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Wed Jul 28 10:53:42 EST 1999
Auth:
Copyright © Monash University 1998 - All Rights Reserved - Caution
The
faculty has introduced these procedures to cover problems and grievances that
students may have over academic and administrative matters at the departmental
or faculty level. These include matters relating to enrolment, assessment,
unsatisfactory progress, the provision of teaching or support services, and
provision of faculty facilities. These procedures do not relate to discipline
or sexual harassment matters which are covered by special university
procedures.
The procedures are designed to provide for the resolution of problems and
complaints quickly and efficiently through appropriate departmental and faculty
mechanisms, while protecting the rights of students and staff. All cases of
this kind will be treated as confidential. These procedures are provided for
cases where the matter cannot be resolved satisfactorily through the usual more
informal means.
Academic
grievances are those where students have complaints about aspects of their
courses, assessment or other matters which are the responsibility of academic
staff and of departments and centres in the faculty.
Monash University has developed a policy on student academic grievances which
is reproduced below.
1
The student is encouraged to resolve the difficulty with the staff member(s) in
question, in accordance with the relevant faculty or departmental
procedures.
2 If a resolution cannot be reached, the student is encouraged to
discuss the difficulty with the head of the appropriate department or school
(or nominee), or the relevant chief examiner, on a confidential basis.
3 If the difficulty has still not been resolved, a written request for
resolution of the matter may be made to the senior member of staff nominated by
the dean by either the student or the person with whom the matter has been
discussed at step two. The matter is now considered a grievance.
4 The senior member of staff nominated by the dean may then attempt to
resolve the grievance through further negotiation or mediation, or may advise
the complainant in writing that the grievance is considered to be frivolous
and/or vexatious, and that no enquiry is to be made.
5 If the grievance has not been resolved nor the complaint dismissed,
the senior member of staff nominated by the dean must convene a Faculty
Grievance Committee_ which would be established on an ad hoc basis and
would usually consist of three or four people for each case.
6 The outcome of the Faculty Grievance Committee's deliberations must be
communicated in writing to both parties involved in the grievance. This
communication should normally include an offer from the senior member of staff
nominated by the dean to debrief or otherwise provide further assistance to
either party. This communication should be registered, in order to provide
evidence of the receipt of the document.
7 The senior member of staff nominated by the dean may monitor, or be
directed by the Faculty Grievance Committee to monitor, the resolution of the
dispute for a maximum period of six months, and may wish to make further
recommendations (in writing) should the settlement not resolve the dispute to
the satisfaction of both parties.
8 A grievance case would be considered closed upon receipt by the senior
member of staff nominated by the dean of a written withdrawal of the grievance
by the complainant, or of a written agreement between the parties.
9 Decisions of the Faculty Grievance Committee or of the senior member
of staff nominated by the dean may be appealed in writing to the dean of the
faculty.
10 The dean of the faculty shall then investigate the matter, and may
establish a Grievance Appeal Panel to consider the matter.
11 The decision of the Grievance Appeal Panel shall be communicated in
writing to both parties.
12 The decision of the dean or of the Grievance Appeal Panel shall be
considered to be final.
_ THIS MIGHT BE THE COLLEGE GRIEVANCE COMMITTEE, DEPENDING ON THE ENROLMENT OF
THE STUDENT IN QUESTION.
A student should lodge a grievance with the Faculty which manages the degree in which he or she is enrolled. In the case of double degrees, the student should lodge their grievance with the managing faculty (eg for BA/BE, the Faculty of Engineering) even when the grievance relates to a subject taken in another faculty. The senior member of staff nominated by the dean may request that academics from another faculty take part in any hearings which might be required. Students who enrolled on a non-award or single subject basis should lodge any grievance with the faculty managing the subject in which they were enrolled.
The student is to be advised at the time of the initiation of academic grievance procedures that they may bring with them to any hearings into the matter a support person (as in the discipline hearings, this may be any person whether legally qualified or not, although this person is not to act as an advocate for the student.) Similarly, the staff member would not be represented by an advocate, although would be equally entitled to bring a person to the hearing as a support person. Should the matter proceed to an appeal, both the student and the staff member would be entitled to an advocate, should they so desire.
It is recommended that faculties determine in advance and publish in student handbooks the name of the person or persons able to be approached regarding matters of this kind. Normally, the senior member of staff would be one of the associate deans or the faculty registrar/ manager. The senior member of staff must not have been involved in the dispute or decision which is the subject of the grievance, in order that there is no conflict of interest or perceived bias. In such a case, the dean would need to appoint another member of staff to conduct the procedure.
