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Faculty Grievance Committee and Hearing Panels: Composition and Procedures- Composition and Term of Service
- Composition and Selection of the Committee
- The Faculty Grievance Committee shall consist of three full-time
faculty members and two administrative faculty according to the following
guidelines.
Three tenured full-time teaching and research faculty members appointed by the Faculty
Senate.
Two administrative faculty members appointed by the president as described in paragraph
I(A)(2) below.
The chair shall be a tenured faculty member elected by the Faculty Grievance
Committee.
Presidential appointments to the Grievance Committee shall be
made as follows. After consultation with the president, the Executive
Committee of the Faculty Senate shall recommend to the president
five administrative faculty members for service on the Grievance
Committee. From the recommendations of the Executive Committee, the
president shall choose two appointees to the committee.
- Term of Service
Except as otherwise provided herein, a Faculty Grievance Committee
member shall serve a term of two calendar years, commencing August
1 in a year and ending July 31 of the second year thereafter.
All members of the committee, including those initially appointed
to one-year terms, may be reappointed to consecutive terms.
The chair shall serve a two-year term and may be appointed to
serve consecutive terms.
If a position is vacated during midterm,
it shall be filled as the position was filled according to the rules in I(A),
and the individual designated to fill the position shall
serve until the expiration of the original term, unless reappointed.
Members of the committee shall make diligent efforts to attend
all meetings of the committee. The committee may declare vacant the
position of a member who is absent from three committee meetings
during the course of a year.
- Faculty Grievance Committee Procedures
- General
All questions to be decided by the committee shall be decided
by a majority of committee members present and voting. A quorum of
the committee shall be four members. Unless otherwise provided herein,
all questions to be decided by the chair and all actions to be taken
by the chair may be decided or taken by the chair's designated
representative on the committee if the chair is unavailable to make
such decisions or to take such actions.
It shall be the responsibility of the chair of the Grievance Committee
to initiate the proper procedures for review of a matter that is
referred to the committee. A matter arising under the Faculty Grievance
Policy shall be reviewed in accordance with the procedures described
in section II(B). A matter arising under section III of the Faculty
Sanctions Policy shall be reviewed in accordance with the procedures
described in section II(C). A matter arising under the policy on
Dismissal of Faculty from Employment Due to Financial Exigency or
Discontinuance of a Program of Study or a Department of Instruction
shall be reviewed in accordance with the procedures described in
section II(D).
All notices required by these procedures to be given shall be in writing and
shall be considered given as required when delivered electronically or
hand-delivered to the grievant and respondent. Notice to the chair of the Grievance
Committee, to the chair of the Hearing Panel, or to an administrative
officer in a matter before the committee shall be considered given
as required when hand or electronically delivered to the office where the chair or
such administrative officer receives mail.
Except as provided in paragraphs II(A)(5-6), designated university vacation
days and days between the end of one academic year
and the beginning of the next academic year shall not be included
in calculations of the time periods specified in these procedures.
This provision is applicable only to the Faculty Grievance Committee
Procedures and is not applicable to the Faculty Grievance Policy,
the Faculty Sanctions Policy, or any other university policy or procedure,
unless otherwise provided in that policy or procedure.
Generally, the committee will not be active during the months
between the end of one academic year and the beginning of the next
academic year. However, the committee may continue its activity after
the end of an academic year when necessary to complete review of
a matter pending before the committee, particularly if, in the committee's
judgment, a delay until the beginning of the next academic year would
have a substantial adverse effect upon a party's interests.
Under such circumstances, the time periods described in these procedures
shall be calculated by excluding only designated university vacation days.
The president may request that the chair of the committee initiate
the applicable procedures of the committee during the months between
the end of one academic year and the beginning of the next academic
year when necessary for review of a matter arising during those months
under the Faculty Sanctions Policy. Upon receiving such a request,
the chair shall initiate the applicable procedures of the committee
and may call meetings of the committee as necessary. During those
months, a quorum of the committee shall be three members, so
long as one Faculty Senate appointee and one presidential appointee
are present, and the time periods described in these procedures shall
be calculated by excluding only designated university vacation days.
