Governance and Review--Section D
Administrative Explanations and Procedures
FACULTY ROLE IN GOVERNANCE
Faculty Councils/Faculty Committees
1974 Reorganization and Governance
Budgetary Planning
Responsibility Centered Management
Contingency Planning
Program Merger/Reorganization/Elimination
Long Range Planning
DECISION REVIEW FUNCTION
Faculty Grievance Committee/Faculty Board of Review
Supplementary Grievance Procedures
DOCUMENTS
Explanations and procedures in this section are based on the following official documents
located at the end of this Section.
Faculty Relations with the Trustees of Indiana University DOCUMENT D-I
Review Procedures for Indiana University Administrators DOCUMENT D-II
Honorary Degrees DOCUMENT D-III
Review Procedures for Bloomington Administrators DOCUMENT D-IV
Elected Policy Committees in Schools and Colleges DOCUMENT D-V
Constitution of the Bloomington Faculty DOCUMENT D-VI
Bylaws of the Bloomington Faculty Council DOCUMENT D-VII
Distribution of BFC Meeting Minutes DOCUMENT D-VIII
1974 Reorganization Resolutions DOCUMENT D-IX
Committees DOCUMENT D-X
Consultation DOCUMENT D-XI
Contingency Planning Policy DOCUMENT D-XII
Academic Program Initiatives DOCUMENT D-XIII
Economic Development Initiatives DOCUMENT D-XIV
Financial Exigency (from Freedom and Tenure, AAUP) DOCUMENT D-XV
Faculty Grievance Committee/Faculty Board of Review DOCUMENT D XVI
AI Disputes/AI Board of Review DOCUMENT D-XVII
Supplementary Affirmative Action Grievance Procedures DOCUMENT D XVIII
Affirmative Action Plan/Grievances DOCUMENT D-XIX
Preservation of Records DOCUMENT D-XX
Constitution of the Faculty (Indiana University) DOCUMENT D-XXI
Responsibility Centered Management. DOCUMENT D-XXII
Long Range Planning Committees DOCUMENT D-XXIII
Program Review DOCUMENT D-XXIV
IU Faculty Boards of Review: Minimum Standards for Uniform Hearing Procedures
DOCUMENT D-XXV
Guiding Principles for Faculty Review DOCUMENT D-XXVI
Faculty Misconduct Policy DOCUMENT D-XXVII
GOVERNANCE AND REVIEW--SECTION D
TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITYThe Trustees of Indiana University receive communications and recommendations submitted to them by the President and by their own committees. In addition, the Trustees frequently hear presentations by representatives of the student body, staff, and Trustees of Indiana University have ultimate authority for matters of governance at Indiana University.
Given the complexity of the University and its structure, the Bloomington Faculty Council has recognized a need to develop special channels of communication between the Faculty and the Trustees of Indiana University. In response to the Council's concern, the Faculty Relations Committee of the Trustees has increased its efforts to provide time regularly (in connection with the monthly Trustees meetings) for faculty members and faculty groups to interact with the Committee and to present their concerns. (See DOCUMENT D-I.)
UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION AND REVIEW OF SYSTEM ADMINISTRATORS
Indiana University administrators with responsibilities relating to all campuses include: the President, the Vice President and Chancellor, Bloomington, Vice President and Chancellor for Indianapolis, the Vice President for Finance & Administration, the Vice President for University Relations, the Vice President for Facilities, and the Vice President for Planning. All of these administrators are subject to review by an appointed committee every four years, as established by the University Faculty Council on March 28, 1978. (See DOCUMENT D-II.)
UNIVERSITY POLICY COMMITTEES
There are administrative groups that review and establish policy for the entire system on which the University officers serve: among them, the Academic Cabinet, the Operations Cabinet, and the President's Staff Group. An all-campuses committee includes Deans of Faculties from each campus (Academic Officers Committee). The University Faculty Council and the President also elect or appoint all-campus committees. In the case of some of these committees, including the Honorary Degrees Committee, the University Faculty Council has approved the composition of the committee and the charge to the committee. (See DOCUMENT D-III.)
VP-BLOOMINGTON AND ADMINISTRATIVE GROUP
The Vice President and Chancellor, Bloomington, has an administrative group which includes
the Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Faculties, the Vice Chancellor and Dean for Budgetary
Administration and Planning, the Dean of Students, the Vice President for Research and the
University Graduate School, the Dean for Academic Computing, and the Campus Affirmative
Action Officer. This group meets regularly with the Vice President to discuss campus issues and
establish policies.
REVIEW OF BLOOMINGTON ADMINISTRATORS
The Bloomington Faculty Council has established review procedures for major Bloomington Campus Administrators--members of the Chancellor's Administrative Group and all Deans reporting to the Bloomington Chancellor. Reviews occur early in the fifth year in office and at four-year intervals thereafter. A review committee appointed by the Chancellor from nominations made by the Faculty Council Nominations Committee (with submissions from a school policy committee where a school Dean is to be reviewed) will be composed primarily of faculty members. The Review Committee submits its report to the Chancellor, to the administrator reviewed, to his/her elected policy committee, and to the Agenda Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council. (See DOCUMENT D-IV.)
BLOOMINGTON DEANS
The deans of the schools and other campus administrators on the Bloomington Campus meet
regularly with the Chancellor and his/her administrative group. The Deans and Schools located in
Bloomington which report administratively to the Bloomington Chancellor include the College
of Arts and Sciences, the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, the School of
Law-Bloomington, the School of Library and Information Science, and the School of Music. One
of the merged units, the School of Education, which operates programs in both Bloomington and
Indianapolis, also reports to the Bloomington Chancellor, as do two system-wide units--the
Graduate School and University Libraries. Other schools, physically located in Bloomington,
which report administratively to the Indianapolis Chancellor are: Business (a merged unit),
Medical Sciences, Optometry, School of Public and Environmental Affairs (a system-wide unit),
and the School of Continuing Studies (a system-wide unit).
POLICY COMMITTEES IUB
The deans of the degree-granting units on the Bloomington campus meet regularly with the Dean of the Faculties on questions of academic programs and policies. Each School or College Dean has been asked by the Bloomington Faculty Council to establish an elected Policy Council to formulate School policy and to advise the Dean in the exercise of the Dean's authority. (See DOCUMENT D-V.)
FACULTY ROLE IN GOVERNANCE
Faculty input and counsel have long played a significant and essential role in the governance of Indiana University-Bloomington. This input and counsel have been provided by formal channels, such as the Faculty Council and its committees, and by informal channels. Generally speaking, an "open-door" policy operates on the Bloomington Campus and informal discussions are encouraged and sought.
FACULTY COUNCILS
From a historical perspective, prior to the 1969-70 academic year, Indiana University had one
Faculty Council. This council, comprised largely of Bloomington faculty members, often took
actions which were appropriate only to the Bloomington Campus. During 1969-70 each of the
campuses making up Indiana University created a separate Council, and the University Faculty
Council, with representatives from each of the campuses, was established. The Constitution and
By-Laws of the University Faculty Council are contained in the Academic Handbook which
serves the entire system.
IDENTIFICATION OF APPROVAL BY GOVERNING BODIES
Each document in this Guide is marked as to which faculty council or other governing body
approved it. The following scheme is used:
1. If approved by the Faculty Council in existence before 1969-70, approval body is indicated as
FC
2. If approved by the all-University Faculty Council established in 1969 (and therefore a policy
applicable to the entire system), approval body is identified as UFC
3. If approved by the Bloomington Faculty Council (and therefore an action applicable to the
Bloomington Campus only), approval body is identified as BFC
4.If approved by the Trustees of Indiana University, approval body is identified as Trustees
BLOOMINGTON FACULTY COUNCIL
The Bloomington Faculty Council first passed its own constitution May 6, 1975, and it was approved by the faculty on November 14, 1975. The most recent version was passed by the faculty on December 15, 1997. (See DOCUMENT D-VI.) The provisions of this constitution conform to the provisions found in the University Faculty Constitution which appears as DOCUMENT D-XXI. The Bloomington constitution and bylaws provide that Council membership shall include representatives of the faculty in various academic units, professional librarians, Research Scientists/Scholars, Associate faculty, various major administrators (Chancellor-Bloomington, Dean of the Faculties, Dean of the Graduate School, Chief Budgetary Officer-Bloomington), Associate Instructors, undergraduate student leaders, graduate students, and the Professional Council. The Council's Bylaws appear in DOCUMENT D-VII. Faculty members from all units physically located on the Bloomington Campus are eligible for election to the council. The Bloomington Faculty Council is chaired by the Bloomington Chancellor.
BFC MINUTES
To keep members of the faculty apprised of the issues being discussed by the Council, the agenda of upcoming meetings is mailed to academic appointees on the Dean of the Faculties' mailing lists. Verbatim minutes are mailed to academic and faculty administrators, the Trustees, Council and Council Committee members, and to those who request to be put on the mailing list. Persons not on these lists may read the verbatim minutes in departmental offices, departmental libraries, on VAX Notes, or the Reference Desk in the Library. (See DOCUMENT D-VIII.)
BFC COMMITTEES
The Bloomington Faculty Council has the following standing committees to which matters are referred both by the Council, through the Agenda Committee, and by Bloomington administrators through the Agenda Committee:
AIAffairs Committee
Affirmative Action Committee
Agenda Committee of the Council
Budgetary Affairs Committee
Constitution and Rules Committee
Educational Policies Committee
External Relations Committee
Faculty Affairs Committee
Foundation Relations Committee
Fringe Benefits Committee
Library Committee
Merger/Reorganization/Elimination Committee
Nominations Committee of the Council
Student Affairs Committee
OTHER CAMPUS COMMITTEES
Campus committees on which faculty serve are appointed by various administrators. These committees play an important role in establishing policy, usually as advisory bodies to administrators.
