Senate Document Number 1103F

Date of Senate Approval 12/11/03

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

FWDC 5:    Revision to Grievance Policy (Mediation) 
                 (Revision of Faculty Handbook Section 3.6.3)

Effective date: January 1, 2004

Delete existing subsection 3.6.3 of the UNCA Faculty Handbook

Add the following statement:

If the parties to a grievance that has been filed pursuant to Section 607 of the Code agree, the grievance may be submitted to mediation.

Members of the UNCA faculty or staff, members of the faculty or staff of other campuses within the University, or individuals from outside the University community, may serve as mediators, as long as they have successfully completed either (1) formal mediation training that is substantially equivalent to the training required for certification by the North Carolina Administrative Office of the Courts, or (2) formal mediation training that has been specifically designed for use in a university setting. However, mediators may not be members of the committee that hears Section 607 grievances.

If there are costs associated with the mediation, they will be shared by the parties to the grievance. Attorneys will not be allowed to participate in the mediation process, except as mediators.

A party's decision not to pursue mediation will not be held against that party in any further proceedings, and no blame will attach to either party if the mediation does not produce a resolution.

No record of the mediation process will be produced by the mediator other than an unelaborated written statement to the appropriate authority necessary to invoke the next step in the grievance, i.e., that mediation was attempted, but settlement was not reached. Mediators may not be called as witnesses in any subsequent proceeding. Nothing that is said or done by any party during a mediation process may be referred to by, or used against, a party in any subsequent proceeding.

Any mediation agreement that binds the University must be signed by a University official with the authority to bind the University concerning the particular agreement.

Any time limit concerning the grievance will be suspended for the duration of the mediation process.