- Procedures for Review of a Faculty Grievance
- Within 30 days of the chair's receipt of a written
statement of faculty grievance, the committee shall determine whether
the written statement was filed in a timely manner, is adequate in
that it meets the requirements of section III(A)(2) of the Faculty
Grievance Policy, and describes a matter that the committee has
the authority to review under the Faculty Grievance Policy.
If the Faculty Grievance Committee determines that the
written statement of grievance does not meet the requirements
of section III(A)(2) of the Faculty Grievance Policy, the grievant
shall be advised of the deficiencies in the statement and shall
be provided a reasonable time, as determined by the committee,
within which to forward an adequate statement to the chair. If
the faculty member does not file a statement that the committee
determines to be adequate within such reasonable time, the committee
may decide not to review the grievance. If the committee so decides,
it shall notify the faculty member accordingly. If the faculty
member does file a statement that the committee determines to
be adequate within such reasonable time, the committee shall
have 14 days from the chair's receipt of the
adequate statement within which to determine whether the grievance
was filed in a timely manner and whether the committee has authority
to review the matter described in the statement. The timeliness
of the filing of the grievance shall be determined by the date
the initial statement was filed, although the committee may have
determined it to be inadequate, so long as the committee has
not closed the matter by deciding not to review the grievance.
If the committee determines that the written grievance
was not filed in a timely manner or that the matter described
in the grievance is not within the authority of the committee
to review, the committee shall not review the grievance.
The faculty member shall be notified of the committee's
decision and the reasons therefore.
If the committee should decide that the written statement
was filed in a timely manner, is adequate, and describes a matter
over which the committee has authority, the grievant and the
administrative officer against whom the grievance was filed shall
be notified that the committee will review the grievance, and
the administrative officer shall be provided a copy of the written
statement filed by the grievant.
Within 14 days of receipt of the committee's
decision that it will review a grievance, the administrative officer
against whom the grievance was filed shall provide to the chair and
to the grievant a written response to the written statement of grievance.
The response should be filed electronically, be no more than 1,000 words in
length and should include, as attachments, copies of relevant documentation.
Within 14 days of the chair's receipt of the
administrator's response, the chair shall impanel a Hearing
Panel as described in section III(A). The Faculty Grievance Committee chair shall provide the
written statement of grievance, the administrator's response,
and attached documentation to the chair of the Hearing Panel.
The proceedings on the grievance before the Hearing Panel shall
be in accordance with the procedures of the Hearing Panel as described
in section IV.
Upon concluding its hearing procedures and upon making its findings
on the merits of the grievance, as described in section IV, the panel
shall determine its recommendation for dismissal or remedy of the
grievance and shall report to the chair of the Grievance Committee
as described in section IV.
- Review by Hearing of Matters Arising under Section III of the
Faculty Sanctions Policy
Prior to the president's request that the chair of the Grievance
Committee initiate the applicable procedures to dismiss or to sanction
severely a faculty member, the administrative official designated
by the president shall notify the faculty member of the president's
intent to make such a request. This notice to the faculty member
shall include a statement of charges.
The president's request to the chair of the Grievance Committee
shall include a copy of the statement of charges provided to the
faculty member.
The statement of charges shall include a specific description
of the charges, a summary of the evidence upon which the charges
are based, a list of witnesses whose identities are known, a summary
of the expected testimony of those witnesses, and a recommendation
of sanctions.
The Grievance Committee shall determine whether the statement
of charges is procedurally adequate in that it meets the requirements
of paragraph 3 above. If the committee should decide that the statement
of charges is procedurally inadequate in that it does not meet the
requirements of paragraph 3 above, the administrative official shall
be advised of the deficiencies in the statement and within a reasonable
time, as determined by the committee, shall forward an adequate statement
to the faculty member and to the chair. The chair shall not initiate
the following procedures until the administrative official has presented
an adequate statement of charges.
