Grievance Procedure

Defining Grievance Cause

Faculty or students with concerns or complaints about the behavior of other faculty or students in professional situations or in interpersonal relationships should follow the grievance procedures described below. Note that questions of plagiarism should be taken to the Dean of Students, and sexual discrimination and sexual harassment issues should be taken to the University Title IX Coordinator (http://www.mtu.edu/equity/title-ix/overview/).

These procedures are designed to protect the rights and privacy of both faculty and students and to equitably adjudicate conflicts among faculty and students.

General Guidelines for Grievances

Faculty and students should avoid discussing their complaints with colleagues. Faculty or students who believe they have been subjected to discrimination based on sex or sexual harassment, suspect that an unfounded discrimination complaint may be filed against them, or have been threatened with the filing of such a complaint should notify the Affirmative Action Officer as soon as possible. (For more information on grievances and grievance procedures, as well as issue pertaining to discrimination, see the “Tenured/Tenure-Track Faculty Handbook”:  http://www.mtu.edu/faculty-handbook/).

Student-Initiated Grievances

Students have the right to fair and equal treatment by administrators and to expect professional behavior from faculty and other students. Professional behavior includes such matters as a respect for expertise, individual beliefs, and personal privacy.

Students should be aware that the campus provides an ombudsperson. One of the functions of the ombudsperson is to process student complaints (http://www.mtu.edu/ombuds/). Students who have complaints about administrators, faculty, or other students should first discuss their complaints with the person concerned, if possible. If the complaint cannot be resolved in this way, they should discuss the complaint with the Graduate Program Director. The Graduate Program Director discusses the complaint with the CEE Department Chair, faculty member, or student in question, and attempts to resolve the problem. If resolution is not possible at this level, the complaint will be referred to the CEGE Department Chair. If the complaint concerns the Graduate Program Director, it should be referred to the CEGE Department Chair. If the complaint concerns the CEGE Department Chair and resolution is not possible within the department, the complaint should be referred to the Dean of the Graduate School (https://www.mtu.edu/gradschool/policies-procedures/academic/grievance/).

Faculty-Initiated Grievances

Faculty members have the right to fair and equal treatment by administrators and to expect professional behavior from other faculty and students. Professional behavior includes such matters as a respect for expertise, individual beliefs, and personal privacy.

Faculty with complaints about administrators or other faculty should first discuss their complaints with the person concerned, if possible. If the complaint cannot be resolved in this way, faculty should discuss the complaint with the CEGE Department Chair or the Dean of the College Engineering; or, if that is not possible or resolution cannot be attained, the ombudsperson should be contacted.

Faculty with complaints about graduate students should first discuss their complaints with the graduate student concerned, if possible. If the complaint cannot be resolved in this way, they should discuss the complaint with the Graduate Program Director, who will discuss the complaint with the student, attempt to resolve the problem, and report to the CEGE Department Chair. If resolution is not possible at this level, the complaint will be referred to the Dean of the Graduate School.  Faculty members should be aware that the campus provides an ombudsperson. One of the functions of the ombudsperson is to investigate faculty complaints.

Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a Federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities that receive Federal funds. It states:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

Under Title IX, discrimination on the basis of sex can include gender discrimination, pregnant and parenting discrimination, sexual harassment or sexual violence, such as rape, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault, sexual battery, and sexual coercion.

To officially report an incident of gender discrimination, sexual harassment, or sexual assault/violence, you may contact the Title IX Coordinator at titleix@mtu.edu, 906-487-3310, 306 Administration Building or Public Safety and Police Services (https://www.mtu.edu/publicsafety/)  at 906-487-2216.  If you are a student, you may also choose to report to the Office of Academic and Community Conduct (https://www.mtu.edu/conduct/).