1974 REORGANIZATION AND GOVERNANCE
Pursuant to the 1974 Reorganization (this reorganization altered reporting lines for system-wide schools and created the two merged schools which operate on the Bloomington and the Indianapolis campuses under single deans), a number of resolutions were passed by the Faculty Councils. (See DOCUMENT D-IX.) Several of these deal with governance issues and the relationships and interactions with the University Faculty Council, the University Administration and the Indianapolis Administration (to whom some Bloomington units report under the Reorganization).
The Bloomington Faculty Council first reaffirmed an overriding commitment to the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and research, and recognized this pursuit as a primary mission of the Bloomington campus. The resolutions request regular meetings each semester with the President on matters of academic excellence. Having noted that the Indiana University Faculty Constitution provides that the primary faculty governing body should be on each campus, the Council indicated that items should reach the University Faculty Council only at the request of a campus council or the President, and only where system-wide action is required. The Council bylaws were also amended to provide that Bloomington representatives on the University Faculty Council be members of the Bloomington Faculty Council.
BUDGETARY PLANNING
Since its creation in 1973, the BFC Budgetary Affairs Committee has played a central and major role in budgetary planning and in the budgeting process itself. Members of the committee are accorded full access to all budgetary information and participate in all phases of the budgeting process at the campus level. In the 1974 Reorganization resolutions, the Council sought to further protect academic excellence on the Bloomington Campus by charging the Dean of the Faculties and the Vice President for Research and Dean of the University Graduate School to be fully and intimately involved in all aspects of the Bloomington budget. The Council further pointed out that when administrative decisions affecting faculty interests across the campus are pending, the BFC is the appropriate body for consultation. (See DOCUMENT D-XI.)
The Reorganization resolutions called for continued separate budgeting for University Administration and for Indianapolis units which are part of Schools located in Bloomington so that the Bloomington Campus budget reflects academic activities on the Bloomington Campus. (Merged schools may utilize inter-campus services accounts to enable temporary shifts of personnel and services between two campuses to reflect activities.)
RESPONSIBILITY CENTERED MANAGEMENT
The BFC took the following action in November, 1990: "Each academic responsibility center (RCM unit) shall institute a faculty Budgetary Affairs Committee to be selected by the unit faculty either by election or by the elected Policy Committee of the unit. The committee shall be representative of its constituency and shall serve as advisory to the unit dean in all areas of budget. Each unit shall have student and staff participation in its committee's deliberations. The committees shall be in place as early as possible but not later than February 1, 1991." (See DOCUMENT D-XXII.)
CONTINGENCY PLANNING
On December 14, 1982, the Bloomington Faculty Council established a procedure for Contingency Planning. (See DOCUMENT D-XII.)
A number of factors will affect academic programs on the Bloomington Campus in the years ahead. Faculty and student interest may generate a need to develop entirely new programs. Data collected and analyzed through the Planning for Excellence process could lead to significant reallocations of campus resources. Interdisciplinary interest might suggest new locations for resources. Campus funding levels will inevitably raise questions about the distribution of resources as they influence the growth or contraction of academic areas. In short, it may be necessary to examine the possibility of and to make decisions about financial shortages; about the expansion, merger, reorganization, or elimination of academic programs on the campus; and about the reassignment of faculty. The following deals with handling these possibilities appropriately.
FINANCIAL CRISIS/EXIGENCY
The procedures define situations of financial crisis and financial exigency and require the Bloomington Chancellor to seek a recommendation from the Council and its Budgetary Affairs Committee when a financial crisis or exigency is imminent or an ongoing one worsens. (See DOCUMENTS D-XII, D-XV.)
PROGRAM MERGER/REORGANIZATION/ ELIMINATION
If program reorganization or merger can be effected to the satisfaction of the unit(s) involved and without the dissolution of degree- or certificate-granting programs, Deans may simply report the change to the Council and its Committee on Merger/Reorganization/Elimination. In all other instances of program merger/reorganization/elimination a three-committee review procedure is invoked. A unit committee of faculty and students, the BFC Committee on Merger/ Reorganization/ Elimination, and an administrative committee shall each review the proposed change and cast a vote. Any two of the three committees in agreement would sustain a decision to be carried to the Trustees of Indiana University. (See DOCUMENT D-XII.)
FACULTY POSITIONS IN CONTINGENCY PLANNING
Faculty appointments, tenured status, salary level, and other benefits in a program merger, reorganization, or elimination situation are specifically protected. Retraining opportunities and retraining leaves with pay are provided for displaced faculty. Except under conditions of financial exigency described in AAUP Recommended Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure faculty dismissals may not occur. (See DOCUMENT D-XV.)
NEW INITIATIVES
Academic program initiatives, other than those authorized by the faculty of a school, must be approved by the Faculty Council. (See DOCUMENT D-XIII.) Economic development initiatives must be in accord with Bloomington's central academic mission of teaching and research. (See DOCUMENT D-XIV.)
PROGRAM REVIEWS
Procedures and guidelines for campus-based regular reviews of academic units were proposed by the Academic committee and approved by the UFC during the 1992-93 academic year. (See DOCUMENT D-XXIV.) Reviews are to be conducted once every 5-7 years by the dean or chancellor with a list of reviews conducted submitted to the Academic Committee annually.
LONG-RANGE PLANNING
The BFC expects each school on the Bloomington campus to designate a committee for the purpose of conducting long-range planning. At the request of the BFC, the UFC has also created a long-range planning committee. (See DOCUMENT D-XXIII.)
DECISION REVIEW FUNCTION
Faculty and other academic appointees are provided a number of mechanisms for appeal or review of administrative decisions. In addition to providing peer review of specific decisions, recommendations of the various bodies involved significantly influence the development and interpretation of policies.
Before utilizing any of these mechanisms, it is expected that academic appointees will take appeals through the various informal channels that exist at the University. These channels are the departmental chairperson, division director, dean of the school, and the Dean of the Faculties. If satisfaction is not achieved using these informal means, the formal grievance procedures are then available.
The Bloomington Faculty Council provides:
FACULTY GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE/BOARD OF REVIEW
The Bloomington Faculty Council has established two bodies to carry out reviews: the Faculty Grievance Committee and the Faculty Board of Review. (See DOCUMENT D-XVI.) Both are available to all academic appointees, save Associate Instructors, who utilize the AI Affairs Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council and the Associate Instructor Board of Review. (See DOCUMENT D-XVII.) Faculty in multi-campus units may bring a grievance to the Board on any campus in which the unit operates. (See DOCUMENT D-IX.) The University Faculty Council has adopted Minimum Standards for Uniform Hearing Procedures which apply to all hearings conducted by Faculty Boards of Review established by campus governing bodies under Article V of the Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty. (See DOCUMENT D-XXV.) Guiding Principles for Faculty Review were approved by the Trustees in 1999. (See DOCUMENT D-XXVI..) In 1999 the Bloomington Faculty Council passed the Faculty Misconduct Policy (also known as "post-tenure review") which provides procedures to review complaints against faculty members of substantial or chronic incompetence or misconduct, limited to violations of formal rules of the University, such as violations of the Code of Academic Ethics, or failure to meet generally understood and accepted standards of professional conduct. (See DOCUMENT XXVII.)
SUPPLEMENTARY GRIEVANCE PROCEDURES
In addition, the Bloomington Faculty Council in 1974 established a supplementary procedure, available to all academic appointees, to deal with complaints alleging discrimination on the basis of sex, minority status, or age. (See DOCUMENT D-X.) Such a procedure had been requested in the Affirmative Action Plan. (See DOCUMENT D-XIX.)
PRESERVATION OF RECORDS
The UFC has affirmed the need to preserve documents of historic nature generated by administrative offices and committees. (See DOCUMENT D-XX.) Chairs and unit heads are required to work with the campus archivist in determining preservation needs.
DOCUMENT D-I
FACULTY RELATIONS WITH THE TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
(Approved: BFC 3/17/81)
Because the University and its structure have become increasingly complex over the past several years, the need for communication between the Indiana University faculty and the Trustees of Indiana University has grown considerably. While traditional channels of access remain important, the Bloomington Faculty Council believes that these channels should be augmented. Accordingly, the Bloomington Faculty Council recommends that the Trustees of Indiana University increase present opportunities for communication with the faculty and that the Agenda Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council meet with the Trustees of Indiana University to seek out ways to implement this increased communication.
DOCUMENT D-II
REVIEW PROCEDURES FOR INDIANA UNIVERSITY ADMINISTRATORS
(Approved: UFC 3/28/78
Amended: 3/26/85, 10/8/91, 4/13/93)
Administrative officers holding positions that bear directly on the system-wide teaching/research mission of the University shall have their performance and the performance of their office evaluated regularly by a process referred to as Review. The Review shall apply to those officers/offices reporting directly to the President and Executive Vice President of Indiana University.
The Review shall be conducted early in the fifth year in office and in recurring intervals of five years thereafter.
At the last meeting of each year of the University Faculty Council, the President shall announce
the list of all those officers who will be subject to review the following year as well as the
respective appointing officer(s). When an administrator's duration of service necessitates Review,
the official to whom that administrator most directly reports shall be the appointing officer of a
Review Committee selected according to the following provisions:
Appointing officers shall make their requests for the creation of Review Committees in such a manner that at least one semester is available for completion of the Review process.
The appointing officer and the Secretary/Co-Secretaries of the University Faculty Council shall
convene the Review Committees. The appointing officer shall cooperate with the Review
Committee to assure that the administrator under Review meets reasonable requests by the
Review Committee for information. The appointing officer shall provide the Review Committee
with a description of the duties and responsibilities of the administrator under review and any
existing reports of previous reviews as well as arrange for reasonable and adequate staff and
financial support for the activities of the Review Committee. The administrator under review
shall provide the committee with a statement of his or her administrative goals and objectives.