Within 14 days of the chair's receipt of an adequate
statement of charges, the chair of the Grievance Committee will impanel
a Hearing Panel as described in section III(A). The chair shall provide
the written statement of charges and the response of the faculty
member, if any, to the chair of the Hearing Panel.
The faculty member may respond in writing to the statement of
charges at any time prior to the hearing. The faculty member's
failure to respond to the charges shall not constitute an admission
of the charges. The faculty member's response, if any, shall
be made to the chair of the Grievance Committee. Upon receipt of
a faculty member's response, the chair of the Grievance Committee
shall forward a copy to the administrative official who presented
the charges and a copy to the chair of the Hearing Panel, if the
panel has been constituted.
During each and every stage of the proceedings on the statement
of charges, the faculty member may choose to appear, to be heard
or not.
Each party may be represented by legal counsel or by an adviser
during each and every stage of the proceedings.
The burden of proving the charges shall be on the administrative
official.
The proceedings before the Hearing Panel on the statement of charges shall
be in accordance with the procedures of the Hearing Panel as described
in sections IV(A) and IV(B).
If the panel should conclude that none of the charges against
the faculty member were proven, the proceedings before the panel
will terminate and the panel will report to the chair of the Grievance
Committee as described in section IV(C) with a recommendation that
the charges be dismissed.
If the panel should find the charges proven in whole or in part,
it shall convene a hearing on the sanction.
- At the sanction hearing:
The administrative official and the faculty member shall have
the right to present evidence, including witnesses and documentary
evidence, and to present arguments on the question of the appropriate
sanction, including evidence in mitigation or aggravation of
the seriousness of the charges and evidence as to the implications
of the charges for the welfare of the university.
The previous disciplinary record of the faculty member may
be considered by the panel but becomes relevant only at this
stage of the proceedings.
Except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, the sanction
hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the procedures
described in sections IV(A) and IV(B).
At the close of the presentation of evidence on the sanction,
the Hearing Panel shall adjourn the hearing and shall reconvene with
only members of the panel present and shall determine its recommendations
as to the sanction(s) to be imposed upon the faculty member.
Panel members who disagree with the Hearing Panel's recommendations may
provide an explanation and rationale for the disagreement.
The panel may recommend dismissal of the faculty member or the
imposition of another severe sanction, or if it finds that the proven
charge does not warrant imposition of a severe sanction, it may recommend
that a minor sanction be imposed.
Upon determining its recommendation, the chair of the Hearing Panel shall report to
the chair of the Grievance Committee as described in section IV(C).
- Procedures Governing Review of a Matter Involving the Dismissal
of Faculty from Employment Due to Financial Exigency, Etc.
Within 14 days of the chair's receipt of a request
from the president that the Grievance Committee review
a faculty member's appeal of a notice of termination issued to that faculty
member under the policy for Dismissal of Faculty from Employment
Due to Financial Exigency, etc., the chair of the committee shall
impanel a Hearing Panel.
The chair of the Grievance Committee shall provide a copy of the
faculty member's appeal and notice of termination to the chair
of the Hearing Panel.
The Hearing Panel shall review the notice of termination in accordance
with the procedures described in section IV.
The president or an administrative official designated by the
president shall appear in proceedings before the Hearing Panel in
support of the notice of termination issued to the faculty member.
The faculty member shall bear the burden of proving that the president's
decision to issue notice was arbitrary, capricious, unreasonable,
or contrary to the facts or that there was a material deviation from
the university's policies or procedures in the issuance of
the notice.
Each party may be represented by an advisor who may be legal counsel. Faculty members from the same department of instruction or program
of study may appear before the Hearing Panel collectively if they
should so choose.
- Hearing Panels
- Composition of the Panels
The committee shall not hear matters brought before it but shall
designate Hearing Panels for that purpose. A Hearing Panel shall
consist of five full-time faculty members and shall be selected
on a case-by-case basis.
Each member of the Faculty Grievance Committee, including the
chair, shall designate one member of a Hearing Panel.