It may be necessary to appoint to the panel staff from the department in which the grievance originated, in order to provide expertise (for example when the complainant is claiming unfair assessment practices). Provided that no member of the panel has had any involvement in the matter which is being enquired into or any other particular connection with the complainant, there will be no conflict of interest or perceived bias. Although it would be usual to appoint academic staff from within the managing faculty, it may be necessary to appoint academic staff from another faculty to the panel, particularly if the matter relates to a subject studied in another faculty. The chair would appoint the staff members to the Faculty Grievance Committee.
Such a panel would include none of the members of the Faculty Grievance Committee (although the chair of the Faculty Grievance Committee may be invited to address the appeal proceedings) and would include academic staff from another faculty (the associate deans (teaching)). The other member of academic staff would usually be appointed from within the managing faculty, but may be appointed from another faculty if it is considered necessary. The chair would appoint the staff members to the Grievance Appeal Panel.
The only person who may initiate a complaint regarding matters of academic grievance is the person who has been aggrieved (ie the student). The student rights officer may act on behalf of the student in initiating the investigation, at the request of the student.
The senior member of staff nominated by the dean may determine that the grievance in question is frivolous and/or vexatious, and determine that no enquiry is necessary. As for all other decisions related to the grievance process, the complainant must be advised of this determination in writing, and may make appeal to the dean, if they so desire. The dean may determine that an appeal of a determination of a Faculty Grievance Committee is similarly frivolous and/or vexatious and dismiss the grievance. This decision of the dean must also be communicated to the complainant in writing.
Written records of any grievance proceedings/complaints must be kept in a secure location in the office of the dean of the faculty for a minimum of five years after the last action date regarding the grievance or complaint (in accordance with university policy on disposal of records), although individual circumstances may require the retention of records after that time. These matters are considered to be absolutely confidential and any records must be destroyed in the same way as for all confidential records when no longer required to be kept. A report regarding the operation of the grievance policy should be prepared for submission to the faculty board no less than once each year, omitting all details which could identify those people who were involved in the processes.
There
is a specified maximum time period for each of the steps described above. They
are as follows:
1 The grievance (step three) received by the senior member of staff
nominated by the dean must refer to an incident or series of incidents which
took place no more than twelve calendar months earlier. This is the only time
limit for step one, although it would be anticipated that both the student and
the staff member would continue to attempt to resolve the dispute in this
manner only for as long as the meetings remained productive.
2 The grievance (step three) received by the senior member of staff
nominated by the dean must refer to an incident or series of incidents which
took place no more than twelve calendar months earlier. This is the only time
limit for step two. Again, it would be expected that the student and the staff
member(s) would continue to attempt dispute resolution in this manner only for
as long as the meetings remained productive.
3 The grievance (step three) received by the senior member of staff
nominated by the dean must refer to an incident or series of incidents which
took place no more than twelve calendar months prior to the lodgement of the
written request for resolution of the matter.
4 Negotiation/mediation or dismissal of the complaint must be concluded
within a maximum of fifteen working days from the receipt of the grievance by
the senior member of staff nominated by the dean, or a Faculty Grievance
Committee convened.
5 The committee must be convened within a maximum of twenty-five working
days from the receipt of the grievance by the senior member of staff nominated
by the dean.
6 The Faculty Grievance Committee must reach a decision within a maximum
of thirty-five working days from the receipt of the grievance by the senior
member of staff nominated by the dean and must communicate this decision in
writing to both parties within a maximum of forty-five working days from the
receipt of the grievance by the senior member of staff nominated by the
dean.
7 No time-frame required.
8 The appeal must be submitted to the dean of the faculty within ten
working days of the receipt of the written advice indicating the decision of
the senior member of staff nominated by the dean or of the Faculty Grievance
Committee.
9 The dean must make a determination regarding the appeal, and if
necessary establish the Grievance Appeal Panel, within a maximum of ten working
days of the receipt of the appeal by the dean.
10 The Grievance Appeal Panel must reach a decision within a maximum of
twenty working days from the receipt of the appeal by the dean and must
communicate this decision in writing to both parties within a maximum of
twenty-five working days from the receipt of the appeal by the dean.
Normally,
the proceeding first raised should be the first settled, if more than one
hearing has been proposed (eg Unsatisfactory Progress, Discipline,
Exclusion Appeal). Each hearing should be advised that other hearings are
proposed, however. If a student is faced with an Unsatisfactory Progress
Committee hearing, and subsequently files a complaint of academic grievance,
the decision regarding the student's unsatisfactory progress should be taken
prior to commencement of hearings regarding the alleged academic grievance.
No two proceedings as identified above might run concurrently.
The dean of the faculty may determine the order in which hearings should
proceed.
These procedures are designed to prevent a student who is scheduled for an
exclusion appeal hearing from making a complaint of academic grievance in order
to delay the exclusion hearing until the commencement of the following
semester, in the hope that the exclusion appeal committee would be more likely
to permit continued enrolment after the commencement of the semester.
wwwdev@monash.edu.au
Wed Jul 28 10:53:42 EST 1999