The Review Committee shall be free to establish its own procedures, provided that it consults
with all university constituencies affected by the administrator under review and responds with
data to the following questions as a minimum:
In reviewing academic administrators the Review Committee shall consult faculty in faculty governance positions as well as a representative sample of the appropriate faculty body.
Prior to submitting a final report to the appointing officer, the Review Committee should meet separately with the official being reviewed and then with the appointing officer to discuss the findings of the report. The Review Committee then shall make the report in writing to the appointing officer. The appointing officer shall respond to the Review Committee, discussing actions to be taken as a result of the Committee's findings and recommendations. The appointing officer is encouraged to provide the official reviewed with a copy. The report shall consist of a narrative and critique, a summary of the committee's findings, and recommendations. After the review is complete and the final report has been written, a copy of this report should be sent confidentially to the UFC Agenda Committee. This will usually be the same report sent to the President. On rare occasions a committee might send an abridged report to the Agenda Committee. The chairperson of the Review Committee should of course feel free to consult with the co-chairs of the UFC as he/she prepares the report. After receiving the report, the UFC Agenda Committee will invite the Review Committee chairperson to present an oral summary report to the UFC in Executive Session as required by Academic Handbook procedures.
The Trustees of Indiana University are urged to accept regular review as desirable for the Offices of President and Treasurer and to acknowledge that consultation with faculty, staff, and students of the University as well as other University constituencies is an important part of these Reviews. Furthermore, the Trustees are urged to take advantage of the process outlined herein for the creation of faculty membership of a Review Committee for these offices. In these cases, the President of the Trustees of Indiana University would act as the appointing officer and the recipient of the Review Committee's report.
At the time the final report is sent to the President, a copy of this same report should be sent confidentially to the Agenda Committee / Executive Committee of the faculty council / body of the campus of the chancellor being reviewed. That Agenda Committee / Executive Committee will decide how the summary of the report is to be made available to their faculty. As recommendations contained in the review of the chancellor are implemented, the chancellor should report them to the Agenda Committee / Executive Committee of the local campus faculty council / body which should report them to the University Faculty Agenda Committee.
The University Faculty Council recommends that local campus faculty councils/bodies consider
promulgating procedures for the review of their campus-wide administrative offices/officers.
DOCUMENT D-III
HONORARY DEGREES COMMITTEE
(Approved: UFC 3/13/79, 4/4/80, 2/8/83, 3/26/85, 4/23/85, 1/26/88, 11/10/92)
Criteria
Procedures
Informational Statement
The conferral of honorary degrees provides a special opportunity for the university to recognize persons of outstanding accomplishment. Indiana University, as a leading public university in the State of Indiana, recognizes a particular responsibility to acknowledge and honor persons of outstanding achievement who had significant ties to the state or the university. As an institution particularly responsible for advanced teaching and research in the various academic and professional fields, Indiana University has an equally important responsibility to identify and honor persons of national and international eminence who are the leaders of their fields of creative of professional endeavor.
The honorary degree is the highest academic recognition Indiana University can bestow. Thus, candidates for the honorary degree must have demonstrated the highest levels of excellence as scholars, artists, professionals, or public servants. Equally high expectation is placed on their personal integrity and concern for the public good. In recognizing such persons, the university identifies women and men who can serve as role models for students, faculty, and of alumni of Indiana University, indeed, for all persons of the state, to respect and emulate.
Candidates for an honorary doctorate can be nominated by any member of the university family.
Nominations are submitted for the first state of review to the Honorary Degrees Committee
(HDC), which is a standing committee of the University Faculty Council. Some campuses have
established faculty committees to initiate nominations and provide for preliminary review at the
local level. Nomination materials need not be extensive but should indicate the extraordinary
nature of the candidate's life and contribution and should document the backing of the campus
faculty and administration. The following initial documentation is suggested:
Nominators may be asked by the HDC to expand the dossier and to solicit statements of support from distinguished individuals outside the university.
Approved candidates are recommended by the HDC to the University Faculty Council for a second stage of review and approval. The president of the university then transmits the dossiers of approved candidates to the Trustees of Indiana University for review and final, formal action.
It should be noted that the process of committee, council, and board review is a long one, often taking up to two years from inception to the actual awarding of the degree at a public ceremony. To assist university colleagues in their efforts, nominators should start the process early.
Since nominations for honorary degrees can be initiated by persons from any segment of the university family, the achievement of individuals which prompt nominations will reflect the broad spectrum of values expressed in contemporary U.S. culture. The faculty and Trustees of Indiana University share the important and challenging task of selecting those nominees most appropriate for recognition as exemplary models for all of us. The award ceremony focuses attention at the interface between the university and society and the qualities of the persons honored reveal the values of academia.
The Honorary Degrees Committee invites the participation of all interested persons in this important process. The UFC awaits the nomination of persons of truly outstanding achievement for conferral of honorary doctoral degrees at graduation and major academic ceremonies on all campuses of the university.
DOCUMENT D-IV
REVIEW PROCEDURES FOR ADMINISTRATORS
BLOOMINGTON CAMPUS
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
(Approved: BFC 3/23/99, 3/22/83, 3/20/01)
RATIONALE:
PROCEDURES
DOCUMENT D-V
ELECTED POLICY COMMITTEES IN SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES
(Approved: BFC 3/22/83, 1/15/85)
1. The Bloomington Faculty Council recommends that the dean of each school on the Bloomington Campus appoint a faculty committee to establish procedures for the nomination and election of a policy committee by the faculty of that school.
A. To formulate policies about school affairs in the areas of faculty authority listed in Article II, Section 7, of the Constitution of the Bloomington Faculty in consultation with the dean of the school and
A. College of Arts and Sciences: COAS Policy Committee
B. Graduate School: Graduate School Council
C. >School of Business: Academic Council
E. School of Education: Policy Council
F. School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation: Administrative Council
G. School of Law: Dean's Advisory Committee
H. School of Library and Information Science: faculty as a committee of the whole
I. School of Music: School of Music Council
J. School of Optometry: faculty as a committee of the whole
K. School of Public and Environmental Affairs: Policy Committee
L. University Libraries: Bloomington Library Faculty Council
Document, D-VI
CONSTITUTION OF THE BLOOMINGTON FACULTY
(Approved: BFC 5/6/75; Faculty 11/14/75; Amended: BFC 2/5/80, 2/15/83, 2/4/92, 2/16/93,
4/19/94, 11/18/97; Faculty 5/2/80 and 4/15/83, 3/9/92, 6/25/93, 9/2/94, 12/15/97)
Article I: The Faculty
SECTION 1.1: FACULTY
The faculty shall consist of the Bloomington Chancellor and all professors and instructors with
tenure-related appointments at the Bloomington Campus.
SECTION 1.2: PROFESSIONAL LIBRARIANS
Professional librarians at Bloomington with tenure-related appointments shall have all the
privileges and rights vested in the faculty by this constitution.
SECTION 1.3: PROFESSIONAL RESEARCHERS
Holders of research ranks at Bloomington (as defined by action of the Board of Trustees on
February 7, 1981) shall have the privilege of full participation in Faculty Council activities.
SECTION 1.4: ASSOCIATE FACULTY DEFINED
Associate faculty shall consist of administrative officers of the Bloomington campus who do not
hold academic rank, and all persons holding academic appointments at the Bloomington campus
who do not qualify as faculty under the provisions of Section 1.
SECTION 1.5: EMERITUS FACULTY
Emeritus faculty shall have the status of associate faculty.
SECTION 1.6: CERTIFICATION OF MEMBERS
Certification of persons qualifying under the definitions of Sections 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 shall be made
by the Bloomington Chancellor as required in Section 3 of the Constitution of the Indiana
University Faculty.
Article II. Authority of the Faculty
SECTION 2.1: AUTHORITY OF THE FACULTY
A. The Faculty of the campus has legislative and consultative authority pertaining to the campus regarding:
1. The campus' academic mission.
2. The campus' structure of faculty governance, consistent with the university faculty standards.
3. Policy and allocation of authority for academic matters affecting more than one school on the campus.
4. Academic calendar, with only such deviation from the university calendar made necessary by
local circumstances.
5. Creation, reorganization, merger, and elimination of programs and units affecting more than
one school on the campus.
6. Appointment, promotion and tenure, compensation, conduct and discipline, and grievances of
campus faculty, consistent with university faculty standards.
7. Appointment and review of campus academic officers and administrative officers affecting
the academic mission, consistent with university standards.
8. Campus facilities and budgets.
9. Student conduct and discipline, consistent with university standards.
10. Intercollegiate and intramural athletics.
11. Other matters affecting the academic mission of the campus, subject to the legislative
authority of the university and school facilities.
12. Academic programs not within the authority of a school faculty. In such cases the campus
faculty exercises the same authority as would be vested in a school faculty.
B. School faculties (including the faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences) have legislative
and consultative authority pertaining to the school regarding:
1. The school's academic mission.
2. The school's structure of faculty governance, consistent with university faculty standards.
3. Creation, reorganization, merger, and elimination of academic programs and units
within the school.
4. Authority of academic units within the school and the relations between them.
5. Conferring of degrees.
6. Curriculum.
7. Academic calendar, with only such deviation from university and campus calendars
made necessary by special curricular or accreditation requirements.
8. Admission and retention of students in the school.
9. Standards for student academic performance.
10. Student conduct and discipline, consistent with university and campus faculty standards.
11. Appointment, promotion and tenure, compensation, conduct and discipline, and
grievances of school faculty, consistent with university and campus faculty standards.
