The College Faculty's Committee of Chairs, at their meeting yesterday afternoon, remained divided over a proposal to codify the procedure for handling grievances against faculty members.
The COC, which is composed of the chairs of all of the College's departments and academic programs, debated the proposal at its meeting last month but reached no conclusion.
Currently, the College's procedure for handling complaints against faculty members is not explicitly stated. But at last month's meeting, several committee members expressed concern over a proposal that would have codified the procedures in the Faculty Handbook.
At yesterday's meeting, Acting Dean of the Faculty Karen Wetterhahn presented a revised version of the proposal that included some suggestions voiced by COC members last month.
Wetterhahn said the new proposal states individual department chairs will handle more routine complaints while the Dean of the Faculty Office would handle more serious cases like allegations of sexual harassment and hostile environment.
The new proposal also states faculty members would be informed within 90 days if a complaint was filed against them and complaint files on faculty members would be kept for no more than five years.
The new proposal was endorsed by the Committee on Organization and Policy at its last meeting, according to Acting COP Chair Richard Barff.
But Government Department Chair Nelson Kasfir, who was critical of the original proposal at last month's meeting, said yesterday that although the new proposal addressed some of the concerns raised last month, the revised version was "still inadequate."
Many COC members said although the proposal protected the person filing the complaint, it did not provide adequate protection for the accused faculty member.
And several COC members suggested the proposal include provisions for an ombudsman, an independent official with no ties to the College who could act as an adviser to accused faculty members.
Anthropology Department Chair Hoyt Alverson said faculty members should be able to consult "someone who has access to all the facts but is under no obligation to 'protect the institution.'"
But Wetterhahn said the Dean of the Faculty Office was a major advocate for the College faculty, and the purpose of the proposal was not to make faculty members feel no one would support them if a complaint were filed against them.
Associate Dean of the Faculty for Arts and Sciences George Wolford said he thought it was important for the College to have an explicitly written grievance policy.
"Colleges seem to get in a lot more trouble if they don't keep records," he said. "We simply have to have some documentation of our procedures."
Barff said the COP would consider yesterday's COC discussion when making a final decision.
Also at yesterday's meeting, the COC briefly discussed the 1995-96 faculty salary guidelines that attempt to make salaries more equitable for non-tenure track faculty, especially visiting professors.