After committee members have designated the Hearing Panel members,
the chair of the Grievance Committee shall appoint one of the Hearing
Panel members as chair.
A Grievance Committee member who has taken a prejudicial public
position on a matter before the committee, who has a personal interest
in a matter before the committee, or who has a close personal or
direct professional relationship with either of the parties in a
matter before the committee shall not designate a member of the Hearing
Panel for that matter. Such Grievance Committee member shall disclose the
relevant conflict of interest and recuse him/herself. No person may
serve on the Grievance Committee or a Hearing Panel if he/she is
the person against whom the grievance is brought.
In the event that a member of the Grievance Committee appointed
by the president is disqualified or is otherwise unable to designate
a Hearing Panel member, the other presidential appointee on the committee
shall designate one additional Hearing Panel member. In the event
that a member of the Grievance Committee appointed by the Faculty
Senate is disqualified or is otherwise unable to designate a Hearing
Panel member, the other Faculty Senate appointee on the committee
shall designate one additional Hearing Panel member. In the event
that the disqualified or otherwise unavailable member of the Grievance
Committee is the chair, the remaining four members of the Grievance
Committee shall designate the fifth member of the Hearing Panel and
appoint its chair.
Only full-time faculty members whose duties are primarily non-administrative
in nature are eligible to serve on Hearing Panels. A Hearing Panel
constituted to hear the case of a tenured faculty member shall consist
of tenured faculty members. A Hearing Panel constituted to hear the
case of a nontenured faculty member shall consist of at least one
but not more than two nontenured faculty members. No
members of the panel may be from the college of the
faculty member whose case will be heard by the panel. No
member of the panel may be from the library if the faculty
member whose case will be heard is from the library. There shall
be no restriction as to the colleges of panel members selected to
hear the case of an administrative faculty member who has no departmental
designation.
Department chairs are ineligible to serve on a Hearing Panel constituted
to hear a grievance in which the action of a department chair is
the action being grieved.
It shall be the responsibility of the chair of the Faculty Grievance
Committee to assure that members of the Hearing Panel meet the requirements
described herein. In order to assure that such requirements are met,
the chair may limit, as to college and as to tenure status, the designations
made by Grievance Committee members. Limitations upon such designations
should be evenly applied to designations made by Faculty Senate appointees
on the committee and to designations made by presidential appointees
on the committee.
Either party in a case may challenge individual members of the
Hearing Panel for cause. "Cause" may include the taking of a
prejudicial public position on the matter to be heard, a personal
interest in the matter to be heard, or a close, personal or direct
professional relationship with either of the parties. The Grievance
Committee shall determine over the legitimacy of a challenge.
Members of a Hearing Panel should voluntarily recuse themselves
from hearing matters if their participation on the Hearing Panel could
result in legitimate challenges for cause, whether or not such challenges
have been made.
Any Hearing Panel member who has a close personal or direct professional
relationship with the person filing a grievance or the administrator
against whom the grievance is filed must disqualify himself/herself
from serving on that case.
- Hearing Panel Procedures
- Prior to the Hearing
The Faculty Grievance Committee chair will provide contact
information for the Hearing Panel chair to the grievant and respondent.
At least five working days prior to a hearing all parties must
submit all written documents and exhibits to be considered at the
hearing to the chair of the Hearing Panel who will distribute,
or otherwise make available, all materials to both parties at least
two working days before the hearing.
The Hearing Panel shall be provided and shall review all statements
and attached documentation filed by the parties in the cases before
the panel.
The Hearing Panel may hold a pre-hearing conference
with or without the parties prior to the hearing to discuss procedures, to clarify
the issues, to exchange documentary evidence, to make stipulations
of fact, and to take any other actions necessary to expedite the
proceedings.
At any stage of the proceedings, the Hearing Panel may call upon
the University Counsel, the chair of the Grievance Committee, or the Grievance Committee as
a whole for procedural advice concerning the matter before the panel.
