Common use of Proceedings For Dismissal Or Sanction for Adequate Cause Clause in Contracts

Proceedings For Dismissal Or Sanction for Adequate Cause. 1. It shall be the obligation of the College President to initiate dismissal proceedings or sanction proceedings against a faculty member. The President shall notify the affected faculty member of his/her intention to commence dismissal proceedings or sanction proceedings, which notification shall be accompanied by a written statement of specific charges and by a description of the sanction or disciplinary action, including dismissal, recommended by the Director of Human Resources and a copy sent to the President of the AAUP. Within ten (10) days, the affected faculty member will either resign, agree to the sanction described, or agree to a hearing before a Fact Finding Committee. 2. Within the same ten (10) days described in F(1) of this article, the Faculty Senate shall appoint five (5) members of the bargaining unit to a Fact Finding Committee. None of said members shall be from the same division as the affected faculty member. The AAUP shall appoint a non-voting ex officio member to the committee. Prospective members of the committee who deem themselves disqualified for bias or interest shall promptly notify the Faculty Senate that they are unable to serve. The affected faculty member may exercise one challenge without stated cause. If the Faculty Senate cannot form a 5-member Fact Finding Committee within ten (10) days of receipt of the President's charges, the Fact Finding Committee shall be composed of all the members of the Faculty Senate excluding those from the same division as the faculty member against whom charge(s) are pending. 3. Pending a final decision by the Fact Finding Committee, the affected faculty member's salary and benefits shall continue in full force and effect. If the President feels that the affected faculty member is unable to discharge his/her regular professional responsibilities, in the interest of the proper functioning of the College, the President may suspend the affected faculty member or assign him/her to other duties in lieu of suspension. 4. The Fact Finding Committee shall begin its preparations for the hearings within five (5) days of its receipt of the President's written statement of specific charges. With appropriate notice to the parties concerned, the Committee may hold joint meetings with the parties to simplify issues, effect stipulations of facts, provide for the exchange of documentary or other information, or achieve such other prehearing objectives as will make the hearing fair, effective, and expeditious. Within five (5) additional days, the Fact Finding Committee shall determine whether there is a prima facie case for proceeding with a hearing. If the Fact Finding Committee should find that there is no prima facie case for proceeding with a hearing, it shall so report in writing to the President. If the President feels there is still a necessity for hearings, he/she shall within five (5) days so report in writing to the Fact Finding Committee, and the committee shall initiate hearing procedures. 5. The Fact Finding Committee shall serve notice of hearing with specific charges in writing, at least fifteen (15) days prior to the hearing. The hearing shall commence no later than the twentieth (20th) day after the date of the notification of the hearing, and the hearing shall be completed fifteen (15) days after the commencement of the hearing. The hearing shall be governed by the following rules: a. The affected faculty member shall determine whether the hearing should be public or private, and no adverse inference shall be drawn from such determination. b. The faculty member shall be entitled to have legal counsel be present and participate in the proceedings. c. Both the administration and the AAUP shall be entitled to participate in the proceedings and may be represented by legal counsel. d. The Committee shall grant reasonable adjournments to enable either party to investigate evidence to which a valid claim of surprise is made. e. A verbatim audio record of the proceedings shall be taken and the administration shall make a copy of the audio tape available to the affected faculty member, at his or her request. f. The burden of proof that "adequate cause" exists rests with the administration and shall be satisfied only by clear and convincing evidence in the record considered as a whole. g. The affected faculty member and the administration shall be afforded a reasonable opportunity to obtain necessary witnesses and documentary evidence. h. The faculty member and the administration shall have the right to confront and cross examine all witnesses. Where the witnesses cannot or will not appear, but the Committee determines that the interests of justice require admission of their statements, the Committee shall identify the witnesses, disclose their statements, and, if possible, provide for interrogatories. i. In a hearing of charges of gross incompetence, the testimony shall include that of qualified members of the Cincinnati State Technical and Community College faculty and/or the testimony of faculty members of other institutions of higher education, and/or the testimony of recognized authorities in the appropriate professional disciplines or programs. j. The Committee shall not be bound by strict rules of legal evidence, and may admit any evidence which is of probative value in determining the issues involved. Every possible effort shall be made to obtain the most reliable evidence. k. The Committee shall base its findings of fact and its recommendations and decisions solely on the hearing record. 6. The Fact Finding Committee shall be empowered to recommend dismissal or another remedy which it deems appropriate. 7. Within five (5) days after the conclusion of the hearing, the Committee shall notify the College President and the President of the AAUP of its findings of fact and its recommendations. 8. The College President shall transmit the recommendations of the Fact Finding Committee along with his or her own recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees shall at its next regular meeting afford the affected faculty member an opportunity to appear before the Board to provide evidence on his/her own behalf. The Board of Trustees shall consider all of the findings and recommendations and shall within five (5) days put into writing its final decision, copies of which shall be submitted to the affected faculty member, the chair of the Fact Finding Committee, the College President, and the President of AAUP. 9. The AAUP, at its discretion, may appoint within five (5) days two representatives to meet and confer with the College President or his/her designee in respect to the conditions of the dismissal regarding compensation and/or benefits for the affected faculty member. In such discussion, consideration will also be given to any compensation which might have been continued for the affected faculty member during the period of time in which the affected faculty member performed no service to the College pending a final decision by the Board of Trustees.