12. School facilities and budgets.
13. Appointment and review of school academic officers (except the dean of the school)
and administrative officers affecting the school's academic mission, consistent with university
and campus faculty standards.
14. Other matters affecting the academic mission of the school, subject to the legislative
authority of the university and campus faculties.
SECTION 2.2: EXERCISE OF FACULTY AUTHORITY
A. Campus faculty authority may be exercised in meeting or by mail ballot but normally shall be
delegated to a body of elected representatives, the Bloomington Faculty Council.
B. Faculties of schools or of the college may delegate authority to faculties of departments,
divisions, or other academic units. The faculty of any unit to which faculty authority is delegated
shall establish democratic means of self-governance, consistent with university, campus, and
school/college faculty standards. Appointments of faculty to the unit, or to the chair of the unit,
should be made only after consultation with the members of the unit.
Article III: Officers
SECTION 3.1: OFFICERS
The Presiding Officer, the President Pro Tempore, the Secretary, and the Parliamentarian of the
Bloomington Faculty Council shall serve concurrently in these positions for the Bloomington
Faculty.
Article IV: Meetings
SECTION 4.1: REGULAR MEETINGS
The faculty and associate faculty shall hold one regular meeting, as early as practicable during
the first semester of each academic year, on a date fixed by the Bloomington Chancellor. At this
meeting the Bloomington Chancellor shall report on the state of the Bloomington Campus.
SECTION 4.2: SPECIAL MEETINGS
Special meetings of the faculty may be convened by the Bloomington Chancellor by petition to
the President Pro Tempore of 50 faculty members, or by majority vote of the Bloomington
Faculty Council.
SECTION 4.3: QUORUM AND MAJORITY
A quorum of 200 of the faculty is required to conduct business. Unless 800 or more faculty
members are present, a mail ballot of the faculty is required to ratify any action taken. A majority
of those voting in the mail ballot shall be required for ratification.
SECTION 4.4: NOTICE OF MEETINGS
Except in the case of an emergency declared by the Bloomington Chancellor, the President Pro
Tempore shall notify each member and associate member of the faculty at least one week in
advance of the date of a regular or special meeting.
SECTION 4.5: RECORD OF MEETINGS
The Secretary shall keep comprehensive minutes of the proceedings and actions of all faculty
meetings, and make copies available to members and associate members of the faculty.
Article V: Bloomington Faculty Council
SECTION 5.1: MEETINGS
The Agenda Committee shall schedule meetings of the Bloomington Faculty Council on the first
and third Tuesdays of the month during the regular school year, to include at least four meetings
each semester. Council meetings shall be open to non-members as provided in the bylaws.
SECTION 5.2: LEGISLATIVE FUNCTIONS
All matters appropriate for faculty action under Section 2.1, may be considered by the
Bloomington Faculty Council. The Council may act or refer such matters to the faculty.
SECTION 5.3: ADMINISTRATIVE FUNCTIONS
The Bloomington Faculty Council shall have administrative powers to carry out its functions,
financed from University funds, and to adopt its own bylaws.
SECTION 5.4: RESPONSIBILITY TO THE FACULTY
A. The Council shall promptly report its proceedings to the faculty and to the associate faculty.
B. On votes dealing with substantive matters, the reports shall include an accounting of how the
individual Council members, or their alternates, voted.
C. At the request of a majority of the Council members present, any matter must be submitted to the faculty for consideration, either by mail ballot or at a faculty meeting.
SECTION 5.5: OFFICERS
The Bloomington Chancellor shall preside at meetings of the Council. The Council shall elect
from among its elected faculty members a President Pro Tempore, a Secretary, a Parliamentarian,
and an Agenda Committee. The President Pro Tempore shall preside at meetings of the Faculty
Council and at meetings of the Faculty in the absence of the Bloomington Chancellor and shall
be the presiding officer of the Agenda Committee. The Secretary shall and the Parliamentarian
shall also serve as members of the Agenda Committee.
SECTION 5.6: MEMBERS
A. Representation of Faculty and Librarian Units.
1. Faculty and Librarian Election Units; Qualifications of Representatives
The following units shall each constitute an election unit: College of Arts and Sciences; School of Business; School of Education; School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation; School of Journalism; School of Law; School of Library and Information Science; School of Music; School of Optometry; School of Public and Environmental Affairs; and the Library. However, the College of Arts and Sciences ahll be divided into sub-election units in a manner specified by agreement of the College Policy Committee and the Bloomington Faculty Council Nomination Committee. Such division of the College into sub-election units shall be published with the Council's bylaws governing the conduct of . Further, any academic units with faculty on the Bloomington campus not included within the above units shall be grouped together to constitute an election unit. Council representatives from election units must be persons qualifying under sections 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 of this constitution and shall be nominated and elected by such qualified persons in the represented unit.
2. Basis of Representation
Each faculty and librarian election unit shall have a minimum of one Council representative. The Council's bylaws shall specify a basis for apportioning representatives to election units in accordance with the number of persons in the units qualifying under sections 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 of this constitution so that there will be not less than thirty nor more than thirty-five faculty and librarian unit Council representatives. The College of Arts and Sciences, in addition to its representatives of its sub-election units, shall have a representative to represent the College at large.
B. At-Large Campus Representatives
There shall be ten Council representatives elected from the Bloomington campus at large of whom at least two must be untenured. Such representatives must be persons qualifying under section 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3 of this constitution.
C. Retired Faculty and Librarians
Retired faculty and librarians with an Indiana address of record in the Dean of the Faculties Office shall constitute an election unit entitled to two Council representatives.
D. Term of Office, Nomination, and Election
The Council representatives specified in sections 5.6.A to C shall hold office for a two-year term. Except as provided below, an elected member shall be eligible to serve two consecutive terms but then shall be ineligible for the next two elections. A person elected President Pro Tempore of the Council shall be eligible for an extension of term of office, as provided in the Council's bylaws, that can result in a maximum of five years of consecutive Council membership. Any member whose term has been so extended shall be ineligible for re-election to the Council for the next two elections following the end of his or her term as president pro tempore. In the conduct of elections, the Council's Nomination Committee shall arrange that half of the unit representatives and half of the at-large representatives will be elected each year. The Council's bylaws shall specify the procedures for nomination and election of unit and at-large representatives.
E. Administrators
The Bloomington Chancellor and such additional administrative officers as may be designated in the Council's bylaws shall be voting members of the Council.
F. Student Representatives
The voting membership of the Council shall include:
1. The President and a Vice President of the Student Association.
2. Four graduate students selected in accordance with the procedures of the Graduate Student Organization, of whom at least one shall be an officer of the Graduate Student Organization and at least two shall be associate instructors.
G. The President of the Professional Council shall be a voting member of the Council.
H. Non-voting Members
The Council's bylaws may provide for non-voting BFC representation of other campus constituencies.
SECTION 5.7: RELATION OF BLOOMINGTON FACULTY COUNCIL TO FACULTY AND LIBRARIAN UNIT GOVERNANCE.
The Council's Bylaws shall provide for ways in which the work of the Council and faculty and librarian unit elected governance may be coordinated. To that end, a Council representative from each faculty and librarian unit elected pursuant to section 5.6.A shall serve as a Council liaison to the policy committee, or equivalent, of the unit. In the case of the College of Arts and Sciences, this representative shall be the representative elected from the College at large. For other units with more than one Council representative, the Council's bylaws shall adopt a means of specifying which of its representatives shall serve in the policy committee liaison role.
Article VI. University Faculty Council
SECTION 6.1: BLOOMINGTON REPRESENTATION
Authority on matters falling under the jurisdiction of the University Faculty Council shall be
exercised by Bloomington faculty representatives selected in a manner specified in the bylaws.
Article VII. Review Functions of the Faculty
SECTION 7.1: BLOOMINGTON FACULTY BOARD OF REVIEW
The review functions of the faculty at Bloomington shall be exercised by a Bloomington Faculty
Board of Review. This board shall consider complaints concerning academic freedom,
reappointment, tenure, promotion, salary adjustment, and the nature or conditions of work. Any
member of the faculty or associate faculty at Bloomington, with the exception of associate
instructors, desiring a review of administrative action in these stated areas may request in writing
a hearing by this Board of Review.
SECTION 7.2: ORGANIZATION OF THE FACULTY BOARD OF REVIEW
The elected representatives on the Bloomington Faculty Council shall select five members of the
faculty as the Bloomington Faculty Board of Review. The members of the Board shall elect their
own presiding officer. The members shall hold office from the first day of May for staggered
terms of two years. Alternates shall be selected by the Bloomington Faculty Council to replace
temporarily those members of the Board absent from campus during the summer sessions.
Members and alternates shall complete the review of any case which they have begun to
consider. At least two years shall elapse between terms of office. In offering nominations for
election to the Faculty Board of Review, consideration should be given to representation across
academic ranks, among divisions of the University, and between tenured and non-tenured
faculty.
SECTION 7.3: PROCEDURES
The procedures governing the operation of the Bloomington Faculty Board of Review shall be
established by the Bloomington Faculty Council.
Article VIII. Amendments
SECTION 8.1: INITIATED BY THE COUNCIL
A motion to amend this constitution may be presented to and discussed by the Bloomington Faculty Council. If the Council votes to recommend that the general faculty consider the amendment, the President Pro Tempore shall circulate the document to the voting members of the faculty. If within fifteen class days the faculty have not scheduled a meeting to consider the amendment, the President Pro Tempore shall proceed according to Section 8.3.
SECTION 8.2: INITIATED BY A MEETING OF THE FACULTY
A motion to amend this Constitution may be presented to and discussed at a meeting of the
faculty. If the meeting votes in favor of the amendment, the President Pro Tempore shall proceed
according to Section 8.3.
