Vol. 18, No. 14	Dec. 10, 1998

Faculty Senate approves complaint procedures

According to the new procedures, which will be placed in the Faculty Handbook, a faculty member should not be sanctioned by a departmental chaiperson or program director on the basis of unwritten student complaints unless the faculty member has received notification of the complaints and an opportunity to confront the accusation.

Explaining the resolution, Leslie Goldstein of the Faculty Welfare and Privileges Committee said the chairperson or director is obligated to give "prompt notice" of the complaint and allow the faculty member an opportunity to be heard before judging whether the complaint has any foundation.

During the discussion, a friendly amendment offered by Ron Wenger and accepted by the senate removed the word "corrective" from the phrase "any complaint that the chair/director considers substantial enough to warrant corrective action." Goldstein also told the senators that timely notification required by the resolution would be "extremely important" for adjunct faculty, who sometimes teach a course just one time.

In other business, the senate approved a resolution allowing a separate grade point index to be calculated for a UD graduate who returns to pursue a second baccalaureate degree in another academic degree program. A single grade point index would be calculated for students who pursue more than one degree concurrently.

Revisions to the bachelor of arts in educational studies and a name change from consumer economics major to leadership and consumer economics major also were approved without challenges.