POLICY 4.18.3.5 - Step Five – Formal Hearing Panel

A three-person panel will be constituted. The chair of the Faculty Affairs committee will chair the committee, the second faculty member will be selected by the grievant, and the university president will select the third faculty member. None of the panel members shall have had substantial prior involvement in the grievance. In the event that the chair of the Faculty Affairs Committee has a conflict of interest, or cannot serve for another compelling reason, the president of the Faculty Senate shall appoint a substitute, typically another Senate officer, in that role.

A hearing shall be convened on university property by the panel chair within three weeks following the constitution of the panel, unless emergency conditions prevent it; in such case the hearing shall be convened as soon as possible.

The hearing shall be conducted under the direction of the chair of the hearing panel. The panel shall establish and pursue its own procedures for conducting its inquiry, as long as those procedures afford due process for all parties. Such procedures may not be changed during the course of any hearing so as to prejudice the rights or position of any of the contending parties. A recording or transcript of the hearing will be kept and made available to all participants in the event of appeal.

After it reaches a decision, the hearing panel will issue a specific written recommendation concerning each issue submitted to it. The panel will also submit a report, less than 500 words long, outlining the reason(s) supporting the recommendation.