SECTION 8.3: RATIFICATION BY THE FACULTY
If a proposed amendment has been approved by the Bloomington Faculty Council and
considered by a meeting of the faculty, or if fifteen class days have elapsed after Council
approval without a call for a faculty meeting, or if a proposed amendment has been approved by
a duly convened faculty meeting, the President Pro Tempore shall circulate a ballot to the
faculty. The mail ballot shall be accompanied by a summary of arguments presented during any
general faculty meeting at which the amendment was considered. The President Pro Tempore
shall count the ballots, and report the results to the general faculty. A majority of those voting in
the mail ballot shall be necessary for adoption of the amendment.
DOCUMENT D-VII
BYLAWS OF THE BLOOMINGTON FACULTY COUNCIL
OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
http://www.indiana.edu/~bfc/docs/policies/Bylaws.htm
DOCUMENT D-VIII
DISTRIBUTION OF BFC MEETING MINUTES
(Approved: BFC 9/15/81)
By a roll-call vote the Council decided to limit the distribution of minutes. Today's minutes will be the last to be mailed to everyone on the Bloomington Campus mass mailing lists. To economize, henceforth only the agenda of the upcoming meeting will be mass mailed; attached to it will be a summary of actions taken during the previous Council meeting. (People who are not Council members will be notified of the time and place of the upcoming meeting [should they wish to attend] and of the agenda items [should they wish to communicate their opinions to Council members].) Verbatim minutes will continue to be mailed to the following mailing lists: 4 [administrators], 4A [chairpersons], Trustees. AF [trustees], and BFC. AF [BFC members, BFC committee members, and anyone else requesting to be placed on our mailing list]. Persons not on the Council may read the verbatim minutes in their departmental offices, departmental libraries, and at the Reference Desk in the Library; they may obtain copies to keep from the Faculty Council Office; and they may request to be placed on our mailing list to receive all verbatim minutes as they are printed. This new plan not only saves money and trees; it should improve our public image.
DOCUMENT D-IX
1974 REORGANIZATION RESOLUTIONS
Preamble
The Bloomington Faculty Council affirms an overriding commitment to the pursuit of excellence in scholarship and research and recognizes this pursuit as a primary mission of the Bloomington Campus. In carrying out any recommendations on the reorganization of Indiana University, no steps should be taken which would interfere with this commitment to excellence.
(Approved: BFC 9/20/77)
A. Academic Leadership Resolutions:
A.1. In order to provide a mechanism to confront major decisions involving academic excellence,
priorities, directions, joint and separate programs, resource allocations, standards and their
implementation-- especially for the Bloomington-Indianapolis core--a policy committee should
be established for that purpose with the Executive Vice President as Chairperson and the Vice
President (Bloomington), the Vice President (Indianapolis), the deans of the two faculties, the
chief budgetary officers of both campuses, and the chief research officers of both campuses as members.
(Approved: BFC 10/19/77)
A.2.In order to maintain the academic excellence of the Bloomington Campus, it is the responsibility of the Bloomington Dean of the Faculties and the Vice President for Research and Dean of the University Graduate School to be fully and intimately involved in the preparation of all aspects of the Bloomington budget.
(Approved: BFC 10/19/77)
B. Personnel Resolutions:
B.1. The faculties of each multi-campus unit should move as rapidly as possible toward the
development of common application of the standards for promotion.
(Approved: BFC 10/19/77)
B.2. The faculty of each multi-campus unit should move toward common guidelines for the
preparation of dossiers and common review procedures for promotion. Promotion
recommendations for Bloomington-based and Indianapolis-based faculty members of
multi-campus units should be considered by joint promotion committees, formed from those
operating for the two campuses; the recommendations from these joint committees should be
made to the vice president who has supervisory responsibility for the unit to which the faculty
member belongs. For multi-campus schools operating on other campuses, the joint promotion
committee should include representation from the other campuses.
(Approved: BFC 11/1/77)
B.3. We reaffirm the principle adopted by the Trustees of Indiana University, July 25-27, 1969,
that tenure is specific to a single campus.
(Approved: BFC 4/4/78; UFC 3/11/80)
B.4. First, tenure and promotion recommendations undergo the first systematic review at the school or departmental level.
Review by merged and system schools permits representation on committees by faculty members from whatever campuses the schools deem appropriate and allows rigorous application of uniform standards across all candidates. The recommendation from the school passes to the local campus on which the candidate is or is to be tenured. Local campus procedures are followed in consideration of the dossier, resulting in a campus recommendation. This procedure allows application of uniform procedures across the campus and contributes to the sense of academic community. Third, the recommendation from the campus passes to the reporting line vice president, who makes the final recommendation to the President. This procedure clearly defines the role and authority of the vice president to recommend promotion or tenure on another campus. It removes the aspect of double jeopardy.
(Approved: UFC 10/13/81)
B.5. Faculty assignments should be based on program needs with faculty members in positions
of their greatest strength and professional interest. New faculty members should be employed
with as clear an understanding as possible regarding possible assignments and teaching
responsibilities on a single campus or on more than one campus.
(Approved: BFC 12/6/77; UFC 3/11/80)
B.6. Faculty who teach or are engaged in activities on more than one campus should have their
loads adjusted to reflect their assignments.
(Approved: BFC 12/6/77)
B.7. [Defeated resolution calling for elimination of salary differentials attributable to geography.]
(BFC 12/6/77)
B.8. Uniform policies for payment of summer salaries on all campuses should be achieved as
soon as possible.
(Approved: BFC 1/17/78)
B.9. A faculty member of a multi-campus unit may bring his or her grievance to the Faculty
Board of Review of any of the campuses on which the multi-campus unit operates. Once the
choice is made by the faculty member, only that Board of Review may consider the case. The
Board of Review shall use its regular procedures and give its recommendations to the
administrative office with supervisory responsibility for the program in which the faculty
member is employed. A librarian should bring his or her grievance to the All-University Library
Faculty Review Board. That Board shall use its stated operating procedures.
(Approved: BFC 1/17/78)
B.10. [Defeated resolution which would have allowed Boards of Review to augment their
membership by adding members from another campus when considering a case involving a
faculty member of a multi-campus unit.]
(BFC 1/17/78)
C. Faculty Governance Resolutions:
C.1.a. [Defeated resolution calling for faculty representatives to sit on Central Administration's
committees.]
(BFC 2/7/78)
C.1.b. We request that the President of the University meet once a semester with the Bloomington Faculty Council to discuss matters of mutual interest.
(Approved: BFC 2/7/78)
C.1.c. We recommend that the President be informed of the faculty's desire to establish and maintain close communication on matters of academic excellence, and that means to accomplish that end be discussed by him and the Bloomington Faculty Council.
(Approved: BFC 2/7/78)
C.2.a. The present Constitution of the Indiana University Faculty indicates--and we reaffirm--that the primary faculty governing body should be on each campus, with only those matters taken to multi-campus bodies which require such action. Except for the basic item suggested in the next paragraph [C.2.b], items should reach the University Faculty Council agenda only at the request of one of the campus councils or the President.
(Approved: BFC 2/7/78)
C.2.b. An item of obvious system-wide significance is the approval of new degree or certificate programs for submission to the Commission on Higher Education.
This is now done by a committee composed primarily of administrative officials.
Although the development of degree and certificate programs on particular campuses of the university certainly involves administrative, financial, and political considerations--it seems clear to us that responsible faculty judgment about academic content and quality should be of primary importance. Nor can the development of such new programs be left completely to the discretion of the faculty of a particular campus; the relative importance and need of programs must be assessed within the university community before they are submitted to the Commission. Furthermore, the continuation of academic programs in perpetuity should not be presumed: such a faculty-dominated group should scrutinize existing programs from time to time. The University Faculty Council should create a committee which would have responsibility for recommending directly to the Trustees and the Higher Education Commission the establishment and continuation of all degree and certificate programs. The committee would also recommend directly to the Trustees and the Higher Education Commission any shift in academic programs from single-campus status to multi-campus status and vice versa. The committee should consult with the Faculty Councils of the campuses affected by any such shifts in academic programs. The majority of committee members would be full-time faculty members. The University Degree Program Proposal Review Committee should no longer be responsible for making such recommendations. Staff assistance should be supplied to the new Council committee. The membership of the committee should reflect the distribution of full-time faculty members on the various campuses of the university.
(Approved: BFC 2/7/78)
C.2.c. [Considered this recommendation to be an information item rather than an action item: it
called for fewer meetings of the University Faculty Council--perhaps all-day meetings.]
(BFC 2/7/78)
C.2.d. [Tabled: this recommendation called for a Bloomington-Indianapolis faculty body.]
(BFC 2/7/78)
C.2.e. We recommend that the Bloomington representation on the University Faculty Council (and on the Bloomington-Indianapolis group mentioned in #C.2.d. above) be composed of members of the Bloomington Faculty Council. [BFC bylaws were subsequently amended to implement this resolution.]
(Approved: BFC 1/21/78)
C.3. [Defeated this recommendation which would have designated all deans and program directors as ex-officio members of the BFC.]
(BFC 4/4/78)
D. Budgetary Resolutions:
D.1. Bloomington and Indianapolis budgets, budget requests, and state appropriations should reflect as accurately as possible the academic programs which have activities on each campus.
(Approved: BFC 2/21/78)
Budgets, budget requests, and state allocations should reflect as accurately as possible the academic programs which have which have activities on each campus.(Approved: UFC 11/13/79)
D.2. An intercampus services account should be established which would make it possible to shift personnel and services temporarily from one campus to the other to reflect as accurately as possible the services which are being performed by either campus for the other.