The Hearing Panel chair shall set the date, time, and place
of the hearing. Insofar as is possible within the guidelines described
in paragraphs 5 and 6, the hearing shall be set at a date and time
which is convenient to all parties and continuance of the hearing
date may be granted by the chair of the Hearing Panel upon the request
of either party or upon the panel's own motion.
A hearing on a matter arising under the Faculty Grievance Policy
and under the policy on Dismissal of Faculty From Employment Due
to Financial Exigency, etc. should be held no less than
14 days and no more than 45 days after impaneling of the
Hearing Panel. Upon agreement of all parties, a hearing may be held
earlier than 14 days and, in extraordinary cases as determined
by the chair of the Grievance Committee in consultation with the
University Counsel, a hearing may be held later than 45 days.
A hearing on a matter arising under the Faculty Sanctions Policy
shall be held no less than 30 days and no more than
60 days after notice of the statement of charges is given to the
faculty member. Upon agreement of all parties, a hearing may be held
earlier than 30 days and, in extraordinary cases as determined
by the chair of the Grievance Committee, a hearing may be held later
than 60 days.
Fourteen days prior to the hearing, the chair of the Hearing
Panel shall notify each party of the date, time, and place of the
hearing. A party may agree to waive this notice. All parties not
given timely notice must agree to waive notice before the hearing
may be held as scheduled.
Except as provided in Paragraph II C(7), each party who has been
given timely notice or who has waived timely notice is expected to
appear in person at the hearing. If any such party should fail to
appear, the chair of the Hearing Panel may decide, in the chair's
sole discretion, to proceed with the hearing in that party's
absence. If the chair of the Hearing Panel should decide to proceed,
the party's absence shall not invalidate the hearing.
- At the Hearing
The administrative official and the faculty member in the case
before the panel shall present evidence by calling and questioning
witnesses, by introducing the documentary evidence, or otherwise.
Each party shall have the right to ask questions of witnesses called
by the other party or by the Hearing Panel.
During the hearing, each party to the grievance and the Hearing Panel may have one advisor. The
advisor may
serve as a consultant to the party/panel during the presentation
of the matter before the Hearing Panel. The advisor is not permitted
to address the Hearing Panel, the other party, witnesses, or other
individuals present at the hearing. The advisor may confer only
with the individual or the panel for whom he or she is the designated
advisor. Failure to comply with this rule will result in removal
of the advisor for the duration of the hearing.
The burden of proving the allegations of the grievance shall be
upon the faculty member.
Access to the hearing shall be limited to the panel, parties, advisors, and witnesses. In conducting the hearing, the Hearing Panel shall admit all evidence
determined by it to be relevant and not cumulative and shall accord
such evidence the merit it deserves. The panel may limit the number
of witnesses to prevent repetitive or cumulative testimony and may
grant adjournments as it deems necessary.
The Hearing Panel may determine, on its own motion, the necessity
of calling witnesses additional to those called by the parties and
of examining documentary evidence additional to that presented by
the parties.
- The university will make its best efforts to assist the parties
and the Hearing Panel in obtaining witnesses and documentary evidence.
Each party in a case before the panel shall have access to all records
needed to present that party's case except as follows:
Access to records covered by the Family Education Rights and
Privacy Act of 1974, as amended (section 438 of the General Education
Provisions Act, Title IV of Public Law 90-247, as amended) shall
be in accordance with the provisions of that act;
Access to records covered by the Virginia Privacy Protection
Act of 1976 (2.1-377 et seq. of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as
amended) shall be in accordance with the provisions of that act;
and
There shall be no right of access to records excluded absolutely
by the provisions of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act
(2.1-340 et seq. of the 1950 Code of Virginia, as amended).
The Hearing Panel chair will preside at the hearing and
will rule, on the panel's behalf, on all procedural questions
which arise during the hearing. A panel member who disagrees
with the chair's ruling on a procedural question may ask that
the question be decided by the panel and the question shall be so
decided. All questions on the merits will be decided by the panel.
A digital audio recording shall be made of the hearing and shall
be kept securely in the University Counsel's office.
