ECU Faculty Manual

Appendix Y. Grievance Policies and Procedures of East Carolina University

 

FOOTNOTES

 

1A grievant must be a current faculty member of East Carolina University.  A grievance may be initiated by multiple grievants.  If a faculty member’s employment ends during the grievance process, the grievant may request the Chancellor to allow the grievance to continue.  Such a request must be made prior to the end of employment.  Copies of such a request must be provided to the grievance committee chair, and the Chancellor is to respond to such a request, with a copy to the committee chair, within 20 calandar days.

 

 2A named respondent must be a current employee of East Carolina University.  If the named respondent was a former administrator, the person who presently occupies the administrative position will be named as the substitute respondent and the former administrator as the named respondent.  A grievant may name multiple respondents.  A faculty member or a departmental or unit committee and/or its chairperson may be named as a respondent.  An administrator who concurred with the actions of the respondent may not be named as a respondent.

 

34The committee may waive the time requirement for the introduction of evidence; the grievant’s requested redress; or both.

 

4The committee may be asked by either party to the grievance to evaluate the basis for such privilege and to evaluate the value of such information to the grievance.  If the privileged information bears on the grievance, the committee is required to resolve the issue of privilege.  If such information bears on the grievance but cannot be obtained, the committee shall decided whether continuing the grievance/granting a hearing would be unfair to the grievant/respondent.  If such a decision is made, the committee shall state its reason(s) and terminate the grievance process; thus, ending the administrative hearing process at East Carolina University.

 

5In this instance, procedural advice is limited to the nature of the committee, its charge, the options open to the party to the grievance, and the current membership of the committee.   

 

6If a grievant does not complete Step One, any information collected by the committee chair will be destroyed.  If the grievant completes Step One, all information collected by the committee chair in the administration of the grievance will, at the conclusion of the grievance, be placed in the grievance file.

 

7The grievance file maintained in the Faculty Senate Office under the grievant’s name becomes a part of the Personnel File for both grievant and respondent.  A note will be placed in grievant’s and respondent’s Personnel File Checklist regarding the location of this file.

 

8Unless requested in writing to the committee chair, the parties to the grievance agree that all communications, including e-mail, will be sent to their university addresses.

 

9A list of potential counselors is maintained by the Faculty Senate Office. It is recommended that the counselor be a tenured professor and have extensive experience in faculty governance as evidenced by service on university governance/appellate committees.  The parties to the grievance may choose eligible ECU current or retired faculty members as their counselors or they may choose to serve as their own counselors.

 

10Once all parties to the grievance have accepted mediation, the grievant shall not take his or her grievances to administrative levels higher than that of the respondent.  To do so is inconsistent with the mediation process and will result in the termination of the grievance procedures under Appendix Y, ending administrative review of the grievance.

 

11To avoid the appearance of a conflict-of-interest all mediation will be performed by third-party groups/organizations/individuals who have no ties to East Carolina University.  A list of such providers will be developed and maintained by the Faculty Chair.  The provider must provide evidence to the Faculty Chair that the provider’s mediator(s) are certified by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts.

 

12Procedures for the origination of purchase orders and payment for services of the mediator will be developed and administered by the Chair of the Faculty.

 

13 A request for a hearing that continues from another part of the Faculty Manual (e.g. Appendix J, Appendix V, etc.) will be evaluated by the committee.  If insufficient information is available, the committee will request that the grievant and respondent choose a counselor and the grievant complete a Petition for Redress.  Presentation of the Petition for Redress will allow the committee to evaluate the grievance.  If the committee agrees that the grievance is within the scope of Appendix Y, the grievant will be allowed to choose mediation or request a hearing.  A Chancellor Review is not an option.

 

14Scheduling a committee hearing during the summer months is complicated by the absence of faculty and teaching schedules.  If the committee on its first effort cannot schedule a hearing during the summer, it will be scheduled during the committee’s organizational meeting in the fall semester.

 

15 If either the grievant or the respondent petitions the committee in writing for a postponement of the hearing for health reasons or due to a personal emergency, the committee chair shall postpone the meeting for a period of time appropriate to the circumstances.  If either the grievant or the respondent petitions the committee in writing for a postponement of the hearing for reasons other than health or personal emergency, the committee chair shall determine by telephone or e-mail whether it is the general agreement of the committee to postpone the hearing for one week from the scheduled date. 

 

16Such information and documents are not limited to written materials but may include sound recordings, video recordings, photographs as well as other forms of information or documentation.

 

17This statement shall only include information as to the beginning and ending dates of the mediation and whether mediation was successful, partially successful, or unsuccessful.  For a grievant requesting a hearing under Footnote 13, who did not choose mediation, this statement is unnecessary.

 

18The department or unit to which a party to a grievance is assigned is responsible for providing access to copy services during the grievance process. These services shall be at no cost to the grievant or respondent.

 

19Required Numbering:        One Grievance      

 

Grievant:  Petition for Redress G  page 1…..n

                 Supporting Information    G, page 1…n  (In chronological order)

 

Respondent:  Supporting Information   R, page 1…n  (In chronological order)

 

            Multiple Grievances

 

Grievant:   Petition for Redress:

                                                Grievance I  G I   page 1…n

                                                Grievance II   G   page 1…n

                                         Continue for the number of included grievances.

 

                              Supporting Information:

                                                Grievance One:    G I, page 1….n   (In chronological order)

                                    Grievance Two:    G II, page 1….n  (In chronological order)

                                    Continue for the number of included grievances.

 

Respondent:  Supporting Information:

                                                Grievance One  R I, page 1….n  (In chronological order)

                       Grievance Two  R II, page 1…n  (In chronological order)