(Approved: BFC 2/21/78)
An intercampus services account should be established which would make it possible to shift personnel and services temporarily from one campus to another to reflect as accurately as possible the services which are being performed by one campus for another.D.3. Contingent upon the implementation of Resolution #D.4., Bloomington and Indianapolis
budgets should reflect all academic and academic-related income and expenditures on each
campus: therefore, income from research grants, including indirect costs, should be treated as
nearly as possible as campus-specific income to the campus on which the research costs are
incurred. Arrangements for conducting multi-campus grant activities should be made through the
proposed intercampus account.
(Approved: BFC 2/21/78)
D.4. The Bloomington Campus budget should reflect academic activities on the Bloomington Campus: therefore, the Central Administration budget, budget request, and budget appropriation should be distinct from the Bloomington Vice President's budget, budget request, and budget appropriation.
(Approved: BFC 2/21/78)
E. Program Resolutions:
E.1. Undergraduate student transfers into any school, college, or department of the university
from the University Division or from any other school or college shall be made only with the
consent of the school, college, or department into which the transfer is being made and upon the
basis of standards approved by them.
(Approved: BFC 4/18/78; UFC 11/13/79)
E.2.a. [Tabled: recommendation asked that any curricular change affecting other units should be publicized and cleared through the Dean of the Faculties' Office.]
(BFC 4/18/78)
E.2.b. Schools, colleges, and departments should not change their requirements for
undergraduate admissions without publicizing their intent to do so. The schools, colleges, and
departments should allow a reasonable period of time to elapse between publicizing the changes
and instituting changes in standards.
(Approved: BFC 4/18/78; UFC 11/13/79)
E.3. [Tabled: recommendation required that any graduate course--to be counted toward any graduate
degree--must have the approval of the school involved for the content and quality of the course
on the particular campus at which it is taken.]
(BFC 4/18/78)
E.4. Increased efforts should be made to help Bloomington students with internships, work experiences, clinical practice activities, and similar programs in the Indianapolis metropolitan area.
(Approved: BFC 4/18/78)
Increased efforts should be made to help I.U. students with internships, work experiences, clinical practice activities, and similar I.U. programs in the metropolitan areas.(Approved: UFC 11/13/79)
E.5. Multi-campus schools should conduct their placement activities in such a way as to give full and equal help to all their students, whatever their campus, with the understanding that this may involve the utilization of differing offices and facilities on different campuses.
(Approved: BFC 4/18/78)
E.6. Where responsibilities for program and budget activities on a particular campus are vested in different Vice Presidents, differences in view as to program expenditure priorities should be resolved by negotiation and mutual consent of the two Vice Presidents or their staffs or--failing such agreement--by the Executive Vice President or President, with as much consultation with representatives of affected faculties as possible.
DOCUMENT D-X
COMMITTEES
(Approved: BFC 2/6/73, 4/16/85)
Long-Range Planning Committee
The Bloomington Faculty Council shall create a standing committee on long-range planning. There shall be a total of at least seven members, of which two will be students, one graduate, one undergraduate; the remaining members shall be appointed by the Nomination Committee of the Faculty Council.
Affirmative Action Committee
The Bloomington Faculty Council Affirmative Action Committee shall give an oral report annually to the Bloomington Faculty Council at the first or second meeting of the spring semester on the status of women and minorities on the faculty or on any other matters that concern the progress of affirmative action on the Bloomington campus.
Bloomington Campus Computer Users' Committee
The Nomination Committee will appoint a member of the BFC each year to serve as a voting member of the BCCUC. The BFC liaison to the BCCUC will report to the Agenda Committee on computing issues before BCCUC at least once each semester.
Student Affairs Committee
The Student Affairs Committee should establish a standing subcommittee for student athletes. The primary responsibility of this subcommittee would be to monitor the situation of the student athlete at Indiana University, Bloomington, to see that the rights of student athletes are protected, to promote their academic and other interests, and to see that IU intercollegiate athletics are conducted in accordance with the understanding that the student athlete is a student first and an athlete only secondarily.
DOCUMENT D-XI
CONSULTATION
(Approved: BFC 1/15/85)
The Bloomington Faculty Council exercises the delegated authority of the Bloomington Faculty. When administrative decisions affecting faculty interests across the campus are pending, the Bloomington Faculty Council shall be the appropriate body for consultation. When time constraints prevent broad consultation or the calling of an emergency meeting, the Agenda Committee shall serve in place of the Faculty Council for purposes of consultation with the administration.
DOCUMENT D-XII
CONTINGENCY PLANNING POLICY
(Approved: BFC 12/14/82, 10/16/84)
Rationale:
It is a well-established principle at Indiana University that the appropriate locus of administrative decisions regarding school-level units is the school. Equally well-established in administrative decision-making is a tradition of consultation. School deans, for example, consult with their faculty by means of elected policy and advisory committees; the deans, in turn, consult with each other and with the campus vice president in matters of broader campus interest; the vice presidents consult with each other and, as needed, with the president in matters of system-wide interest.
The Faculty Council recognizes that most decisions regarding merger, reorganization, or elimination of programs will be made on the school level. On the other hand, it also recognizes that in the modern university it will be a rare case when the implementation of such decisions does not impact on units outside the school in question. The existence of interdisciplinary programs between schools, the increasing number of faculty with joint appointments, and the large number of students with no academic home, as well as others enrolled in courses outside their parent schools, are but a few examples of the complex nature of our modern academic enterprise which makes reorganization, merger, and elimination of academic programs a matter of both school and campus interest.
It is the position of the Bloomington Faculty Council (1) that it is in the best interests of the
administration, the faculty, and the students that adequate consultation take place between all the
relevant parties in pending matters of merger, reorganization, or elimination of academic
programs, and (2) that, when there is disagreement about the necessity for such actions on
academic grounds, an impartial forum should be available to the parties involved for the
resolution of disputes. The Faculty Council is the appropriate agency to facilitate such
consultation and, as needed, resolution, because it is the only campus body with representatives
from all the potentially affected parties: faculty from each of the schools, administrators,
students, and staff.
A number of factors will affect academic programs on the Bloomington Campus in the years
ahead. Faculty and student interests may generate a need to develop entirely new programs. Data
collected and analyzed through the planning process could lead to significant reallocations of
campus resources. Interdisciplinary interest might suggest new locations for resources. Campus
funding levels will inevitably raise questions about the distribution of resources as they influence
the growth or contraction of academic areas. In short, it may be necessary to examine the
possibility of and to make decisions about financial shortages; about the expansion, merger,
reorganization, or elimination of academic programs on the campus; and about the reassignment
of faculty. The following guidelines set forth procedures to assure that these issues will be
addressed with both fairness and due process.
I. Faculty Authority:
A. Under the authority of Article II, Section 7, of the Constitution of the Indiana University
Faculty, Article II of the Constitution of the Bloomington Faculty endows the faculty with the
power to establish policies and to determine procedures for their implementation in matters of
curriculum, faculty status, and standards and procedures for faculty appointments.
B. Decisions concerning reorganization, merger, reduction, and elimination of programs shall
occur as a result of a review process in which the faculty has assumed a prominent role.
C. Reorganization, merger, reduction, or elimination of a program shall proceed according to
procedures established by the Bloomington Faculty Council and the elected policy committee of
each school directly affected.
D. In the implementation of a reorganization, merger, reduction, or elimination of programs, the following procedures shall apply to faculty with appointments in Bloomington tenure units.
II. Affirmative Action:
These procedures shall not be applied in a manner that is inconsistent with Indiana University's commitment to affirmative action.
III. Faculty Participation in Campus-Level Budget Decisions on Financial Difficulties:
A. Whenever a serious financial shortage for Indiana University as a system or Indiana
University-Bloomington as a whole becomes imminent, the Bloomington faculty and
administrators together shall weigh the situation and means for alleviating it. The campus shall
strive to avoid impairment to its academic missions of research, teaching, and service.
B. The term "Indiana University-Bloomington" (IUB) shall refer to all academic and non-academic units and subunits of the University whose budgets are administered by the Vice
President, Bloomington and the Dean for Budgetary Administration and Planning, Bloomington.
This includes the Bloomington-based subunits of the merged schools but excludes their
Indianapolis subunits.
C. Financial Difficulties:
1. A financial crisis for IUB as a whole would be a situation in which an unusual
deficit, either incurred or anticipated, could be settled only through a level of
retrenchment which might seriously impair IUB's academic missions of
research, teaching, and service.
2. A financial exigency for IUB would be the worst type of financial crisis--a
demonstrably bona fide, imminent financial crisis which threatened the survival
of IUB as a whole and which could not be alleviated by means less drastic than
the termination of faculty appointments with tenure or of faculty appointments
without tenure before the end of the specified terms.1
D. As soon as a financial crisis for IUB as a whole becomes imminent or an ongoing financial
crisis worsens, the Vice President, Bloomington shall request the recommendations of the
Bloomington Faculty Council (BFC) and its Budgetary Affairs Committee (BAC). If the Vice
President, Bloomington believes that the circumstances may be severe enough to lead to a
declaration of financial exigency, then he shall request the BFC and the BAC to consider this possibility.
E. The BAC shall secure and review relevant information, both budgetary and otherwise, about
the campus and the system. The BAC shall consult with the Vice President, Bloomington, the
campus deans, the school deans, and other campus administrators; the BAC shall consult with
the Educational Policies Committee and the Faculty Affairs Committee of the BFC; and the BAC
shall consult with representatives of other affected campus groups, such as the Staff Council and
the IUSA. The BAC shall consider alternatives for alleviating the situation. Within 30 days of the
request from the Vice President, Bloomington, the BAC shall submit to the Vice President,
Bloomington and the BFC a report on its deliberations, its judgment of the severity of the
situation, and its recommendations for alleviating the effects. If in the BAC's view the severity of
the crisis warrants a declaration of financial exigency, it shall so recommend.
