2004-2005 COLLEGE CATALOG - Luzerne County Community ...

B. Formal Procedure
1. Where informal resolution is not achieved, or where an individual who
believes he/she has experienced discrimination wishes to pursue a formal
complaint without utilizing the informal procedure, the party can request a
formal review by a College panel. Such a request will be made in writing
and will be submitted to the Associate Dean/Human Resources, Vice President/Academic
Affairs or the Vice President/Student Development.
In the event the informal procedure was not invoked, the Associate Dean/
Human Resources will organize and chair a panel to hear the complaint within
ten (10) work days. If the informal process has occurred, the Associate Dean/
Human Resources will appoint either the Vice President/Academic Affairs
or the Vice President/Student Development to organize and chair the panel.
The College President will be apprised of the complaint unless involved in
the complaint.
2. Nine (9) individuals will be selected bi-annually as prospective members of the
panel. The nine (9) individuals will be selected by May 1 and trained by the
College solicitor prior to July 1 of the appropriate year. A list of six (6) administrators
will be presented to the president of the faculty union and the classified
union; a list of six (6) classified staff members and six (6) faculty members will
be presented to the College president or designee by each union president. The
administration will select three (3) individuals from the faculty list and three (3)
individuals from the classified list; the classified and faculty unions jointly will
select three (3) individuals from the administrative list.
3. The review panel will consist of five (5) members from the college community.
Each party will select two (2) members from a bi-annual list of nine (9) individuals
selected and trained by the College to be available for such purpose.
This list will be composed of three (3) administrators, three
(3) faculty members and three (3) classified staff members. The chair of the
panel will be one of the administrators denoted in item 1 of the formal procedure.
The administrator chosen to chair the panel should have no involvement
in the case in the informal procedure and evidence reports from the
informal procedure will not be admissible in the formal process.
4. The panel will commence the hearing within fifteen (15) work days after all its
members have been selected and will render its decision within ten (10) work
days of the conclusion of the hearing. The following essential elements of due
process should govern the deliberations of the panel:
Notice to the parties of the specific charges and the responses of those involved;
Reasonable timing;
An impartial reliable investigator;
The right of both parties to representation;
The right of each party to present evidence, both in writing and through
witnesses;
The right of each party to question others who present evidence;
A decision made strictly on the recorded evidence;
Notice to the parties involved of the outcome.
5. Both parties and appropriate witnesses may present evidence to the panel in a
closed hearing. The chair of the panel will designate a panel member to keep a
record of all testimonial and documentary evidence. Based on the evidence presented,
the panel will decide by majority vote whether discrimination has
occurred and report its decision in writing to the president. In the event of in-
10