Guidelines for Preparing a Grievance Petition

Applicable to all Section 607(3) grievances filed on or after January 1, 2004

These guidelines are intended to assist you if you wish to file a faculty grievance as described in the UNC Charlotte’s Procedures for Resolving Faculty Grievances Arising from Section 607(3) of The Code (the “Grievance Procedures”) located at http://www.legal.uncc.edu/607GrievanceProcedures.html. Section 607 grievances include matters directly related to a faculty member’s employment status and institutional relationships. Section 607 grievances do not include grievances about non-reappointment, non-promotion or non-tenure decisions; discharge from faculty employment or the imposition of serious sanctions; or about termination of faculty employment due to program curtailment or financial exigency. Grievances related to those matters should be filed in accord with the Tenure Policies, Regulations, and Procedures of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (“TPRP”) and are not the subject of these Guidelines. If you are unsure which rules apply to the grievance you wish to file, please contact the University Mediation Coordinator (see Section 4 below).

1.      Procedures

Once you have determined that the grievance you wish to file is a “Section 607 grievance,” read the Grievance Procedures to become familiar with the applicable procedures prior to initiating a grievance. It is particularly important that you review Section II of the Grievance Procedures to understand what you need to demonstrate in order to prevail in a grievance should it not be resolved informally (see #2 below) or through formal mediation (see #5 below).

2.   Informal Resolution

Although this step is not required, you are encouraged to meet with the administrator you are grieving against, and/or with that administrator’s supervisor if appropriate, for the purpose of attempting to resolve your employment-related problem informally. If this step successfully resolves the matter, the mutually agreed upon resolution must be reduced to writing, signed by both you and the administrator, and forwarded by you to the Chancellor for approval before it becomes effective.

3.   The Grievance Petition

If you decide not to attempt informal resolution, or informal resolution is not successful and you decide to pursue a formal resolution, you must prepare a Grievance Petition. A valid Grievance Petition is a written document that meets the requirements set forth in Section V.B.1 of the Grievance Procedures. Please read this section carefully and assure that your written petition contains the necessary elements. Generally, you must file your petition within twelve months after you first become aware of the facts upon which the petition is based.

4.   Filing Your Grievance Petition

File your written Grievance Petition with the University Mediation Coordinator (UMC). You will find the UMC’s contact information at http://www.uncc.edu/academic_affairs/governance/mediation.htm. Be prepared to work with the UMC to correct any deficiency he/she sees in your petition. Be aware that the UMC has the right to reject your petition if she/he finds that it does not meet all the requirements set forth in Section V.B.1 of the Grievance Procedures. However, if you disagree with the UMC’s decision that your Grievance Petition is deficient, you have the right to appeal the UMC’s decision to the Chair of the Grievance Committee. Contact information for the Chair of the University Grievance Committee may be found online at http://www.uncc.edu/academic_affairs/governance/committees.htm.

5.  Mediation

Once you have submitted a Grievance Petition that meets the requirements of Section V.B.1 of the Grievance Procedures, the UMC will arrange for mediation in order to resolve the grievance in a non-adversarial manner. Although you are required to participate in the mediation process as the first step in the formal grievance process, you are not required to reach a mediated agreement. Mediation will be conducted by a trained mediator determined according to Section VII.B of the Grievance Procedures.

6.  Confidentiality

Keep in mind that all documents and other information you and others submit in connection with the grievance process are considered confidential and may not be revealed to any person who is not part of the procedure. Violating this confidentiality requirement may subject the violator to the imposition of serious sanctions in accordance with the provisions of Section 603 of The Code.