F. The BFC, acting on the basis of the report from the BAC, shall weigh the situation and
submit its recommendations to the Vice President, Bloomington.
G. Upon receipt of the recommendations of the BAC and the BFC, the Vice President,
Bloomington shall meet with the President Pro Tempore of the BFC and the Chairperson of the
BAC to discuss the recommendations. Subsequently, the Vice President, Bloomington shall
notify the BAC and the BFC of the administration's assessment of the crisis and the proposed
means for alleviating it, and shall allow an opportunity for questions and discussion.
H. If a financial exigency is declared, the declaration shall expire within one year from the date of its announcement, unless this full review procedure is invoked again.
IV. Procedures for Program Merger/Reorganization/Elimination:
The following proposals deal with the possibility of merger, reorganization, or elimination of
academic programs, and become effective after appropriate school procedures have been completed.
A. If program reorganization can be achieved within a unit and without the dissolution of
degree-granting or certificate-granting programs, such reorganization will be reported by the
dean(s) of the appropriate school(s) to the BFC Committee on Program Merger/Reorganization/
Elimination (BFC-CMRE). If merger can be effected between two or more units to the
satisfaction of those units and without the dissolution of degree- granting programs, such a
merger will be reported to the Vice President by the dean(s) of the appropriate school(s). The
Vice President will refer the matter to the BFC-CMRE. If, after a reasonable period for faculty
remonstrance, the BFC-CMRE believes that a reported merger or reorganization requires further
review, the BFC-CMRE by a majority vote may initiate the procedures described in Section
IV.B. following.
B. All other instances of program merger/reorganization/ elimination will be submitted to a
three-committee review system consisting of (1) faculty and students of the unit(s) in question,
(2) a general faculty committee, and (3) administrative officers.
1. Unit Committee:
A representative group of faculty and students from the affected unit will be selected by the
chairperson and/or the policy-making body of the unit. In decisions of merger and reorganization
involving more than one unit, this committee will include equal representation of those units and
a non-voting chairperson from outside the units who will be selected by the BFC-CMRE.
2. BFC Committee on Program Merger/ Reorganization/Elimination (BFC-CMRE):
This committee will consist of one member from each of the Bloomington Faculty Council
electoral units; members will be elected from the Council and/or the faculty to a two-year term
with one-half of the members elected each year. The election to determine membership will
follow procedures used for electing the Faculty Board of Review. If a vacancy occurs the
Nomination Committee and the Agenda Committee will select a replacement from that member's
electoral unit. The BFC-CMRE will choose its own chairperson and will submit an annual report
to the Council.
3. Administrative Committee:
This committee will be selected by the Vice President and will consist of the Vice President
and/or deans or their designates.
4. Procedures:
After appropriate school procedures have been completed, the dean(s) of the affected school(s)
will report the proposed merger/reorganization/ elimination to the Vice President. The Vice
President will in turn refer the proposal to the President Pro Tempore of the Bloomington Faculty
Council, who will convene the BFC-CMRE and establish a timetable for action which will
include a reasonable time for faculty remonstrance. Each committee will assemble the pertinent
facts that will enable it to reach a well-documented decision about the direction and range of the
proposed change. Then three representatives of each committee selected by that committee will
meet to negotiate and to render a decision on the proposed merger/ reorganization/elimination.
Each committee will have a single vote, and any two of the three committees could sustain a
decision over the opposition of the third committee, although the final decision that will be
recommended to the Vice President might represent a compromise of all opinions. Any decision
that might affect faculty members in that program will follow the guidelines set out under
Section V of these procedures. Any decision that affects students pursuing a degree or requiring
coursework in that program should allow for those students to complete their degree program or
to transfer to a comparable program without incurring any credit penalty.
V. Procedures Relating to Faculty Appointments as a Result of Reorganization/Merger/
Reduction/ Elimination of Programs:
A. Reorganization and Merger:
1. Faculty members with tenure or those serving under a term of an unexpired appointment shall
not be involuntarily terminated as a result of merger or reorganization.
2. Faculty of a merged or reorganized program shall be reassigned to the surviving program or to
another appropriate program at Indiana University- Bloomington.
a. Tenured faculty shall be reassigned with tenure.
b. A faculty member serving under a term of an unexpired appointment shall have the right,
when reassigned, to serve no less than the remainder of his or her current term of appointment in
the new program.
c. A reduced rate of compensation shall not result because of reassignment of a faculty member.
d. Before reassignment, such as credit toward a sabbatical leave, shall not be lost as a result of
reassignment.
3. If the administrator of a program that is to receive a reassigned faculty member determines
that such reassignment should be contingent upon retraining, the affected faculty member shall
be:
a. Automatically eligible for training leave and
b. Informed in writing by the administrator of the program to which he or she is scheduled to be
reassigned what specific training must be completed successfully in order to guarantee such
reassignment.
4. The University shall facilitate retraining for reassignment by approving released time or
leaves with pay and fringe benefits for affected faculty members, in addition to requesting
tuition-free admission from the Trustees of Indiana University to appropriate courses at Indiana
University. If the requisite training is not available at Indiana University, training undertaken
elsewhere shall be at Indiana University's expense.
5. Reassigned faculty shall not displace an incumbent in an existing position.
B. Elimination of Programs:
1. Except under conditions of financial exigency as defined by the AAUP Recommended
Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure, elimination of programs shall not result either in
the termination of tenured faculty or those serving under unexpired terms of appointment.
2. In the event of program elimination under conditions of less than financial exigency, the
University shall make every effort to reassign affected faculty in accordance with the provisions
of Sections V.A.2- V.A.5 of these procedures. Such reassignment shall not preclude the
possibility of employment of a faculty member in an appropriate non- faculty position on a
temporary basis, except that a reassigned faculty member may not displace an incumbent
employee in that position.
C. Reduction of Programs:
1. Reduction of programs shall not result in the involuntary termination of tenured faculty.
Decisions concerning the status of other faculty in reduced programs shall be made in accordance
with procedures established by the Indiana University- Bloomington Academic Guide, Sections
C and E.
2. Reduction of programs shall ordinarily occur through attrition of faculty by retirement,
voluntary resignation, or other routine procedures.
3. Reduction of programs also may be accomplished by means of negotiated termination of
faculty with compensation or by voluntary reassignment in accordance with the applicable
provisions of Sections V.A and V.B of these procedures.
D. Prior Notice:
Pursuant to the Indiana University Academic Handbook statement of "Responsibilities and
Privileges of Academic Appointment," after a decision has been made to reassign a faculty
member or not to renew an existing faculty appointment under the provisions of V.A, V.B, and
V.C of these procedures, the Vice President, Bloomington shall provide the affected faculty
member at least one year's written notice of such action.
E. Appeal:
1. Faculty who fall under the provision of these procedures shall have the right of appeal to the
Faculty Board of Review.
2. An appeal may be made on the basis of a complaint over the interpretation or implementation
of procedures regarding merger, reorganization, reduction, or elimination of programs, as
established by the Bloomington Faculty Council and elected policy committees of the schools
located on the Bloomington Campus.
3. Conduct of such appeals shall be in accordance with the existing procedures of the Faculty Board of Review.
DOCUMENT D-XIII
ACADEMIC PROGRAM INITIATIVES
(Approved: BFC 11/1/88)
Resolution 1:
A. The Bloomington faculty has constitutional authority to establish policies regarding academic
program initiatives which establish new programs or revise existing ones.
B. The Bloomington Faculty Council confirms the authority of the faculties of the schools to
establish and revise academic programs, including programs which they may establish by
negotiation with other schools.
C. Academic program initiatives on the Bloomington Campus not authorized by the faculty of a
school must be approved by the Bloomington Faculty Council.
D. Where the faculty of a school considers that its academic programs will be adversely affected
by and academic program initiative of another school, either school may refer the matter to
the Bloomington Faculty Council to make policy recommendations to the Vice President on
the questions raised by the conflict.
E. The Educational Policy Committee and the Faculty Affairs Committee should establish and
maintain liaison with the policy and curriculum committees of the schools.
F. When the Budgetary Affairs Committee of the Bloomington Faculty Council considers the
budgetary implications of academic program initiatives, that committee should refer
initiatives to the Agenda Committee when matters of campus-wide academic policy may be
involved.
Resolution 2:
The University Faculty Council and the campus faculty councils should review our faculty
constitutions to determine what constitutional revisions are needed in light of the university's
current complex structure and missions.
DOCUMENT D-XIV
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES
(Approved: BFC 3/7/89)
The Bloomington Faculty Council endorses the intent of those initiatives contained in IU: One
University--Indiana at its Best that seek to assign a more active role to the university in
promoting Indiana's economic development, subject to the following conditions:
DOCUMENT D-XV
FINANCIAL EXIGENCY
(From Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure)
(AAUP, 1976)
Financial Exigency
(c) (1)Termination of an appointment with continuous tenure, or of a probationary or special appointment before the end of the specified term, may occur under extraordinary circumstances because of a demonstrably bona fide financial exigency, i.e., an imminent financial crisis which threatens the survival of the institution as a whole and which cannot be alleviated by less drastic means.
[Note: Each institution in adopting regulations on financial exigency will need to decide how to share and allocate the hard judgments and decisions that are necessary in such a crisis.
As a first step, there should be a faculty body which participates in the decision that a condition
of financial exigency exists or is imminent, and that all feasible alternatives to termination of
appointments have been pursued.]
DOCUMENT D-XVI
GRIEVANCE AND REVIEW PROCEDURES OF THE BLOOMINGTON FACULTY
http://www.indiana.edu/~bfc/docs/policies/grievance.htm
DOCUMENT D-XVII
AI DISPUTES
(Approved: BFC 4/7/70)
The Faculty Council, through the Vice-President, Bloomington, recommends to all departmental chairpersons and academic deans that internal review procedures be established in each department or other academic division, for the hearing of disputes involving Associate Instructors, while recognizing that no single procedure is likely to be appropriate for all departments or even for all types of cases within a single department.