- After the Hearing
At the close of the presentation of evidence, the Hearing Panel
shall adjourn the hearing and shall reconvene with only members of
the panel present to make its findings and to arrive at its conclusions
and recommendations for dismissal or remedy of the grievance.
- The Hearing Panel shall create a report which shall include the
following:
Copies of statements and attached documentation filed by the
parties in the matter before the panel;
The names of the parties and their advisers; The names of witnesses appearing before the panel; The findings and conclusions of the panel which must include
addressing the charges brought by the faculty member; and
The recommendations and rationale of the panel. Panel members
who disagree with the Hearing Panel's recommendations may provide
an explanation and rationale for the disagreement.
The report shall be certified as correct by each Hearing Panel
member who participated in the decision.
The Hearing Panel chair shall provide copies of the report to the
chair of the Grievance Committee and to each party.
A digital audio or recording of the hearing shall accompany
the report provided to the chair of the Grievance Committee and
shall be made available to the parties.
- Decisions by a Hearing Panel and Its Chair
All questions to be decided by a Hearing Panel shall be decided
by a majority vote of panel members present and voting.
A quorum of the panel shall be four members. Generally, a panel member who has not attended a substantial portion
of each hearing session held in a case should not vote in the panel's
decision on the merits of the case or on the panel's recommendation
in the case. In the event that a question is raised by either party
or by other panel members as to the propriety of a panel member's
vote because of that panel member's absences, the question
shall be referred to the Grievance Committee for determination.
All questions to be decided by the Hearing Panel chair and all
actions to be taken by the chair may be decided or taken by the chair's
designated representative on the panel if the chair is unavailable
to make such decisions or take such actions.
- Faculty Grievance Committee's Review and Report
- Review of the Report of the Hearing Panel
Within 30 days of the chair's receipt of the Hearing
Panel's report, the Grievance Committee shall review the report
and shall determine whether the procedural requirements of the committee
and of the Hearing Panel were met and whether the recommendations
made by the panel were within the authority of the Grievance Committee
and the panel to make.
Before making such a determination, the committee may request
and consider written or oral statements from the parties or their
designated representatives on questions of procedure or on questions
regarding the committee's authority to make the recommendations
proposed by the panel. Each party must be provided a copy of any
written statement filed by the other party and each party must be
provided the opportunity to be present when an oral statement is
made by the other party.
- Action and Report of the Grievance Committee
If the Grievance Committee should decide that procedural errors
were committed which were substantially prejudicial to either party,
the committee may refer the matter to the original Hearing Panel
for a rehearing of the matter or may impanel another Hearing Panel
for a rehearing of the matter. The committee shall provide a reasonable
time within which the rehearing must be completed and a report provided
to the chair of the committee.
If the Grievance Committee should decide that the recommendations
made by the panel are not within the authority of the committee or
of the panel to recommend, the committee shall refer the matter to
the Hearing Panel for a redetermination of its recommendations. The
Hearing Panel shall report its revised recommendations to the committee
within a reasonable time, as determined by the committee.
Upon the Grievance Committee's determination that procedural
requirements were met and that the recommendations of the Hearing
Panel were within the authority of the committee or of the panel
to make, the Grievance Committee shall so certify and shall adopt
the report and recommendations of the Hearing Panel as the report
and recommendations of the Grievance Committee.
The chair of the Grievance Committee shall advise the chair of
the Hearing Panel and both parties of any action taken by the Grievance
Committee upon its review of the report of the Hearing Panel. Both
parties shall be provided copies of any new or revised reports issued
by the Hearing Panel.
The chair of the Grievance Committee shall transmit the report
and recommendations of the Grievance Committee to the president (see
section IV of the Faculty Grievance Policy).
- Retaliation Prohibited
Retaliation against witnesses for any party is prohibited, and University Policy 3020 applies to all alleged
retaliation that arises from or as a result of a grievance matter. Witnesses are defined as persons that
provide actual testimony or provide documentary evidence.
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