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Dismissal of Tenured Faculty for Cause (continued)

IV. ACADEMIC HUMAN RESOURCES POLICIES (Cont.)

DISMISSAL OF TENURED FACULTY FOR CAUSE (Cont.)

Appendix I
Procedure for Empaneling a Hearing Committee

1. Except as noted in part 8, below, the Hearing Committee shall consist of five tenured faculty members who are serving as UCFT members on the date of the filing of charges under Section II of the Policy. One alternate will also be selected for potential membership on the Hearing Committee.  The expiration of a member's term on the UCFT shall not affect continued service on a Hearing Committee.
   
   
2. In the presence of at least one other member of the UCFT, the Presiding Officer shall conduct a random drawing of the names of all tenured members of the UCFT, placing the names on a roster in order of drawing. This shall be the order in which members will be selected for service on the Hearing Committee. The Presiding Officer shall circulate the ordered roster promptly to the parties and to the members of UCFT.  The Presiding Officer shall notify the parties of the date of the meeting at which the roster is drawn and the parties and/or their counsel may, if they choose, attend this meeting.
   
   
3. No sooner than two weeks after the circulation of the ordered roster, the UCFT shall meet in the presence of the parties to select the Hearing Committee. All eligible members on the roster are expected to attend. The Presiding Officer shall convene and preside over this meeting.  If either party does not attend this meeting, the Presiding Officer may choose to conduct the meeting in the party’s absence.
   
   
4. No later than five days before the selection meeting, any potential Hearing Committee member or potential alternate may make a written request to the Presiding Officer that he/she be excused for an appropriate reason. Requests to be excused shall be the first order of business during the Hearing Committee selection meeting. The Presiding Officer shall, if necessary, question members seeking to be excused and then decide whether to excuse any of them.
   
   
5. The Presiding Officer shall question each potential Hearing Committee member/alternate about his/her personal or professional relationships, if any, with either party, and ask whether there is any reason he/she would be unable to hear the case and render a fair and impartial judgment. The parties may submit additional questions to the Chairperson.   The Chairperson may disallow any questions on grounds of lack of relevance.
   
   
6. Each party shall have an unlimited number of challenges for cause and one peremptory challenge. The Presiding Officer shall preside over the challenge process. If a party challenges a potential member/alternate of the Hearing Committee for cause, the party shall state the grounds for the challenge. The standard the Presiding Officer shall follow in ruling on for cause challenges is whether, in light of the challenged person's knowledge of the case, personal or professional relationships with a party, and statements made during the selection and challenge process, the challenged person would be able to fairly and impartially hear the case and render a fair and impartial judgment. The Presiding Officer shall rule on any challenge for cause.
   
   
7. If a potential member/alternate is removed from the Hearing Committee roster, the next name on the ordered roster will be advanced to keep the potential membership of the Hearing Committee at six (five members, one alternate). All such replacements are subject to the selection procedures described above.
   
   
8. Should the roster of candidates for membership on the Hearing Committee be reduced to less than six, the roster of candidates shall be replenished by randomly selecting available former tenured members of the UCFT in order of most recent service on the UCFT. (All available former tenured members who served during the previous academic year will provide the first supplement, then those who served two academic years ago, and so on.) Should replenishment of the roster be necessary, the Presiding Officer shall identify supplementary candidates in a number sufficient, in the judgment of the Presiding Officer, to fill the Hearing Committee and provide one alternate. Ordering and selection of Hearing Committee members from the supplementary panel shall proceed in the manner described above.
   
   
9. The Hearing Committee shall be composed of the first five present or former UCFT members remaining on the ordered rosters after the completion of the process described above.  The next remaining member on the ordered roster will be designated as an alternate.
   
   
10. If, prior to the hearing of evidence, any Hearing Committee member is unable to continue service on the Committee, the UCFT shall appoint the alternate as the replacement member. If, due to attrition, the Hearing Committee membership is reduced to four after hearing evidence has begun, the hearing process shall continue. Further attrition shall result in reinitiation of the process.
    
