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Faculty Grievance Policy

1. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Grievance Review Committee (Hearing Panel) shall consist of standing members of the CAES Faculty Affairs and Grievances Committee.

2. In keeping with directives from the Board of Regents and University policy, the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences encourages all parties to a dispute to conscientiously engage in informal attempts to resolve the dispute before resorting to the formal grievance procedure.

3. The College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Hearing Panel has jurisdiction to investigate or consider all complaints of faculty members, except matters subject to formal proceedings as provided by Board of Regents bylaws or University policies (such as promotion and tenure matters), unless the aggrieved faculty member reasonably alleges that the formal proceeding was affected by a violation of a constitutional right or by discrimination based on sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, or age. See Statutes of the University of Georgia, Article V, Section 2, Paragraph E, and Procedures of the Faculty Grievance Committee of the University of Council (https://apps.reg.uga.edu/UniversityCouncil/bylaws).  A faculty member is defined by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents as:  “Full-time professors, associate professors, assistant professors, instructors, lecturers, senior lecturers, and teaching personnel with such other titles as may be approved by the Board … Full-time research and extension personnel and duly certified librarians will be included … on the basis of comparable training” (see http://www.usg.edu/policymanual/section3/policy/3.2_faculties).

4. A committee of the CAES Faculty Affairs and Grievances Committee, the Hearing Panel, shall review Agricultural and Environmental Sciences faculty grievances, which are not satisfactorily resolved by informal methods. The Hearing Panel shall consist of the CAES Faculty Affairs and Grievances Committee other than the representative(s) from the grievant's department. A Hearing Panel member who believes that he or she has a conflict of interest or other bias regarding hearing the grievance may designate a departmental alternate as a replacement member of the Hearing Panel.

5. A grievant may initiate grievance proceedings by submitting a written complaint to the chair of the CAES Faculty Affairs and Grievances Committee, or to any other committee member who is not a member of the grievant’s department, if the chair is a member of the grievant's department.  The written complaint from the grievant should detail the nature of the grievance, the events which led to the case being referred to the grievance committee, and the redress being sought.

6. Upon receipt of the written complaint the Hearing Panel will notify all parties to the grievance within ten working days that a complaint has been received and will send copies of the grievance to the person(s) against whom the grievance is made. The chair of the Hearing Panel (the chair of the CAES Faculty Affairs and Grievances Committee, unless a member of the grievant’s department.  Should this be the case, the remaining Hearing Panel members will elect a chair among themselves) shall notify the Dean that a complaint has been filed. Each party to the grievance shall acknowledge notification of the complaint within five working days.

7. Upon receipt of a written complaint, the Hearing Panel shall study the complaint to see that the information required in Item 5 is included and stated clearly, ascertain whether the complaint is within the jurisdiction of the committee, and if the faculty member filing the complaint has sought resolution of the grievance through informal means. If these circumstances are met, the procedure will proceed. If they have not been met, the chair of the Hearing Panel will direct the grievant to take the necessary steps.

8. The grievant shall exercise his/her right to replace a panel member within 5 working days of filing the written complaint. The person grieved against shall exercise his/her right to replace a panel member within 5 working days of receiving the complaint. The chair of the Hearing Panel shall begin the hearing process within 20 working days, subject to scheduling limitations of parties involved.

9. The Hearing Panel shall select a person to be responsible for recording the proceedings, and a person to take notes. The official conduct of the grievance hearing will be recorded. The College will furnish the recorder. If desired, the grievant may furnish an additional recorder or request the College to provide a copy of the recording. The Hearing Panel chair shall be responsible for writing the recommendations of the Hearing Panel and for final typing. Majority and minority reports will be prepared if the Hearing Panel does not achieve unanimity.

10. The College's formal grievance procedure involves a hearing before the Hearing Panel. The parties may present witnesses and/or documentation in support of their positions with the stipulation that copies of all documentation and lists of witnesses be provided to the Hearing Panel at least five working days before the formal hearing. The Hearing Panel will provide this information to all parties of the grievance at least two working days before the hearing. Each party to the grievance will have the right to have legal counsel present during the hearing. Legal counsel may consult with their clients but may not speak publicly during the formal proceedings of the hearing. The hearing shall be open. The "format of grievance hearing" of the faculty grievance committee of the University Council will be followed.

11. The Hearing Panel will make a finding and recommendation to the Dean based on its review. From the time of the last hearing, the Hearing Panel will have 10 working days to transmit in writing its recommendation to parties to the grievance and to the Dean.

12. Following receipt of the findings and recommendation of the Hearing Panel, the Dean shall have 10 working days to review the findings and report her/his decision to the parties to the grievance and the members of the Hearing Panel.

13. If the Dean is a party to a grievance, the Hearing Panel will report its findings and recommendation to the College Executive Committee. The Associate Dean for Academic Affairs will chair the Executive Committee during its review of the findings and recommendation and the Dean will not participate. The recommendation of the Executive Committee will be reported to the Dean, the parties to the grievance, and the Hearing Panel.

14. If the results of the case are not acceptable to one or more of the parties, the grievant may take the case to the faculty grievance committee of the University Council or the University Consolidated Grievance Procedure as appropriate. Copies of the records of the proceedings and the recommendations of the Review Committee shall be forwarded to the University Grievance Committee, at the request of either party, for further review and resolution in accordance with the Statutes of the University of Georgia.

15. Nothing in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Grievance Review Procedure is intended to foreclose any other option for resolution of the concerns involved, whether through another administrative channel internal to the institution, through a state or federal agency, or through the courts.