THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT ASHEVILLE FACULTY SENATE Senate Document Number 2695S Date of Senate Approval 5/4/95 ------------------------------------------------------------------ Statement of Faculty Senate Action: FWDC #5: Definition of Faculty Conciliator Position I. Job Description The job of the Faculty Conciliator is to hear student grievances, to try to resolve them at the earliest stage consistent with fairness to all parties, and to guide the student through the later stages of the grievance procedure if conciliation proves impossible. Consistent with justice, it should be the aim of the Conciliator to resolve as many cases as possible without going to the Academic Appeals Board. To accomplish this, the Conciliator may need to investigate the facts of a grievance presented by a student. Also, in the normal course of the grievance procedure, the Conciliator will need to meet with the faculty member against whom the grievance is brought, and in some cases, with that member's departmental chair or program director. The Conciliator has the right and responsibility to determine the sequence of and extent to which student, faculty member, and department chair are consulted prior to initiating the formal sequence of events which lead to an Academic Appeals Board hearing. This does not relieve the Conciliator of following the requirements of the formal grievance procedure but does allow the flexibility required to attempt to resolve the conflict prior to that final step. Since appropriate conciliation will require discussing issues that would normally fall under the protection of student confidentiality, students must be apprised of this fact at the beginning of the process and must sign a waiver stating they understand the responsibilities of the Conciliator regarding their rights to confidentiality. (This waiver will also point out that information pertaining to the grievance will be held in confidentiality on a need to know basis, and the circle of those who "need to know" may broaden.) In all of these events, the Conciliator is not acting as an advocate for the student or the faculty member, but as a presenter of the student's case, and a seeker of a fair and acceptable outcome for all parties without having to resort to a formal Academic Appeals Board hearing. II. Guidelines for Conciliator A. Confidentiality is essential in grievance procedures but is difficult to achieve when many parties are involved. The Conciliator should not divulge the names of students who bring a grievance nor of the faculty members against whom the grievance is brought nor the nature of the grievance, except insofar as is required to aid in the resolution of the grievance. Both the student and the faculty member are expected to function under the same restrictions. B. Because of the time restrictions on the grievance procedures, the Conciliator should make immediate notes on the date of the first contact with the student and during any follow-up contacts. This log of events during the process should include only the date and the action taken on that date. These notes may become critical in determining whether or not procedural guidelines were followed. They will also serve as the basis for the required annual report to the VCAA. C. An Alternate Faculty Conciliator is appointed by the SGA to serve in case of the Conciliator's illness or a conflict of interest. The Alternate should be brought into the conciliation process early in the semester, at least to the point of periodic consultations about the generalities of case problems, procedures and any cases that might be expected to carry over into the Alternate's term of duty as Conciliator. III. Recommended Changes in Academic Procedures A. SGA should choose the Alternate Faculty Conciliator at the end of each academic year. That person will automatically become the Conciliator in the year following one year of service as Alternate. It should be made clear that accepting the nomination as Alternate means a two-year commitment to the process. B. Because of the personal nature of some of the grievances and the potential for injured feelings and hostility, only tenured faculty are eligible to have their names submitted to SGA for the position. This has the additional advantage of utilizing faculty who have been on campus long enough to understand the rules, workings and procedures unique to this campus. C. The time guidelines as presently spelled out in the UNCA catalog are somewhat confusing and appear inconsistent. These should be standardized to state that the student has 15 class days after the start of the new semester to bring to the Conciliator grievances about grades and 15 class days after an event to bring grievances about faculty behavior. The Conciliator then has 10 class days to attempt to resolve the dispute before initiating a formal Academic Appeals Board hearing. In extraordinary circumstances, the Conciliator shall have the right to request that the Academic Appeals Board hold a hearing to override the existing time guidelines in order to effectively deal with a problem. The Academic Appeals Board will determine if a time extension is appropriate. D. Present procedures require that the annual report from the Conciliator to the VCAA list events only in general terms and omit faculty and student names. However, since the occupant of the Conciliator position changes annually, it is possible that patterns of abuse, either by a faculty member against students or by a particular student towards various faculty members, may escape notice. Names should be included in the report to the VCAA, who would then have the responsibility of identifying repetitive patterns of misconduct. The VCAA will have the discretion to decide if this information should be available for tenure, promotion, and reappointment decisions for faculty and student judicial hearings for students. E. The position of Faculty Conciliator is an important one in fulfilling UNCA's mission of quality undergraduate education. It is a time-consuming, difficult, sometimes unappreciated, and often unpleasant service position. A concerted effort should be made to make the Conciliator's role and identity known to students, to faculty, and to department chairs. The latter particularly need to be aware of the time commitment and level of involvement required when the Conciliator is a member of their department.