Dear Colleagues:
At its November, 2006 meeting, the Board of Regents adopted new language for the Handbook allowing for grievance of evaluation rating and merit in a unified process (Title 2, Chapter 5, Sections 5.2.3 and 5.2.4 and added sections 5.12.3 and 5.16).
Our Faculty Senate was a strong advocate for this change because we think the linkage between evaluation and merit on our campus required that they also be linked in the event of a grievance. As a result, the Faculty Senate Bylaws and Code Committee proposed a revision of the sections of the University Bylaws affected by this change, which was approved by the Faculty Senate and presented to you for a vote.
The amendments passed the faculty vote with 100 in favor, 1 opposed and no abstentions.
If you disagree with aspects of your annual evaluation we recommend that you first request reconsideration by your supervisor (e.g., department chair), and dean where appropriate, before filing a grievance.
Reconsideration refers to an informal process of negotiation intended to resolve such disagreements without invoking the adversarial grievance process where possible.
If agreement is not reached through reconsideration, a grievance may be filed through the faculty senate office (775) 784-4025, and the staff of that office will advise you on how to proceed. They may also be able to assist you in obtaining an appropriate modification to your evaluation without pursuing a formal grievance in some instances.
The changes to the University bylaws will not be fully ratified until approved by the Board of Regents. he Board of Regents is scheduled to vote on these changes at its March 15-16, 2007 meeting. I will be in touch again with the results of that vote.
Best Wishes, Guy Hoelzer University of Nevada, Reno Faculty Senate Chair.