Grounds:
A student or former student who believes that he/she/they has not received appropriate redress through the general Complaint Procedure or through a School or College’s specified complaint process may file a grievance on one or more of the following three grounds:
- Procedural irregularities sufficient to affect the outcome;
- New information that was not reasonably available at an earlier stage of review that could reasonably be expected to affect the outcome; or
- A clear error of judgment in the conclusion reached by a decision-maker at an earlier stage of review resulting in insufficient information to support the decision.
Procedure:
- A student or former student must file a written grievance with the Office of the Chancellor within thirty (30) days from the completion of the Complaint Procedure. The grievance must be no more than five (5) double-spaced pages with one (1) inch margins and twelve (12) point font and may include attachments. The Office of the Chancellor may grant exceptions to these length and formatting requirements or give the student additional time to conform the complaint to the requirements.
- Upon ascertaining that all avenues under the Complaint Procedure and/or through any required alternative processes have been exhausted, the Office of the Chancellor will refer the grievance to the Faculty Senate Committee on Student Life (the committee), usually within thirty (30) days during the academic year.
- The parties, members of the committee, advisers, and others having knowledge of the grievance will maintain the confidence of the matter.
- For consideration of grievances (i.e., preliminary assessment, meetings, etc.), a quorum, as defined in the Constitution of the Faculty Senate, of the membership of the committee will be augmented by three student members appointed by the Chancellor or designee at the beginning of each academic year.
- The undergraduate Vanderbilt Student Government will nominate students for the one undergraduate position, and
- Student governing bodies of the professional/graduate schools will nominate students for the other two student positions.
- If a student member is unable to serve due to a conflict of interest, absence from campus, or other reason, the Committee Chair will select an alternate from the list of nominated students.
- Committee members may recuse themselves if they believe their objectivity is subject to question, and the parties may request any committee member recuse himself/herself/themselves if the parties believe that a committee member will not view the grievance with sufficient objectivity. All recusals will be guided by the Conflict of Interest policy. If vacancies that affect the committee’s ability to achieve and maintain a quorum occur,
- The chair of the Faculty Senate (or the vice chair in instances where the chair is unavailable or has a conflict) will appoint Senate members to fill faculty vacancies, and
- The Committee Chair will appoint students to fill student vacancies from the list of nominated students.
- Upon receiving the referral from the Office of the Chancellor, the Committee will inform, in writing, the parties to the grievance that a preliminary assessment will take place to determine whether the grievance was timely filed, made in good faith, and falls within the scope of the Grievance Procedure.
- Prior to beginning the preliminary assessment, the committee may consult with the Office of the General Counsel or other offices regarding review processes, as deemed appropriate by the chair of the committee. During the course of the preliminary assessment and any subsequent proceedings, the committee may also consult with these offices, as needed.
- The preliminary assessment will usually be completed within thirty (30) days during the academic year.
- After the preliminary assessment, if the Committee determines that the grievance should move forward, the committee will inform the parties and follow procedures necessary to ensure a fair review of the matter, including the opportunity for the parties
- To submit relevant evidence and identify potential witnesses,
- To review and respond to the committee’s preliminary report as described below, and
- To have the grievance reviewed by an impartial committee using the preponderance of the evidence standard.
- The parties may be assisted during the review by a member of the University community (faculty, staff, or student) who is not related to them and not trained in the law (except in cases concerning students in the Law School in which Law School faculty, staff, and students may serve as an adviser), and are encouraged to seek such assistance.
- Although all parties to the complaint are free to consult with, and receive advice from, attorneys concerning the complaint, no party may be represented by an attorney at any meeting with the Committee.
- All communications with the parties will be directly between the Committee Chair and the parties.
- The Committee may interview or request information from any individuals who it believes may be helpful as witnesses. The committee, in its sole discretion, may conduct witness interviews with the entire committee or any subset of the committee. If a witness has concerns about sharing information with the Committee based on University policy, legal requirements, or privacy, the witness and/or the Committee may consult with the Office of the General Counsel. If the concerns remain unresolved following consultation with the Office of the General Counsel, the witness and/or the Committee may request a decision on whether the Committee should have access to the requested information by the Chancellor’s designee.
- The parties and witnesses are expected to respond to all inquiries and requests from the Committee in accordance with any established timelines in this policy or otherwise within two (2) weeks.
- After the Committee’s review is complete, the committee will write a preliminary report, which
- Will include a list of witnesses and a summary of the facts and information submitted to the committee and upon which the committee plans to rely,
- Will usually be completed within ninety (90) days after the preliminary assessment during the academic year, and
- Will be shared with the parties who will have one (1) week to provide comments on and/or challenge the information included in the preliminary report (up to ten (10) double-spaced pages with one (1) inch margins and twelve (12) point font not including attachments). The Committee may grant exceptions to these length and formatting requirements or give the parties additional time to conform the comments to the requirements.
- The Committee will review the comments submitted by the parties and will engage in further fact- finding, if necessary, before completing a final report.
- The student may withdraw the grievance at any time prior to the decision of the Committee.
- The final report will include a list of witnesses and a summary of the facts and information submitted to the Committee and upon which the Committee relied, a statement of the Committee’s findings, the basis for those findings, and, if necessary, recommendations for any action that should be taken. The final report will be completed within three (3) weeks of the final committee meeting.
- The final report, including the vote and any dissenting statements by Committee members, will be sent to the Chancellor no later than one (1) week after its completion.
- The Chancellor will communicate their decision to the Committee.
- In any case in which the Chancellor does not follow the decision or the recommendation of the Committee, the Chancellor will report to the Committee their reasons for so doing.
- The Office of the Chancellor will then notify the parties and other affected persons, including the dean of the relevant school and, in the case of a graduate student, the dean of the Graduate School, in writing, of the final decision, usually within thirty (30) days of receipt of the committee’s report during the academic year.
- Where the Chancellor accepts a recommendation that disciplinary action may be appropriate, the Chancellor will refer the matter to the appropriate University authority for review and a determination of appropriate disciplinary action based on the applicable disciplinary policies and procedures.