Grievance Procedures for Graduate Assistants and Graduate Students

These university-wide procedures for graduate and professional students apply to the redress of grievances concerning academic, employment, and instructional matters.*

A. Every effort shall be made by the graduate/professional student and the faculty member(s) involved to settle their differences amicably and informally to redress the grievance. If appropriate or necessary, the department chair shall participate in this informal effort to resolve the grievance. If appropriate, the aid of a disinterested mediator should be sought to aid resolution.

B. In the event that an informal resolution is not possible, the graduate/professional student may petition the department chair by filing a formal written complaint within ten working days after the decision is mutually made that the grievance cannot be settled informally.

The letter should provide details regarding the complaint and redress. After receipt of the letter, the department chair must respond in writing within ten working days, according to the deartment's established procedures for dealing with such matters.

C. In the event that a resolution is not possible at the departmental level, the graduate/professional student may petition the dean of the college or his/her designee by filing a formal written complaint. If resolution is not possible at the college level, using establishedcollege grievance procedures, the graduate/professional student will refer his/her grievance to the Graduate and Professional Students Grievance Committee.

The Graduate and Professional Students Grievance Committee will consist of two graduate/professional students and three faculty members, none of whom will be from the department or program in which the aggrieved is enrolled. The faculty members will be appointed by the chair of the Graduate and Professional Studies Council on an ad hoc basis. The Graduate and Professional Studies Council chair will also select the student members from a pool of graduate students provided by each of the colleges. The chair of the committee will be elected by the members of the Graduate and Professional Students Grievance Committee.

D. The Graduate and Professional Students Grievance Committee may review all documents pertaining to the grievance. No record of the hearing shall be required and the deliberations shall be completed with reasonable speed. If a recording is made, at the discretion of the committe, it should be made available to all parties in the dispute. Counsel for each of the parties involved may be present with that person, but will not be allowed to speak at the hearing. Expert resources should be available to the committee in an advisory capacity as needed.

E. The Graduate and Professional Students Grievance Committee will report its findings, the rationale for the findings, and its recommendations in writing to the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies, who will make a decision within ten working days following receipt of this information. The Vice Provost for Graduate Studies shall forward a copy of this decision in writing to the aggrieved, the faculty member, the dean of the college, and the Graduate and Professional Students Grievance Committee.

F. The aggrieved student or the faculty member may file a written appeal of the decision made by the Vice Provost for Graduate Studies with the Provost. The Provost's decision shall be final.

G.

1. A graduate assistant with a pending grievance regarding employment shall retain salary and privileges until the final decision or the end of the contract period, whichever occurs first.

2. A graduate/professional student with a pending grievance regarding academic issues, if employed as a graduate assistant, shall retain privileges and/or salary, subject to a review of the individual situation by the department/college.
 

See pages 97-98 for infractions covered by Academic Honesty Policy.