Faculty Grievance

Members of the faculty of the School of Medicine may direct their formal grievances to the Dean only if they are unable to secure resolution of the problem at the department level in consultation with the Chair of the Department. If the problem cannot be resolved at the department level on an informal basis, a formal grievance to the Dean requires submission of the complaint in writing. This grievance must outline the inability to secure resolution at the department level and should precisely describe the basis for the formal grievance. The Dean, at his/her discretion, may take one of the several actions. 

1. In consultation with the Chair of the Department and the faculty member on an informal basis, the Dean, or his/her designee, may attempt to seek a resolution agreeable to both parties.
2. After personal review of the matter, the Dean may determine that there is no basis for the grievance as presented, or he/she may prescribe a resolution of the grievance in whole or in part. 
3. The Dean may convene the School of Medicine Faculty Relations Committee and ask that it investigate the grievance and make recommendations directly to the Dean based on the findings of this investigation. The Faculty Relations Committee is an elected committee from the Faculty and the Council of Chairs of the School of Medicine and serves in an advisory capacity to the Dean for reviewing matters of faculty relationships at his/her request. The Committee will be given a specific charge by the Dean and, in each instance, the aggrieved faculty member will have the opportunity to appear before the Faculty Relations Committee. The Dean will consider the recommendations of the Committee in determining a final resolution to the faculty grievance. 

The decision of the Dean of the School of Medicine will be transmitted to the faculty member and the Chair of the Department in writing and will reflect the final decision in the matter for the School of Medicine. A faculty member may exercise the option to appeal the decision of the Dean to the Executive Vice President for Health Affairs in accordance with the policy of that office. 

This procedure does not apply to those matters for which the procedure is prescribed by the Statement of Principles Governing Faculty Relationships nor to matters for which procedures are provided elsewhere relating to promotion and tenure.