II, B.
2. Procedures
a.
If
any faculty member or student thinks that he or she has cause for grievance in
any matter over which the Committee on Grievance has responsibility,
as specified in the Charge for this Committee, that faculty member or student
may present a petition to the Chair of the Committee on Grievance for
consideration. The petition shall be in
writing, shall set forth in detail the nature of the grievance, and shall state
against whom the grievance is directed. It shall contain the data that the
petitioner deems pertinent to the review of the case. The Committee shall offer
the parties to a grievance the opportunity to mediate the matter in advance of
any formal consideration of it.
b.
The Committee shall have the right to request more information
before it decides whether or not to conduct an investigation.
c.
The Committee shall have the right to decide whether or not the
charge and supporting materials are sufficient to proceed with the grievance
and/or whether further investigation is necessary. The Committee shall notify
the petitioner in writing whether the petition has been accepted and, if not,
why. Submission of a petition will not
automatically entail such an investigation.
Normally, the Committee shall initiate review
consideration of the petition within
one week of submission of the petition, and shall act with all reasonable speed.
d.
Normally the completed petition of grievance with supporting
material should be filed within six months of the decision or action that is
the cause for the petition. The Committee shall have the right to decide
whether or not a petition has been filed too late to be reviewed. The Committee
may consider special circumstances, such as an allegation with supporting
materials of a long-term pattern or practice, in making its determination as to
whether the petition has been timely filed.
e.
The Committee shall give timely notice of the specific charges to
the party or parties against whom the petition is filed. The respondent shall
be given the same privileges and opportunities in both responding and appearing
as are provided to the petitioner. If
the acts of other parties are considered as part of the allegation, those
parties shall be notified of any allegations or assertions that relate to
them. The Committee shall make adequate
arrangements to receive the response of such parties, providing them with the
opportunity to appear before the Committee or to present a response in writing.
f.
In conducting an investigation, the Committee shall, upon written request, have
access to all documents that it deems pertinent to the case and may invite
individuals or groups to appear before it. The Committee shall be empowered to
indicate to each department, committee, and administrative body or office a
reasonable date by which information must be received. If requested information is not forthcoming
in the time allotted and if the Committee finds no compelling reason for the
delay, the Committee shall proceed using its best judgment.
g.
In
case the Committee finds a violation of academic freedom, failure of the
University to follow prescribed procedures in matters relating to reappointment or
promotion, violation of the Corporation Statement on Nondiscrimination,
or an abridgment of a faculty member’s rights as members of the university
community and requires reconsideration of the decision, the Committee may
suspend further steps in the implementation of that decision until the
reconsideration is completed and all reports relating to the reconsideration
are filed with the Committee on Grievance. Should the reconsideration involve
non-reappointment, and reconsideration results in maintenance of the decision
not to reappoint, the original date of notification of non-reappointment shall
stand.
h.
If,
in the judgment of the Committee on Grievance,
reconsideration is warranted, it shall so state in a report both to the
petitioner and to those to whom it is referring the case for reconsideration.
The report shall specify the respects in which the Committee considers
violations of academic freedom, failure of the University to follow prescribed
procedures in matters relating to reappointment or promotion, violation of the
Corporation Statement on Nondiscrimination, or an abridgment of a faculty
member’s rights as members of the university community to have occurred. If
reconsideration of an administrative process is involved, the Committee shall
inform the President and the Provost of the requested reconsideration.
i.
In the event that the Committee on Grievance finds that there is
sufficient reason to believe that a member of a unit (the administration,
department, and/or the Committee on Tenure, Promotions and Appointments) may
have acted in violation of the University’s non-discrimination policy, it shall
refer the matter for reconsideration by said administrator, department, and/or
Committee for a timely response. In cases where the Committee on Grievance has
decided that such violation may have had a material effect on the substance of
(as distinguished from the procedures for reaching) a decision, such
reconsideration shall be conducted in the presence of a monitor, who may
participate in the discussions leading to the reconsidered decision, but who
may not vote. Each monitor shall be a tenured faculty member, and shall be
chosen by the Chair of the Committee on Grievance, after consultation with the
Committee on Grievance.
j.
After
any reconsideration by a unit is completed, the monitor shall submit a brief
report to the petitioner, the unit, the
Committee on Grievance, and the next unit/person to which/whom the decision
would pass indicating the monitor's opinion as to whether and in what respect,
if any, the decision upon reconsideration has been affected by discrimination,
and identifying any areas that may need special attention in its
reconsideration.
k.
After
any reconsideration by the Committee on Tenure, Promotions and Appointments is completed,
the monitor shall file a report with the Provost, indicating the monitor's
opinion as to whether, and in what respect, if any, the decision upon
reconsideration has been affected by discrimination. Copies of this report
shall be sent to the Chair of the Committee on Tenure, Promotions and
Appointments, to the department Chair, to the petitioner, and to the Committee
on Grievance.
l.
Any
failure of a party to a grievance to act in accordance with the terms of these
provisions shall be referred to the Provost for final action. If the Provost is
a party to the grievance, the matter shall be referred to the President for
final action.
Note: Items i., j., and k. apply only to grievances relating to
reappointment, tenure, and promotion.
3. Membership
a.
The
Committee on Grievance shall consist of five
tenured members of the faculty, of whom at least three shall be full
professors.
b.
Two
members of the faculty shall stand in reserve
for service on the Committee if one or more of the regular members should be
disqualified for consideration of a case by a conflict of interest. At the beginning of each case, the question
of whether a conflict of interest exists for a member of the Committee shall be
decided, and the choice of the alternate member shall be made by the regular
members of the Committee on Grievance, the member(s) in question abstaining.
c.
No
members of the administration, including chairs, deans or directors of
departments, programs, centers or institutes, or of the Committee on Tenure,
Promotions and Appointments shall be eligible for election or service on the
Committee on Grievance.
4. Method of Election
a.
The
faculty members elected by the Faculty shall
be representative of the distribution of faculty members by division and
diversity, and serve staggered three-year terms.
b.
The
Vice Chair shall be elected from among the
full professors in their second year of service on the Committee. The Vice Chair shall become Chair during
his/her third year on the Committee.
c.
The
Faculty Executive Committee will solicit nominations from the voting Faculty,
and may add names to the list of nominees.
d.
The
Faculty Executive Committee shall prepare a mail ballot in which there are as
many categories as there are vacancies and each category has at least two
candidates, in such a fashion as to insure reasonable balance and wide
representation among the groups listed in Section 12,II. Each category shall contain nominees from at
least two departments. Provision for write-in candidates shall be provided for
each category.
e.
The
Secretary of the Faculty will send a mail ballot to all voting members of the
Faculty. The Faculty Executive Committee will
be responsible for counting the ballots and certifying the winner in each
category.
Part 2
Motion to
constitute the Grievance Committee on January 15 upon ratification of this
motion; to authorize the Faculty Executive Committee to conduct elections for
new members according to the procedures outlined in Section 4 above as soon as
feasible following ratification of this motion; the Faculty Executive Committee
to be charged with regulating the election of new members and terms of service
to allow for the balance of committee composition and the staggering of terms
of service prescribed in Sections 3 and 4 above.