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Grievance Policy for Faculty Administrators
Statement:
- Applicability
This policy shall be applicable only to full-time salaried teaching and research
administrators ("faculty administrators") employed by Old Dominion
University. - Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide a formal procedure for the consideration
and resolution of grievances for faculty administrators, to whom the university's
Faculty Grievance Policy is not applicable. - Statements of Policy
The university recognizes and encourages the use of informal discussions
between employees and their supervisors as a means to resolve grievances.
This policy is not intended to be used until it is apparent that such
informal discussions will not resolve a grievance. This policy shall not supersede, modify, or duplicate other university
policies or procedures unless expressly so stated. This policy is not
to be used in addition to other internal complaint procedures which may
be available to the faculty administrator. Remedies available to the grievant under this policy are limited to
those remedies which the university has the authority to provide. No
supervisor, senior administrator, or Grievance Committee, acting under
this policy and its procedures, may recommend or provide a remedy which
amends, modifies, or changes a university policy or procedure or which
is not in accordance with either university policy, or state and federal
laws or regulations or federal laws or regulations. It is the responsibility of the decision maker at each step of this
procedure to assure that a grievance is grievable under these procedures
before considering the merits of the grievance. If a grievance is found
to be nongrievable at any step, the grievant may appeal that finding
as described in Section 7 below. If the grievance is then found to be
grievable on appeal, the decision maker at that level of appeal shall
proceed to consider the merits of the grievance. This policy is designed to resolve work-related complaints expeditiously
in a nonadversarial climate. In order to meet this objective, neither
the grieving faculty administrator nor the management respondent will
be represented by legal counsel during the panel hearing. The panel will
attempt to resolve questions by allowing freedom of expression for both
parties, without the intimidation often encountered by legal counsel's
presence. There shall be no retaliation against faculty administrators for the
use of this policy.
- Definition of a Grievance
A grievance shall be a complaint or dispute by a faculty administrator
in which he or she has suffered a direct injury as a result of a violation
or an improper application of any laws, rules, policies, procedures,
or regulations affecting his or her terms and conditions of employment
or as a result of an arbitrary and capricious management action concerning
his or her employment. According to the Board of Visitors Policy on Administrative Faculty
no person has right of continuance in a specific administrative assignment,
and any faculty administrator may be reassigned to different responsibilities
at any time. Therefore, nonreappointment and work reassignments are not
grievable under this policy.
- Other Definitions
"Administrative Unit" means all those departments, divisions
and offices which report to the same vice president or other administrative
officer who reports directly to the president. "Chair" means the individual appointed by the president
to serve as chair of the Faculty Administrator Grievance Committee. The
chair shall be primarily responsible for the implementation of this policy
and shall have the specific responsibilities described herein. The chair
shall ensure accurate recordkeeping as outlined in section 6 of this
policy. The chair shall not participate in the review of the merits of
a grievance. In the event that the chair is in the administrative unit
in which a grievance arises or has otherwise had direct involvement in
a matter which is the basis of a grievance, the chair shall be disqualified
from participating as chair with regard to that grievance, and the president
shall appoint another member of the committee to serve as chair for that
grievance. - "Grievance Panel" means a group of three individuals selected
from a committee of ten members appointed annually by the president.
The three members on the panel shall be selected as follows:
one member shall be chosen by the grievant. one member shall be chosen by the senior administrator. one member shall be chosen by the first two members.
"Senior Administrator" means a vice president or other
administrative officer who reports directly to the president. "Supervisor" shall mean the immediate supervisor who customarily
assigns, supervises and evaluates an employee's work. "Days" shall mean working days and shall exclude Saturdays,
Sundays, and university holidays.
- Maintenance of Records
The complaint and all records developed during the investigation of
the complaint shall be considered confidential and shall not be released
except as required by law or by the provisions of this policy. The complaint and all records developed during the investigation of
the complaint shall be retained in the Department of Human Resources
for a period of two years after the date of the final determination.
Records developed as a result of the grievance will be filed separate
from the faculty administrator's official personnel file. Thereafter
the records shall be destroyed unless state or federal action is pending.
