Faculty Grievance Procedures

Tenure Policies and Regulations of Winston-Salem State University provide a process for

Faculty Members to seek redress concerning employment related grievances. The function of the grievance procedure is to attempt to reach a consensual resolution of the dispute and, if that fails, to determine whether the contested decision was materially flawed, in violation of applicable policies, standards or procedures. The grievance process is not intended to second-guess the professional judgment of officers and colleagues responsible for making administrative decisions.

The committee is comprised of thirty elected members as follows: College of Arts and Sciences: four assistant professors (2 delegates, 2 alternates), four associate professors (2 delegates and 2 alternates), and four professors (2 delegates and 2 alternates); Each of the Schools (Business and Economics, Education and Human Performance, and Health Sciences): two assistant professors (1 delegate, 1 alternate), two associate professors (1 delegate and 1 alternate), and two professors (1 delegate and 1 alternate). No administrator at the level of department chair, dean, or higher may serve on this committee. Delegates and alternates serve staggered two-year terms and may be reelected once. The chairperson of this committee will serve a term of two years and may be reelected once. Selection of the chair by committee members will occur at the first meeting of the fall semester.

1. If any Faculty Member feels that he/she has a grievance, he/she may petition the Faculty Grievance Committee for redress by sending a written statement of the grievance to the Chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee. The allegations in the petition must relate to the Faculty Member’s employment status and relationships at the university, including matters related to post-tenure review, and must not be a matter considered by another standing faculty committee. Examples include salaries, performance evaluations, workload assignments, space and environmental issues. The committee shall conduct an investigation including, but not limited to, discussions with the Faculty Member. Since the power of the committee shall be solely to hear representations by the person(s) directly involved in a grievance, neither side shall be represented by legal counsel during the proceedings.

2. The petition shall set forth in detail the nature of the grievance and to whom the grievance is directed (hereafter Respondent). It shall contain any information that the Faculty Member considers pertinent to his/her case. The Faculty Member shall deliver a copy of the petition to the Respondent administrator by Formal Notice.

3. Unless the parties to the grievance have participated in mediation prior to the Faculty Member’s filing the petition, before taking any action on the petition, the Faculty Grievance Committee shall refer the matter for mediation in accordance with the Mediation provisions outlined in Section D - Meditation Process. Time limits specified in the formal resolution of grievances will be suspended for the duration of a mediation process.

4. If the grievance is not resolved through the mediation process, the petition will be reviewed by the Faculty Grievance Committee as outlined below.

5. Following an unsuccessful mediation, the committee has 20 Days to conduct an investigation if it decides that the allegations merit a full investigation. Thus, submission of a petition shall not result automatically in an investigation.

1. Mediation
Mediation is a procedure in which disputing parties enlist the assistance of a neutral party to help them in achieving a voluntary, bilateral agreement that finally and definitively resolves all or portions of their dispute, without resorting to the adversarial procedures inherent in a formal Grievance Committee hearing, administrative hearings, or litigation. While there can be no requirement that forces a party to reach a mediated agreement, Winston-Salem State University requires that parties be given an opportunity to participate in a mediation process as the first step in formally resolving a grievance. No blame will attach to either party if mediation does not produce a mediated settlement agreement or if the parties decide not to pursue mediation as the first step in the resolution process.

2. Approved Mediators
The Office of the Provost in conjunction with the Office of Legal Affairs will maintain a list of approved mediators. An approved mediator is one who has completed formal mediation training substantially equivalent to that required for certification by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts or to have been formally trained in mediation specifically designed for use in a university setting. The list of approved mediators can include any properly trained mediator including commercial firms, private individuals, and trained mediators on the faculty or administration of Winston-Salem State University or faculty or administration of another UNC institution. Mediators may not be members of the University Faculty Hearing committee that hears Section 607 grievances.

3. Selection of a Mediator
The chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee will present the parties involved in a grievance with a list of three (3) mediators from the list of approved mediators. The parties will attempt to agree on a mediator from the list acceptable to both parties. If consensus is not reached, the parties will use an alternating strike system to identify a mediator: The Petitioner will strike one name from the list and then the Respondent will strike one. The mediator will be the remaining person on the list.

4. Mediation Steps
The chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee will send the mediator a copy of the filed petition. The chair of the committee will also provide assistance to the parties and to the mediator by establishing a date, time, and location for the mediation session(s). Neither party will be accompanied by another person or represented by an attorney at the mediation session(s).

Mediation will continue until such time as the mediator determines either that further efforts to resolve the grievance by mediation would be futile, or that the grievance has in whole or part been resolved to the satisfaction of the parties involved.

If the mediator determines that the mediation process has been unsuccessful, she or he shall inform the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee of that determination through a simple unelaborated statement: “In this matter, mediation was attempted, but the parties did not reach a settlement.” At that point, the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee will submit the mediator’s simple unelaborated statement, and the petition, to the Faculty Grievance Committee, and the grievance will be addressed according to procedures in Section Timeline for Appeals, below. No record concerning the mediation effort or its outcome will be provided by either the mediator or the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee except as provided in this paragraph.

If the mediation successfully resolves all issues described in the petition, the mediator will produce a written copy of the agreed upon resolution and will confirm that the terms as written are acceptable to the Petitioner and the chancellor. If the Petitioner and the chancellor agree on those terms, the mediator shall immediately obtain the signatures of the Petitioner and the chancellor (or designee) on that document, and provide copies of the fully executed document to the Petitioner and the chancellor (or designee). If the grievance is filed against the chancellor, then the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee shall forward the agreement to the chairperson of the WSSU Board of Trustees for approval. The grievance is considered closed when both signatures have been obtained. If the chancellor or the Board of Trustees does not approve the agreement, the chancellor or the Board of Trustees will provide the mediator with a written explanation of the reasons that the agreement could not be approved. The mediator will then seek a new resolution that takes into account the concerns of the chancellor or the Board of Trustees.