AI Grievance Committee
http://www.indiana.edu/~bfc/docs/policies/AssociateInstructorGrievanceCommitteeProcedures.htm
AI Board of Review
(Approved: BFC 9/29/70)
The Faculty Council establishes an Associate Instructor Board of Review, modeled on the Faculty Board of Review, as described below:
Disputes Involving Associate Instructors
Grievance procedures, through which an AI can appeal from what he considers manifest
injustices, shall be established at a number of levels. Individual disagreements that arise should
go first to some kind of departmental machinery; failing mutual agreement there, the AI could
appeal to his Dean. At the next level, the Associate Instructor Affairs Committee should provide
its services as an informal mediator. Finally, in disputes that cannot otherwise be settled, but only
as a last resort and in the most serious cases, a formal Board of Review should be provided.
A. Membership of the AI Board of Review: the elected members of the Faculty Council shall
select an Associate Instructor Hearing Board composed of three faculty members and three
Associate Instructors; one of the six shall be designated as the presiding member. At the same
time first and second alternates from each category shall be elected. The members and
alternates shall hold office from the first day of October for a term of one year, but they shall
complete the review of any case which they have begun to consider. At least two years shall
elapse between terms of office. No more than two members of the Board may be elected from
a single academic division of the University. At least one member should have previously
served on the Faculty Board of Review. No member of this Board shall simultaneously serve
on the Associate Instructor Affairs Committee. If a member of the Associate Instructor
Hearing Board is involved in a case before the Board, or is a member of a department (or a
college which is not departmentalized) from which a case arises, he shall be disqualified to
hear or investigate the case. A member of the Board shall disqualify himself from hearing or
investigating a case whenever he believes he cannot render an impartial judgment. Whenever
a member of the Board is disqualified or disqualifies himself, or is no longer a member of the
faculty or an Associate Instructor, the alternate members shall fill the vacancy for the
particular case pending before the Board.
B. Jurisdiction: The Board shall have jurisdiction to make recommendations in cases which
raise issues of academic freedom, dismissal, and nature or condition of work.
C. Procedures: The request for a hearing shall be made in writing to the Chairman of the Board.
The Board shall decide whether to hear the case. If it decides to hear a case, the Board shall
fix a date for hearings, accord each party involved the right to have counsel of his own
choosing, to present witnesses and other evidence on his behalf, and to cross-examine
witnesses adduced against him. Upon request of the Associate Instructor involved, an open
hearing shall be held. Upon the evidence and arguments presented the Board shall express its
findings and recommendations in a written report made available simultaneously to the parties
and the Chancellor.
Public statements either by Associate Instructors or by administrative officials about cases before the Board should be avoided. Any announcement of the final decision should include recommendation of the Board, if it has not been previously released.
The Associate Instructor Hearing Board shall report annually to the Faculty Council the number and types of cases presented to it and indicate the number of cases in which it was recommended that the Associate Instructor be sustained.
See also http://www.indiana.edu/~bfc/docs/policies/Associate_Instructor_Board_of_Review_Procedures.htm
DOCUMENT D-XVIII
SUPPLEMENTARY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION COMPLAINT PROCEDURE
GUIDELINES FOR THE BLOOMINGTON CAMPUS
(Approved: BFC 9/17/74, 4/29/97)
Indiana University prohibits discrimination based on arbitrary considerations of such characteristics as age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender (including sexual harassment), marital status, national origin, race, religion, sexual orientation, or veteran status. The Office of Affirmative Action works to ensure compliance with federal, state and university equal employment opportunity and affirmative action policies and requirements. These procedures guide the Office of Affirmative Action in Bloomington when handling any incident of alleged discrimination.
I. Basic Policy and Approach
The Office of Affirmative Action's procedures for handling incidents of alleged discrimination place a strong emphasis on resolving complaints informally. Our guiding beliefs are:
A. Conflict often occurs in the workplace, but it is usually resolvable.
B. Most people wish to resolve conflict; however, they sometimes lack the skills necessary to do so.
C. Resolving conflict requires early, open, and productive expression at its source, before that conflict escalates into an adversarial, litigious, and costly situation.
D. The procedures should allow for the consistent and timely processing of all complaints. These procedures should ensure that the Office of Affirmative Action meets the university's legal obligations and its obligations to provide appropriate conditions of work and learning for faculty, students, and staff.
The Office of Affirmative Action believes a good procedure has the following characteristics:
A. Fairness and Objectivity. The procedure, so far as possible, must protect the rights of all involved.
B. Promptness. The faster the complaint gets addressed, the easier it is to resolve. A timely procedure benefits the acceptance of the resolution most readily.
C. Confidentiality. Staff should maintain great discretion, divulging information concerning the matter on a need-to-know basis only.
D. Notice. Once a person becomes the focus of a complaint or is identified as part of a resolution, that person must be notified of the complaint, the identity of the complainant, and the nature of the complaint.
E. Thoroughness. This office is committed to the principle that complete and accurate information should form the basis of responses to complaints.
F. Finality. Those handling complaints should communicate the results of their investigations in a clear and timely way to provide a sense of completion. The uncertainty and scrutiny of a discrimination complaint can be disruptive and difficult for all involved to tolerate.
A copy of these guidelines will be provided to all parties to inform them of the system to be followed in handling incidents of alleged discrimination.
II. Informal Procedures
Individuals who believe that discrimination compromises their educational or work experience should feel free to discuss the problem with a faculty member, chair, dean, or supervisor. In such situations the offended party may also request the person consulted to speak informally with the alleged offender(s) informing them of the salient features of the complaint. If this process does not resolve the matter, or if the complainant prefers, he/she may pursue any of the avenues of resolution listed below.
A. Advising
One function of the Office of Affirmative Action is to hear and address all complaints concerning
discrimination of any type. However, we recognize that some other offices may bring specific
expertise to particular complaints. There are several offices on the Bloomington campus that
have staff designated to assist individuals who believe that one or more people in the university
have discriminated against them. These offices include: Student Advocates, Student Legal
Services, the Office of Student Ethics & Anti-Harassment Programs (specifically the Gay,
Lesbian & Bisexual Anti-Harassment Team and the Racial Incidents Team), the Office for
Women's Affairs, Afro-American Affairs, the Office of Latino Affairs, the Dean of Faculties,
International Services and Disabled Student Services and Veteran's Affairs. People should feel
free to choose whichever office they feel can best accommodate their needs.
If the complaining party seeks a preliminary informational and advising session with the Office of Affirmative Action, an opportunity for full discussion of the case will be provided. The Affirmative Action Officer will aid the complaining party in exploring all possible options for resolving the complaint as effectively as possible. The Affirmative Action Officer keeps no record of the advising conversation other than an incident report containing only the names of the departments involved and the nature of the complaint. The Office of Affirmative Action keeps this information to maintain a record of the number and different types of reported incidents for statistical reports, for monitoring equal employment opportunity and affirmative action obligations, and for training and other proactive efforts. The Office of Affirmative Action makes every effort to protect the privacy of the persons involved in any conversation about discrimination. The Affirmative Action Officer releases information on an individual only with his or her permission or when required by law.
B. Alternative Dispute Resolution
The goal of alternative dispute resolutionwhether mediation or other ways of resolving complaintsis to provide a forum where the complaining and responding parties can, with the aid of the third party, come to a mutually agreed-upon resolution. Alternative dispute resolution works only when both the complaining and responding parties voluntarily participate in the process. Hence, the identity of the complaining party, the identity of the responding party, and the nature of the complaint will be known to all parties. The Affirmative Action Officer may serve as an alternative dispute resolution facilitator/mediator or suggest other parties to do so. By definition, informal resolutions do not include imposing sanctions, but they may involve mutually acceptable consequences. There are no time limits imposed here, but after 360 days from the alleged discriminatory act, there is no recourse to formal proceedings (outlined in III below).
As in advising, the Affirmative Action Officer takes all steps necessary to protect the privacy of all parties. The Affirmative Action Officer keeps no official record of the alternative dispute resolution process other than the names of the departments involved and the nature of the complaint. Again, the Office of Affirmative Action keeps this information for statistical reports, for monitoring equal employment opportunity and affirmative action obligations, and for training and other proactive efforts. The Affirmative Action Officer releases information on an individual only with his or her permission or when required by law.
III. Formal Procedures
When either party wishes to bypass an informal resolution, or when informal resolution fails and the complaining party chooses to pursue the matter formally, three steps will occur:
A. The complaining party must provide a signed written complaint that states in some detail the basis for the complaint and the relief sought. A complaining party should file promptlypreferably within 6 months of the alleged discriminatory act but in no event later than 360 days of the alleged discriminatory act. Respondents shall be informed of the details of the complaint and receive a copy of the written complaint as soon as possible.
B. The Affirmative Action Officer then conducts a preliminary investigation to determine if there is an apparent basis for the complaint. This initial investigation may include talking with people other than the disputing parties, but the purpose of the investigation is not to determine the ultimate facts or the merits of the complaint. Instead, its purpose is to determine whether there is a basis for proceeding further. The Affirmative Action Officer makes a written record of all actions taken.
C. 1. If the Affirmative Action Officer determines that there is no valid basis for the complaint, he/she/presents the results of the investigation to the complaining and responding parties. The Affirmative Action Officer takes no further action. Any documents gathered during the process remain in the Office of Affirmative Action and will be considered a university personnel record.
C.2. If the Affirmative Action Officer determines that there is an apparent basis for the complaint, he/she so notifies the complaining and the responding parties and convenes an Affirmative A