- Procedure
- Filing of Grievances
Any faculty administrator having a grievance who desires to avail himself
or herself of this procedure shall do so by notifying his or her supervisor,
in writing, of the grievance within thirty days of the occurrence on
which the grievance is based. Such notice shall state the name and
position of the employee and shall describe, in detail, the nature
of the grievance, the facts on which the grievance is based, the time
when the action complained of occurred, the names and positions of
any person or persons alleged to be involved in such grievance and
the remedy desired. The employee may also submit any additional material
in support of the grievance which he or she deems advisable. The notice
shall be dated and signed by the employee. - Review of Grievances
- Step 1
After receiving a written notification of a grievance, the
grievant's supervisor shall confer with the grievant to
discuss the grievance. In addition, the supervisor may make such
independent inquiry regarding the grievance as he or she deems
appropriate. The supervisor shall render a written decision on the grievance
and shall furnish the grievant with a copy. This written decision
should be issued within ten days, and must be issued within thirty
days of the supervisor's receipt of the notice of grievance.
If the supervisor is the university president or if the grievant
is satisfied with the supervisor's decision, the grievance
proceeding shall be terminated upon the issuance of the decision.
- Step 2
If the grievance proceeding is not terminated at Step 1, or
if the issue is determined nongrievable, the grievant may appeal
the supervisor's decision to the senior administrator for
the area within which the grievant works. Such appeal shall be
made in writing to the senior administrator and shall be made
within ten days of the grievant's receipt of the supervisor's
decision. The notice of appeal shall include a statement explaining
why the grievant believes that the supervisor's decision
should be overruled or modified. Upon receiving a notice of appeal,
the senior administrator shall obtain from the supervisor the
grievance and all material submitted by the grievant in support
of the grievance. The senior administrator shall review the grievance and the
supervisor's decision. During such review, the senior administrator
may make such additional inquiry regarding the grievance as he
or she deems appropriate. This may include a personal conference
or conferences with the grievant, the supervisor, and others. The senior administrator shall render a written decision on
the appeal and furnish copies thereof to the grievant and the
supervisor. The senior administrator's decision should
be issued within ten days, and must be issued within thirty days
of the senior administrator's receipt of the notice of
appeal. If the grievant is satisfied with the senior administrator's
decision, the grievance proceeding shall be terminated. If the
grievant is not satisfied, he or she may proceed to Step 3. An employee whose supervisor is a senior administrator shall
proceed from Step 1 to Step 3 of these procedures if the grievance
proceeding is not terminated at Step 1.
- Step 3
If the grievance is not terminated at Step 1 or 2, or if the
issue is determined nongrievable, the grievant may appeal the
senior administrator's decision to the Administrative Faculty
Grievance Committee. Such appeal shall be made in writing to
the chair of the committee within ten days of the grievant's
receipt of the senior administrator's decision. The notice
of appeal to the committee shall include a statement explaining
why the grievant believes that the senior administrator's
decision should be modified or overruled. Upon receiving such a notice of appeal, the chair shall obtain
a copy of the written grievance and all supporting material and
copies of the decisions of the supervisor and the senior administrator.
The chair shall have the members of the Grievance Panel selected
as described in section 5.c. under "Definitions." The initial meeting of the Grievance Panel should occur within
ten days, and must occur within thirty days of the panel's
selection. The panel's initial meeting shall include discussions
with the grievant and the supervisor. The panel may discuss the
grievance with others, acquire additional documentation, and
make additional inquiries as it deems appropriate. The panel
may meet from time to time as it deems necessary to review the
grievance and should render a written decision on the appeal
within ten days; the written decision must be issued within thirty
days of its initial meeting. The panel's decision shall be in the form of a recommendation
to the president and transmitted to the committee chair. If the committee chair determines that the decision is not
in compliance with this policy, the chair shall return the decision
to the panel for such modification as may be necessary to comply
with this policy. If the panel's decision is determined by the chair to
be in compliance with this policy, the chair shall forward the
decision, along with the notice of grievance, all supporting
materials, and prior decisions, to the president. The chair shall
provide a copy of the panel's decision to the grievant
and to the senior administrator.
- Step 4
Upon receiving the panel's decision, the president shall
review the decision and all other materials provided by the chair.
During such review, the president may make such additional inquiry
as he or she deems appropriate, including personal conferences
with the grievant, the supervisor, and others. The president shall render a decision in writing on the grievance
and shall forward copies of the decision to the grievant and
the senior administrator. The president's decision should
be issued within ten days of the president's receipt of
the panel's decision. The president's decision is
final.
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