PS #3528
| TITLE: |
Faculty Appeals Committee |
| AUTHOR: |
Chief Academic Officer |
| APPROVAL DATE: |
November 28, 2005
|
| EFFECTIVE DATE: |
November 28, 2005
|
| PURPOSE: |
To establish and delineate the functions of the Faculty
Appeals Committee |
| REVIEWER AND |
Chief Academic Officer |
| REVIEW DATE: |
Fall 2006 and every five years thereafter
|
| OPERATING DETAILS: |
|
1. The Faculty
Appeals committee functions to review, upon request, cases involving
contractual disagreements, and other grievances that may exist between
faculty members and the university administration. Contractual
agreements may include, but are not restricted to, cases of non-renewal
of contracts, dismissal or termination of both tenured and non-tenured
faculty, and cases involving the denial of tenure or promotion.
Academic employees should follow the procedures outlined in the
Personnel handbook for grievances other than termination appeals prior
to requesting a meeting with the Faculty Appeals Committee.
2. In cases of the
non-renewal of contracts for non-tenured faculty or the dismissal prior
to the expiration of a term contract (cf. PS#1303), the Committee may
investigate, if it feels investigation is needed, and may attempt to
help the parties reach an agreement by recommending appropriate action
to the President. This recommendation may include granting the faculty
member a formal hearing before the Academic Freedom Committee, if the
Faculty Appeals Committee is of the opinion that the reasons for
dismissal violate academic freedom or contractual relationships. Such a
recommendation must detail specific instances of the denial of academic
freedom or contractual irregularities.
3. When requested
to review cases of dismissal or termination of tenured faculty and
cases of denial of tenure or promotion (cf. PS# 1303), the Committee
may investigate, if it feels investigation is needed, and will
recommend appropriate action to the President. In this capacity the
Faculty Appeals Committee shall serve as the University Tenure
committee. In cases involving dismissal or termination of tenured
faculty, the Committee's recommendations may include the imposition of
some lesser penalty than outright dismissal. If the recommendations of
the committee are not accepted by the President, or the petitioner,
further hearings, if necessary will be conducted by the University
Academic Freedom Committee.
4. Membership on
the Faculty Appeals Committee shall consist of two faculty members from
each College; one faculty member from each Institute; and one faculty
member from the Library. Faculty members should be tenured. If a
unit does not have the required number of tenured faculty members, the
unit could lose representation. Representatives from a College must be
from different departments within the College. Aggrieved faculty
members may petition in writing for a hearing before the committee
through the Chief Academic Officer. The petition should state the
nature of the grievance. The Chief Academic Officer will call the
Committee together, present the grievance to the committee, and serve
as temporary chair until a chair is elected from the membership of the
committee. The chair will serve until the end of the hearing on the
grievance presented. A different chair will be elected for each new
grievance case presented to the Committee.
5. The Faculty
Appeals Committee will be convened by the Chief Academic Affairs
Officer within seven working days of the receipt of the petition.
The Committee will complete deliberations within twenty working days
and will forward their recommendations to the President and the
petitioner. Any requests for extensions of time by the petitioner
or by the Committee must be approved by the Chief Academic Officer.
Revised: January, 1983,
10/01/03, 11/28/05
Reviewed: 03/23/04