ECU Faculty Manual
Appendix Y. Grievance Policies and
Procedures of
A. Step One (Meet with Respondent)
Prior
to bringing a grievance to the attention of the committee chair, the grievant
shall meet with the respondent and shall attempt to resolve the proposed
grievance6. It is required that as part of this
meeting the grievant provide the respondent with a written copy of the proposed
grievance. If, in the opinion of the grievant, this
attempt to resolve the grievance fails,
the grievant shall so inform the respondent in writing. The grievant shall also inform the respondent
of his or her intentions to pursue the grievance through Appendix Y in this
memorandum.
The grievant shall forward to the chair of the
committee a copy of the
proposed grievance and a written memorandum indicating his or her
intention to seek redress. Upon notification by the grievant, the committee chair shall have under the grievant’s name a grievance file opened in the
B. Step Two (Petition for Redress)
Based
on the grievant’s memorandum to the respondent
required in Step One, the committee
chair shall inform all parties to the grievance that Step One has been
completed and the grievant may move to Step Two. Step Two requires the selection of counselors
who will serve as advocates for their respective client
and shall provide advice throughout the grievance process 8,9. Counselors shall not participate in the
hearing nor can they be called as witnesses (Step 5).
Appendix
Y is established to provide a peer review of faculty grievances and the use,
for any purpose, of attorneys, whether employed by the university or by a party
to the grievance, is prohibited. Except that the custodian of the records may seek advice from the
office of the University Attorney in determining the privilege of materials as
stated in Section II.B. above.
The
parties to the grievance shall inform the committee chair of the name of their
respective counselor. If a party to the
grievance chooses to serve as his or her own counselor, that information must
be communicated to the chair of the committee.
The grievant’s
counselor will advise and assist him or her in developing the Petition for
Redress for the alleged grievance. The Petition for Redress shall set forth the
identity of the respondent, the nature of the grievance, and the redress
sought. Individual issues must be
developed and presented separately in the Petition for Redress. The Petition
for Redress shall include all information necessary to support each of the grievant’s charges.
The grievant, through the committee chair, may request information
bearing on the grievance (See II, B).
Upon
completion of the Petition for Redress, the grievant shall provide a copy to
the respondent and the chair of the committee and by way of memorandum to the
committee chair, indicate his or her intention to continue with the
grievance. The Petition for Redress must
be provided to the respondent by certified mail or by another means that
provides proof of delivery.
The counselor for the respondent shall provide
advice as to the grievance process and help the respondent develop a response
to grievant’s Petition for
Redress.
C. Step Three (Mediation or Chancellor Review)
When
the committee chair receives the memorandum and Petition for Redress required
in Step Two, he or she shall ascertain if the grievant has taken Steps One and
Two, above. If the grievant has not
followed these steps, the committee chair shall inform the grievant that he or
she must take these steps prior to any further action being taken by the
committee.
If the committee chair determines that Steps One and
Two have been completed, he or she shall call a meeting of the committee. The committee shall make a final
determination that Steps One and Two have been completed. Based on information contained in grievant’s Petition for Redress, the committee shall
determine whether the grievance is within the scope of Appendix Y. The committee may decide that none, some, or
all of the issues in the Petition for Redress are within the scope of Appendix
Y. Issues not within the scope of
Appendix Y will receive no further attention.
The committee’s decision concerning grievance issues within the scope of
Appendix Y shall be communicated by memorandum to the grievant and
respondent. The ECU administrative
appeal process is ended for those issues rejected by the committee. Except as
noted here and below, the Petition for Redress shall not be modified.
Mediation
After the committee determines which, if any, issues
raised in grievant’s Petition for Redress are within
the scope of Appendix Y, the committee shall so inform the parties to the
grievance in writing and offer them the opportunity to seek a resolution
through mediation. Each party to the
grievance shall be asked to respond within 15 calendar days after the date of
notification by the committee chair as to his or her acceptance of
mediation. If any party to the
grievance rejects mediation, the chair of the committee will so notify the
parties to the grievance and inform them that the committee will meet to set a
grievance hearing date (Step Four). Mediation is limited solely to the grievant
and the named respondent. The
rejection of mediation shall have no bearing on decisions or recommendations
related to the grievance.
If
all parties to the grievance accept mediation10, the committee chair
by random selection will select a mediation provider11. The committee chair will contact the
mediation provider informing them of the need for their services12
and requesting a list of available mediators.