If the mediation successfully resolves one or more, but not all, of the issues related to the grievance, the mediator shall follow the procedure described above for those issues resolved, procuring the required signatures as described above. When the mediator receives those signatures, the issues so resolved are considered closed. If chancellor or the Board of Trustees is unwilling to sign, the chancellor or Board of Trustees will provide the mediator with a written explanation of the reasons that the agreement could not be approved. The mediator will then seek a new resolution that takes into account the concerns of the chancellor or the Board of Trustees.

Should the Petitioner wish to continue to use the formal grievance process to resolve any issues from the original grievance not resolved at the conclusion of the mediation, she or he will prepare a new petition omitting any issues from the original petition that have previously been resolved through mediation. The Petitioner will then file that revised petition with the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee, delivering copies of the petition to the chair and to the Respondent administrator by Formal Notice, as defined in Section Meditation Process above.

Upon determining that the new petition satisfies the requirements set forth above, the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee will submit the revised petition to the full Faculty Grievance Committee, together with the simple unelaborated statement: “In this matter, mediation was attempted, but the parties did not reach a settlement.” Regardless of the outcome of the mediation, the results of the mediation process are considered sealed. Neither the mediator nor the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee may be called as a witness in any subsequent university proceeding concerning the grievance, and nothing said or done by either party during a mediation process may be referred to or used against a party in any subsequent proceeding.

5.Mediation Continuity
Once the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee begins formal review of a petition pursuant to Section Decision which may be appealed above, it shall remain his or her responsibility to continue to oversee the required mediation steps until the grievance has been resolved in whole or in part through mediation, or until the grievance has been forwarded to the full Faculty Grievance Committee. This responsibility does not cease until either the grievance has been successfully resolved or all available mediation procedures have been exhausted.

1. In order to prevail in the grievance process, a Faculty Member must establish that the Petitioner experienced a remediable injury attributable to the alleged 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. Examples include but are not limited to: disregard for an established standard for evaluation, Impermissible Grounds, or failure to consult with or receive information from mandated advisory bodies.

2. If the Faculty Member fails to allege an injury that would entitle the Faculty Member to relief in accordance with the standard set out in Section 1 above, the committee shall dismiss the petition. If the petition addresses a problem that is not within the committee’s jurisdiction, the committee shall dismiss the petition.

3. The investigation shall allow for the opportunity of Faculty Member and Respondent to present information and documentary evidence to the Committee. The committee shall maintain a complete record of all testimony and any documentary evidence received. Only the evidence compiled shall form the basis for committee conclusions about the case and any resulting advice to the Respondent and the next level of supervision.

4. The burden is on the Faculty Member to establish by a preponderance of evidence that the Faculty Member has experienced an injury that would entitle the Faculty Member to relief in accordance with the standard set out in Section 1 above.

5. The decision to dismiss a petition under Section 2 or to deny a petition following an investigation shall be communicated in writing to the Faculty Member by Formal Notice with a copy to the Respondent and the next level of supervision of the Respondent (department chair, dean, provost, or chancellor).

6. If, after investigating the matter, the Faculty Grievance Committee determines that an adjustment in favor of the aggrieved Faculty Member is warranted the committee shall so advise the Faculty Member by Formal Notice with a copy to the next level of supervision (department chair, dean, provost, or chancellor). The Formal Notice shall contain the Committee’s recommendation for adjustment.

7. If the Respondent concurs with the committee’s recommendation, then the adjustment shall be made within 10 Days of receipt of notification.

8. If the Respondent does not concur with the committee’s recommendation, Formal Notice of non-concurrence shall be sent within 10 Days to the Faculty Member with a copy to Respondent’s next level of supervision (department chair, dean, provost, or chancellor).

9. Within 10 Days of receipt of a copy of the Formal Notice of non-concurrence the next level of supervision (department chair, dean, provost, or chancellor) shall review the record of the Faculty Grievance Committee and advise the Faculty Member by Formal Notice of his/her concurrence or non-concurrence with the Committee’s recommendation.

10. The chancellor will issue a final written decision within 30 days after receiving the investigation record of the Faculty Grievance. The chancellor may, in his/her discretion, consult with the faculty grievance committee before making a decision.

11. The chancellor or his/her designee shall notify the Faculty Member and the Respondent administrator by Formal Notice of his/her decision. The notification shall include a notice of appeal rights, if any, and, the name and address of the appeal body.

If neither the Respondent, higher levels of supervision, nor the chancellor makes an adjustment that is advised by the faculty grievance committee in favor of the aggrieved faculty member, the faculty member may appeal to the Board of Trustees. The decision of the Board of Trustees is final. However, no appeal lies where the faculty committee decides against the faculty member.

A Faculty Member dissatisfied with the chancellor's disposition of his/her grievance must file Formal notice of appeal with the Board of Trustees, by addressing the notice to the Chair of the Board of Trustees c/o the Chancellor, Suite 200 Blair Hall, Winston-Salem State University, Winston-Salem, NC 27110 within 10 Days after the Faculty Member’s receipt of the chancellor's decision. The notice shall contain a brief statement of the basis of 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, but not more than 120 Days from receipt of the notice of appeal. If the grievant fails to comply with the schedule established for perfecting and processing the appeal, the Board in its discretion may extend the period for decision or it may dismiss the appeal.

⁷ Committee description revised 03-29-2012