ECU Faculty Manual

Appendix Y. Grievance Policies and Procedures of East Carolina University

This appendix establishes structures and procedures for addressing faculty grievances through a formal procedure that includes access to mediation or direct review, and the potential for a committee hearing of the grievance. The following grievance procedures are confined to the faculty and administrative structure of East Carolina University. There are no appeals through Appendix Y beyond the Board of Trustees.

I. Faculty Grievances

Grievances within the scope of this appendix shall be limited to matters directly related to a faculty member's employment status and institutional relationships within East Carolina University. Such grievances shall also be limited to those remediable injuries attributable to the violation of a right or privilege based on federal or state law, university policies or regulations, or commonly shared understandings within the academic community about the rights, privileges, and responsibilities attending university employment or wrongful conduct that deprived the faculty member of an advantage that he or she otherwise apparently would have received. No grievance that involves matters related to a formal proceeding for the suspension, imposition of serious sanction, discharge, or termination of a faculty member's employment, or that is within the jurisdiction of another standing faculty committee falls within the scope of this appendix.

A grievant¹is any faculty member who seeks the remedies afforded by the provisions of this appendix. A respondent² is the person identified by a grievant as the person whose action is the object of the grievance and may include the person(s) who requested the action that is the object of the grievance.

The deadline for initiating a grievance is the end of the following Spring semester for an incident alleged to have occurred during the Fall semester and the end of the Fall semester for an incident alleged to have occurred during the Spring semester or during the summer months between the Spring and the Fall semesters. This deadline may be extended by a majority vote of the Grievance Committee³.