The parties to the grievance will be provided this list and asked to
designate each available mediator as either A (Acceptable) or U (Unacceptable). The evaluated lists will be returned to the
chair of the committee who will make a random selection from mediators
evaluated as Acceptable by all parties to the grievance. If there is no Acceptable mediator, a second
mediation provider will be contacted by the committee chair and the process
repeated. If there is no acceptable
mediator after the second effort, the chair of the committee will so notify the
parties to the grievance and inform them that the committee will meet to set a
grievance hearing date (Step Four).
If
an Acceptable mediator is identified, the parties to the grievance and the
mediation provider will be informed of the selection. The Petition for Redress
will be provided to the mediator by the committee chair. The mediator will communicate to the
committee chair the beginning date of the process. The mediator shall inform the committee chair
on a monthly basis that mediation is continuing with measurable progress. The mediation process shall not exceed three
months without formal approval of the committee chair or four or more months
without the formal approval of the committee.
Mediation will involve only parties to the grievance.
Mediation
will continue until such time that:
a. An agreement among the parties is reached (subject to
time limits).
b. A party to the grievance communicates to the chair of
the committee that further mediation is unlikely to be successful.
c. The mediator communicates to the chair of the
committee that further mediation is unlikely to be successful.
d. A party to the grievance communicates to the chair of
the committee that he or she has experienced resistance or delaying tactics in
scheduling mediation meetings.
e. A party to the grievance communicates to the chair of
the committee that the mediator is no longer acceptable.
Events b. through e., above,
will cause the
chair of the committee to notify the parties to the grievance and inform them
that the committee will meet to set a grievance hearing date (Step Four). Decisions
by the grievant, respondent(s), or mediator to terminate mediation shall have no bearing on
decisions or recommendations related to the grievance.
If an agreement is reached,
the grievance will be considered closed and a copy of the agreement, signed by
all parties to the grievance, will be placed in the grievance file maintained
in the
If the mediation process
produces a partial settlement, those issues shall be removed from the committee’s letter to the
grievant. A signed copy of the partial agreement shall be placed in the
grievance file. The grievant may request a hearing for those remaining issues
(Step Four).
Chancellor Review
In response to the
committee’s offer for mediation, a grievant who, for any reason, believes that
mediation or a hearing would not fairly address issues raised by the grievant,
may so inform the committee chair. The
committee chair shall inform the grievant that he or she may pursue a
Chancellor Review, which consists of a review by the Chancellor of grievant’s Petition for Redress and the committee’s
memorandum. If the grievant chooses Chancellor Review, he or she may not
request mediation or a hearing.
The
grievant shall provide copies of the Petition for Redress and the committee’s
memorandum along with any information the grievant believes supports his or her
contentions to the Chancellor and the committee chair. The Chancellor may request (with a copy to
the Faculty Grievance Committee Chair) that the respondent provide within 10
calendar days a written response to the Petition for Redress and any other
documents provided by the grievant.
The Chancellor shall provide a response to the grievant within 20
calendar days of the Chancellor’s receipt of all materials. A copy of his or her decision shall be provided
to the respondent and the committee chair.
The Chancellor’s decision is
final and may
not be appealed. A copy of the
information submitted by the grievant to the Chancellor and the Chancellor’s
decision shall be placed in the grievance file and the grievance closed.
D. Step Four13 (Request for a Hearing)
The grievant shall request, by memorandum to the committee chair with
copies to the respondent, a hearing by informing the chair of the Grievance
Committee that the grievant has followed the first three grievance steps, that
his or her grievance is not resolved, and that he or she requests a hearing by the Grievance Committee.
The
committee will review the grievant’s Petition for
Redress, the committee’s memorandum to the grievant, and any changes to this
memorandum that may have resulted from mediation. The committee may accept all,
some, or none of the unresolved issues for a hearing. If the committee decides not to hear certain
issues or decides that a hearing will not be granted because the grievant fails
to allege an injury that would entitle the faculty member to relief under
Section I. of
Appendix Y or because the grievance (or a portion thereof) is not within the
purview of the Faculty Grievance Committee, this decision will exhaust the
administrative appeals process. The committee’s decision shall be
communicated by certified mail, return receipt requested to all parties to the
grievance.
If the committee determines
that a hearing should be granted, the committee chair shall so notify the
grievant and respondent and shall set a time, date, and place for a hearing on
the Petition for Redress.14 The notification shall also include the
names of all committee members and alternates. The date of the hearing shall be
within 30 working days of this
notification15. A court reporter must be used to
record and transcribe any hearing.
A member of the committee shall recuse
himself or herself from participating in a hearing if there is reason to
believe that such participation will create a conflict of interest. Any party to a grievance may request that a
member of the committee recuse himself or herself
from the hearing for conflict of interest.
