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Winthrop University
Faculty Manual
APPENDIX III: POLICY AND PROCEDURES FOR FACULTY 101 GRIEVANCES AND APPEALS
(Revised July 1982, Board of Trustees; Approved February 1983, State
Personnel.)
I. Purpose
It is the purpose of these procedures to provide an orderly process
whereby any faculty member who feels that he/she has been treated unfairly may seek a fair
and prompt review of his/her grievances.
II. Statement of Policy
It is the policy of Winthrop University that all employees shall be
treated fairly and consistently in all matters related to their employment. Any permanent
faculty member who feels that he/she has not been so treated shall have the right to
present an appeal free from interference, restraint, coercion, or reprisal. No employee
shall be disciplined or otherwise prejudiced in his/her employment with the University for
exercising his/her rights under this policy.
The faculty member shall be entitled to such time off from his/her regular
duties as may be necessary and reasonable for the presentation and processing of the
grievance or appeal. However, the faculty member shall not be entitled to such time off to
prepare for the presentations or to confer with advisors other than administrative
officers of the University.
III. Applicability
The procedures prescribed below are to be used by unclassified
personnel who are for purposes of this policy shall be teaching and research faculty,
professional librarians, academic administrators, and all other persons holding faculty
appointments.
Cases involving the awarding or denial of tenure, granting or failure to
grant tenured status will be dealt with in accordance with the appropriate policy of the
Board of Trustees. [See Academic Freedom and Tenure Policy and Appendix II: Termination
Procedures.]
IV. Grievable Actions
Grievable actions are discrimination in compensation, promotion, and
work assignment. For purposes of this grievance procedure, discrimination means, as stated
in Section 8-17-320(6)(1986): differential treatment based upon race, religion, sex,
national origin, color, age, and handicap (disability) as found in the Equal Protection
Clause of the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution, Title VII of
the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, Vocational
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the South Carolina Human Affairs Law. According to Board
of Trustee Resolution (11-15-96), in matters of faculty promotion, while the Winthrop
Board of Trustees may choose to receive an appeal on the basis of improper procedure only,
the Board affirms that substantive judgments reside and end with the President of the
University. In the event there is some question as to whether or not an action is
appealable under this policy, the Vice President for Academic Affairs shall make the
determination subject to review by the President.
V. Grievance Committee
Faculty Personnel. The Committee on
Faculty Personnel shall serve as the grievance committee to hear cases appealed by members
of the faculty.
General. The chair shall serve as
the presiding officer at all meetings unless he/she designates another committee member to
act in his/her absence. The presiding officer shall have control of the hearing. He/she
shall take whatever action is necessary to insure an equitable, orderly, and expeditious
hearing. Parties shall abide by his/her decisions, except when a committee member objects
to a decision to accept evidence, in which case the majority vote of the committee shall
govern.
The committee shall have the authority to call
for files, records, and papers pertinent to any investigation, to determine the order of
the testimony and the appearance of witnesses, to call additional witnesses, and to make
such other rules as may be necessary to insure orderly hearings. Whenever a grievance
comes before the committee initiated by or involving a faculty member of a department in
which a committee member is located, such member shall be disqualified from participating
in the hearing.
VI. Procedure
A. Step 1
Whenever possible, a potential grievance should be resolved during
informal discussions by the faculty member and the chair and dean where applicable. A
faculty member who has a grievable action which has not been resolved during this process
may file a formal grievance by submitting to the Vice President for Academic Affairs a
letter stating the nature of the grievance and the relief sought. The faculty member must
also provide a copy of his/her letter to the dean of the appropriate unit and to the
Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action. The grievance must be filed within
twenty-one calendar days* from the date of the action on which the grievance is
based or the date the faculty member was informed of the action, whichever is later.
*"Calendar days" means sequential days of a year. The
time shall be computed by excluding the first day and including the last. If the last day
falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or an official University holiday, it shall be excluded.
The Vice President for Academic Affairs must schedule a conference with
the faculty member to be held within ten working days of the date of filing. During the
conference, the faculty member will have the opportunity to present evidence, witnesses,
and other information that may be pertinent to his/her case. After the conference, the
Vice President for Academic Affairs may confer with other employees of the University
insofar as he/she may consider necessary in order to establish the facts of the case and
to review applicable policies and rules. Within ten working days following the conference,
the Vice President for Academic Affairs will give his/her written decision to the faculty
member with a copy to the dean and to the Director of Human Resources and Affirmative
Action.
B. Step 2
If the faculty member is not satisfied with the decision reached in
Step 1, he/she may, within ten working days after receipt of the Step 1 decision, notify
in writing the Vice President for Academic Affairs of his/her desire to appeal this
decision to the University Faculty Personnel Committee. In his/her letter, the faculty
member must state the circumstances or conditions which led to the grievance, the nature
of the grievance, and the relief sought.
The Vice President for Academic Affairs will contact the Chair of the
University Faculty Personnel Committee who will schedule a hearing to be held within ten
working days after receipt of appeal.
The Chair of the University Faculty Personnel Committee will notify all
parties as to the time and place the hearing is to be held and will provide such other
support to the committee as may be necessary and appropriate.
Each side will have the right to be accompanied or represented by counsel
or other representative or to be self-represented. During the hearing, each side will have
the opportunity to present evidence, witnesses, and other information that may be
pertinent to its case. Each side will have the right to cross-examine witnesses presented
by the other side.
Within ten working days following the hearing, the chair of the committee
will present to the President, with a copy to the Vice President for Academic Affairs, a
written summary of the facts of the case and the committee's findings and recommendations.
Within ten working days after receipt of the committee's finding and recommendations, the
President will make the final decision for the University and will provide a copy of
his/her written decision to the faculty member, the Vice President for Academic Affairs,
the Dean, the Chair of the department, the Chair of the University Faculty Personnel
Committee, and the Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action.
A faculty member shall have the right of appeal in matters of promotion
only on the basis of improper procedure to the Board of Trustees within ten working days
of receipt of the decision. The entire record shall be available to the pertinent employee
for copying.
VII. Time Limit
All parties must take the appropriate action within the time allotted
in each instance. However, it should be noted that the time allotted in each instance is a
maximum and all parties are encouraged to take the appropriate action before the end of
this period whenever feasible.
All exceptions to the scheduling requirements established in Section VI
must be by mutual agreement. Any request for an exception must be made in writing to the
Vice President for Academic Affairs who will prepare a written agreement for the signature
of both parties.
In the case of a faculty member’s decision to appeal to the Board of
Trustees, this time schedule may not be feasible in all instances.
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