College Hearing Committee
If required, a College Hearing Committee will consist of an administrator representing the dean, two faculty members elected from the Faculty Council of the appropriate College, a student representative elected from the Student Council of the appropriate College, a designee of the vice president for student services, and faculty adviser elected by the Academic Advising Council appropriate to the grievance. All meetings of the College Hearing Committee will be closed to the public, and no transcripts will be prepared. If the college hearing committee seeks evidence by means of personal testimony, the meeting at which such evidence is presented shall be conducted in the manner of any other academic committee meeting and is not considered a formal hearing. Both the grievant and respondent shall be given opportunities to present their views. There shall be no cross-examination.
The charge of a College Hearing Committee is to investigate and then to recommend to the dean a proposed resolution. The College Hearing Committee will review the grievance and, if necessary, forward supplemental queries to the respondent and to the department chair and program director involved – along with direction to submit written responses with twenty instructional days. Once the College Hearing Committee has received the written responses, it will review all available evidence, conduct deliberations, and then choose one of the three courses of action:
- Remand the grievance to the dean with a recommendation of immediate corrective action in favor of the grievant – based on sufficient evidence of a violation of (1) university regulation or policy or (2) principle of due process or (3) both.
- Defer a decision to allow for further investigation and gathering of evidence. In the case of such a continuation, both the grievant and the respondent will be notified in writing of the additional evidence required and whether that evidence should be provided in writing or in personal testimony.
- Dismiss the grievance based on a (1) lack of sufficient evidence of a violation of the university regulation or policy and (2) confirmation of adherence to principles of due process.
The College Hearing Committee will forward the recommendation to the dean. The dean will then make a decision and forward that decision to the respondent and grievant. If neither the respondent nor the grievant requests further review, then the grievance process ends.
If either party wishes to appeal the decision of the Dean, the appeal, in writing, may be made to the Provost (academic) or appropriate Vice President (non-academic). The appeal must be made within 10 instructional days of the dean's decision. The Provost or Vice President will notify both parties of the appeal and convene a University Hearing Committee to investigate further.