Such a request shall be in writing, stating the reason(s) for the
request and provided to the committee chair not later than five calendar days
after notification of the hearing date.
If the member declines, the committee shall determine by a majority vote,
the member in question not participating, whether the member shall recuse himself or herself.
The notice of hearing
will also request that both parties submit to the committee all information and
documents they intend to introduce at the hearing to support or
defend their respective positions16. The grievant’s
information shall include a copy of the Petition for Redress, a copy of the
committee’s memorandum describing the grievance, a brief statement as to the
results of the mediation effort17, a list of witnesses, and all
information to be used in support of grievant’s
charges. The respondent's information
shall include a list of witnesses and all information to be used to defend
against grievant’s charge. The committee may also request information
(see II. B) or the inclusion of witnesses from either party to the
grievance. A mediator shall not be
called as a witness in the hearing of a grievance and no part of the mediation
effort (e.g., conversations, offers, proposals, etc.) shall be introduced as
evidence to support or defend against grievant’s
charge.
Thirteen copies18
of all information and documents shall be submitted to the
Information submitted to
the committee shall be numbered in chronological order using Arabic numbers
with numbers assigned to all pages that exhibit information19. If the back of a page contains information,
it also must be numbered. This number
shall be preceded by a G for information submitted by the grievant and an R for
information submitted by the respondent.
If more than one grievant or more than one respondent is involved, their
designation will be communicated by the committee chair. If grievant’s
Petition for Redress includes more than one grievance, each grievance shall be
identified by a Roman Numeral with associated evidence
numbered as above in chronological order.
E.
Step Five (The
Hearing)
The
committee shall limit its investigations to the issues presented in the
Petition for Redress and confirmed by the committee’s memorandum to the
grievant. During the hearing, the committee
may explore issues raised by any party to the grievance that are concretely
based on issues raised in the Petition for Redress and its confirming
memorandum. The committee's
responsibility is limited to issuing recommendations based on the information
presented as part of Step Four and
at the hearing. Except as noted in Appendix Y, II.B and III.D, the power of the
committee shall be solely to hear the testimony of the grievant, the
respondent, and witnesses.
The
committee chair shall begin the hearing by briefly reviewing the committee's
authorization and powers. The chair then
shall state the conditions necessary for a hearing, the committee's belief that
the issues about to be heard satisfy these conditions, and the procedures to be
followed during the hearing.
The
chair shall then enter into the hearing record information submitted in Step
Four by the grievant and the respondent. The submitted information shall include all
information necessary to support or defend the grievance. However, with approval of the committee, the
grievant, respondent, or a witness may submit information during the
hearing. All such information must be
numbered and it becomes a part of the formal record of the hearing.
Only
the grievant, the respondent, members of the committee, and the court reporter
shall be present for the duration of the hearing. Witnesses, as noted below, will be present
only when giving testimony. It shall be the
responsibility of the parties to present their respective cases. The burden is
on the grievant to establish, by a preponderance of the evidence, that his or
her claim and requested redress are consistent with Appendix Y, I.
The grievant is responsible
for presentation of his or her case, including the testimony of witnesses. Committee members may question the grievant, the respondent
or witness (es) at any time during the hearing. After each of grievant’s
witness has completed his or her testimony and has responded to questions from
the respondent, the witness will be excused from the hearing unless recalled by
the hearing committee. At the end of the
grievant's presentation of his or her case, the
respondent(s) may question the grievant.
The
respondent’s presentation will follow the procedures noted above for
presentation of the grievant’s case. Committee members may question the grievant,
the respondent(s), or witnesses at any time during the hearing. When neither the grievant, the respondent, nor the committee has
further questions, the grievant is given the opportunity to make a final
statement, and then the respondent(s) is given the opportunity to make a final
statement.
F. Step Six (Committee Report)
The committee's report shall be based only on facts,
documentation, arguments presented at the hearing. Committee recommendations are to be based on
but are not limited to grievant’s requested redress.
Copies of the committee’s
report will be sent to the grievant and respondent by certified mail, return
receipt requested. A copy of the committee’s report, a copy of the written
record of the hearing proceedings, and a copy of all evidence submitted will be
placed in the grievance file. This file
will be open to the committee and all parties to the grievance until the
grievance is closed (See below).
If
the committee finds that the grievant’s contentions
are not supported or makes no recommendations in favor of the grievant, the
committee shall submit its report to the grievant, respondent, chair of the
faculty, and Chancellor. Within 20
calendar days the Chancellor shall in writing inform the grievant, respondent,
chair of the faculty, and grievance committee of his/her decision. The decision
of the Chancellor is final.
