Professional Standards Committee (PSC)
Purpose
The Professional Standards Committee (PSC) assures due process procedure for faculty as outlined in the Grievance and Due Process section of the handbook. The PSC hearing panel conducts a procedural review and does not substitute its judgment on the merits for that of the P&T Committee, the VPAA, or other authority having original jurisdiction.
Responsibilities
After attempts to resolve problems informally and through ordinary administrative channels have failed, the Professional Standards Committee has jurisdiction in the following types of cases:
- Student appeals involving Title VI violations such as those alleging improper academic evaluation, improper conduct, and/or a violation of college policies by a faculty member.
- Faculty grievances relating to verbal and/or written warnings issued by the VPAA.
- Grievances related to faculty employment, including:
- A grievance relating to a decision not to promote
- A grievance relating to a decision not to confer tenure
- A grievance relating to non-reappointment
- A grievance relating to layoff
- A grievance relating to suspension or dismissal for cause
- Grievances between faculty members and/or supervisors as referred to the committee by the VPAA.
- Grievances between faculty members and/or supervisors not covered by grievance procedures outlined in other sections of the Faculty or Employee Handbooks.
The Professional Standards Committee can propose changes for hearing procedures.
Membership
The committee is composed of nine members, one from each Division/School and Library, elected by the faculty for staggered three-year terms.
Terms of Office (not subject to term limits)
After the committee members are elected, the faculty in the last semester of the academic year nominates and elects the Chair by secret ballot and by majority vote. This vote will also be used to rank the faculty representatives for the committee. A quorum of five members is necessary at all times to conduct business. Should the committee be unable to fill vacancies on the committee or on its hearing panels due to disqualifications and challenges, it may ask former members to serve until a case is resolved. The most recent former member who is still active on the faculty will be selected first; the next most recent, second. If there are two members whose terms expired simultaneously, the choice will be effected by drawing lots.
Should the present and past membership of the committee not be sufficient to constitute a hearing panel, the Chair of the Professional Standards Committee should request a list of those faculty who have never served on the Professional Standards Committee and who are not currently serving on either the P & T Committee or the Faculty Senate from the Chair of the Committee on Committees. The Chair of the Committee on Committees should then forward this list to the Faculty Senate for selection, with preference for tenured faculty.