    
11. The Presiding Officer shall arrange that a record of the Hearing Committee selection process be made and become part of the official case record.  Upon request, a copy will be provided to the parties.
    
    
12. After the selection of the Hearing Committee, the Hearing Committee shall elect its Chairperson from its membership by majority vote. The Hearing Committee Chairperson shall be in charge of the hearing process from this point until the Hearing Committee has submitted its report and recommendations.
    
    
13. The University shall provide legal counsel for the Presiding Officer and for the Hearing Committee.
    

Appendix II
Procedure for the Hearing

1. The Chairperson of the Hearing Committee shall be in charge of the hearing. 
   
   
2. Legal counsel for the Hearing Committee may be present at all hearings and deliberations.
   
   
3. Hearing sessions may be scheduled, at the discretion of the Chairperson, on any weekday, weekends during the hours from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., or, by unanimous consent of the parties and Hearing Committee members, on University holidays.  Reasonable efforts shall be made to accommodate the scheduling requests of the parties and Hearing Committee members.
   
   
4. All discussions and votes by the Hearing Committee shall be in executive session.  Minutes will not be taken of such sessions and any notes taken during such sessions will not become part of the record of the case.
   
   
5. The hearing shall be conducted in an informal manner to the greatest extent possible.  Formal rules of evidence do not apply.
   
   
6. The Chairperson of the Hearing Committee may, in his/her discretion, exclude evidence, including witness testimony, if the Chairperson determines that such evidence is not relevant to the charges at issue.
   
   
7. The Chairperson of the Hearing Committee shall read the charges against the faculty member.
   
   
8. The Chairperson of the Hearing Committee shall request an initial statement summarizing the faculty member's responses, which may be presented by the faculty member or his/her advisor or legal counsel.
   
   
9. The charging party (or his/her representative, advisor, or legal counsel) shall present documents/testimony to support the charges. The faculty member and his/her advisor or legal counsel have the right to cross-examine all witnesses. The Hearing Committee will normally withhold questions until the cross-examination of the witness has been completed.
   
   
10. The faculty member (or his/her representative, advisor, or legal counsel) shall present documents/testimony to refute the charges. The charging party and his/her legal counsel have the right to cross-examine witnesses. The Hearing Committee will normally withhold questions until the cross-examination of the witness has been completed.
    
    
11. After the faculty member’s witnesses have completed their testimony, including any cross-examination, the charging party may present rebuttal evidence. Rebuttal evidence shall be limited to new matters introduced in the faculty member's case. Surrebuttal evidence (limited to evidence rebutting the charging party's rebuttal evidence) shall also be allowed.
    
    
12. The charging party (or his/her representative, advisor, or legal counsel) shall present his/her closing argument.
    
    
13. The faculty member (or his/her representative, advisor, or legal counsel) shall present his/her closing argument.
    
    
14. The Hearing Committee shall deliberate to prepare its report and recommendations.
    
    

Appendix III
Procedures for Selecting Dismissal for Cause Review Officer

1. A panel of ten tenured faculty members shall be established from which one shall be selected by the President of the University to advise the Provost when a dean or separately reporting director proposes to initiate dismissal for cause proceedings against a faculty member under Section I of the Policy. The reviewer, called the Dismissal for Cause Review Officer, or the Review Officer, may not be from the same college as the faculty member against whom charges may be filed or the dean/separately reporting director filing the charges.
   
   
2. The panel shall be composed of tenured faculty members selected by the President in consultation with the Chairpersons of the UCFT and University Committee on Faculty Affairs.  It is preferable for panel members to be tenured faculty selected who have (a) experience in chairing grievance panels, standing or ad hoc committees, (b) training or experience in grievances, arbitration, and/or mediation, or (c) legal training.
   
   
3. Panel members shall serve at the pleasure of the President, with vacancies filled in accordance with the procedure stated above.
   
   

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