If the committee finds
that the grievant’s contentions are supported and
makes recommendations in favor of the grievant, the committee shall submit its
report to the grievant, respondent, and Chair of the Faculty. Within 20 calendar days of the
recommendations, the respondent shall communicate in writing to the committee
chair his or her response to the committee recommendations. If the respondent’s adjustments are not
consistent with the recommendations of the committee but are satisfactory to
the grievant, the grievance will be closed.
If the respondent’s
adjustments are consistent with the committee’s recommendation but are not
satisfactory to the grievant, the grievant may appeal to the Chancellor. By memorandum, the grievant shall inform the
Chancellor of his or her appeal and include a detailed explanation of the
reason for the appeal. A copy of the
appeal memorandum shall be sent to the chair of the committee and the faculty
chair. The chair of the committee shall
forward the committee report along with all supporting documentation to the
Chancellor.
If the respondent’s
adjustments are not consistent with the committee’s recommendation and are not
satisfactory to the grievant, the committee report along with all supporting
documentation shall be forwarded to the Chancellor with the committee’s request
that the recommended adjustment be made.
If
the grievant appeals or the committee requests the Chancellor to make the
recommended adjustment, “the Chancellor shall base his or her decision on the
recommendations of the faculty committee and the record from the faculty
grievance committee hearing. The
Chancellor may, in his or her discretion, consult with the faculty grievance
committee before making a decision.”
(The University of
If the Chancellor’s
decision does not support the recommendations of the committee, the grievant
may appeal to the Board of Trustees of ECU in accordance with the procedures in
Section III.G. Step Seven (Appeal to the Board of Trustees),
below. The decision of the Board
of Trustees is final and may not be appealed to the Board of Governors.
Dissenting Chancellor’s Report
Should the Chancellor disagree with the committee’s
report based on its interpretation of Appendix Y, I. or the Faculty Manual, the Chancellor shall
withhold the Chancellor’s decision, and inform the committee, all parties to
the grievance, and the faculty chair of those areas of disagreement within the
required 20 days. The committee will
then request the Faculty Governance Committee to begin the normal
interpretation process as set forth in the procedures of the Faculty Governance
Committee. It is expected that the
Faculty Governance Committee will expedite this request. Upon completion of the interpretation
process, the Faculty Grievance Committee will make any necessary
recommendations. The report will be distributed
in accordance with Appendix Y, III.F., with the grievant’s rights to appeal intact.
G. Step
Seven (Appeal to Board of Trustees)
A. If the committee did not advise that an adjustment in favor of the
grievant was appropriate, then the decision of the Chancellor is final and may
not be appealed.
B. If neither the relevant administrative official nor the
Chancellor makes an adjustment that is advised by the committee in favor of the
grievant, then the grievant may appeal to the Board of Trustees. The decision of the Board of Trustees is
final.
II. The Board of Trustees may delegate to a designated committee the
authority to make procedural decisions and to make final decisions on behalf of
the Board concerning appeals of faculty grievances submitted pursuant to
section 607 of The Code.
III.Timeline for Appeals
A. A grievant who seeks to appeal
the Chancellor's disposition of his grievance must file written notice of
appeal with the Board of Trustees, by submitting such notice to the Chancellor,
with adequate evidence of delivery, within 10 days after the grievant's receipt of the Chancellor's decision. The notice shall contain a brief statement of
the basis for the appeal. If the Board
agrees to consider the appeal, it will do so on a schedule established by the
Chancellor, subject to any instructions received from the Board or from a
committee of the Board which has jurisdiction of the subject matter of the
grievance. The Board will issue its decision
as expeditiously as is practical. If the
grievant fails to comply with the schedule established for perfecting and
processing the appeal, the Board in its discretion may extend the time for
compliance or it may dismiss the appeal.
B. If the Chancellor's decision
is appealable, the Chancellor's notice of the
disposition of a grievant's case must inform the
grievant: (1) of the time limit within which the grievant may file a petition
for review by the Board of Trustees, (2) that a written notice of appeal
containing a brief statement of the basis for appeal is required within the ten
day period and, (3) that, after notice of appeal is received in a timely
manner, a detailed schedule for the submission of relevant documents will be
established. All such notices of
decision are to be conveyed to the grievant by a method which produces adequate
evidence of delivery.
IV. Standard of
Review: In order to prevail before the
Board of Trustees, the faculty member must demonstrate that the Chancellor's decision
was clearly erroneous, that it violated applicable federal or state law or
university policies or regulations, or that the process used in deciding the
grievance was materially flawed.