Grievance Procedures

Faculty Grievance Procedures

The following grievance procedures are available to faculty who are tenured, tenure-track, clinical faculty, or research faculty. The procedure does not apply to lecturers or supplemental faculty such as adjunct faculty or visiting faculty. The SoK has established the following peer-based procedure to ensure the prompt, effective, and fair resolution of faculty members’ grievances.

For those in the lecturer track, please consult the processes stipulated in the Lecturer Employees Union (LEO) contract.

The University has established a peer-based procedure to ensure the prompt, effective, and fair resolution of tenure -,  research-,  and clinical- track faculty members’ grievances.  The Provost Office Faculty Handbook (Section 10 in the Faculty Handbook) describes various possibilities offered by the University to help resolve disputes.

In addition to the University-level processes, each school or college also has an internal grievance process.  The SoK Faculty Grievance Procedure (adopted October 2010) should be consulted.  

SoK hopes that faculty will seek to resolve differences prior to the filing of a formal grievance. Thus, SoK has an Ombuds person who can help negotiate resolutions to differences prior to the formal Grievance Process.  The SoK Ombuds is listed in the U-M Faculty Ombuds page; questions can also be directed to the Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.

Faculty Grievance Hearing Panel (FGHP)

External: The FGHP consists of tenured faculty members elected by each school or college in accordance with the unit's written rules. Due to its size, the School of Kinesiology has one representative. Interested tenured faculty can self-nominate or nominate by contacting the Dean’s Office no later than June 15. Associate Deans, Chairs, and faculty who will be on a sabbatical or a leave of absence in a given year should not be nominated or self-nominated. The Dean will appoint one individual in consultation with the Executive Committee for three years. The external member will serve on a Grievance Hearing Board (GHB) in a grievance external to SoK if they are randomly selected. The three-year term will run from July 1 until June 30, three years later. This individual may be reappointed but cannot hold consecutive terms (per UM guidelines). 

Internal: Three tenured SoK faculty members are elected every two years to serve as internal members on the FGHP (from July 1 until June 30, two years later). Due to the size of the School of Kinesiology and our administrative organization, these faculty members will be eligible program or at-large members elected to sit on the Executive Committee or dean appointees if the Executive Committee members do not fit the criteria. The internal members can be reappointed for an additional term (2 years) if they are also reappointed to sit on the Executive Committee or if they are reappointed by the Dean. One internal member will serve on a Grievance Hearing Board (GHB) in a grievance internal to SoK if they are the most favored internal member by both parties to a grievance. The senior assistant to the Dean will communicate the outcome of the EC election to Academic Human Resources once the regental approvals for Executive Committee appointments are announced.