Faculty Adjudication Committee

Charges

  • To adhere to the Faculty Adjudication Committee guidelines established by the FSEC and the Vice President and Provost.
  • To hear all complaints of faculty members relating to the outcomes of salary, promotion, non- reappointment, and tenure decisions that are believed to be unfair or due to inappropriately applied procedures, and allegations of other unfair treatment, unsuitable environments (unsafe, hostile, inappropriate), or improper implementation of University policy. Any allegation of unfair treatment can become a grievance, but the Adjudication Committee cannot substitute its judgment for an academic judgment made in a fair and reasonable manner, according to University policies and evaluative procedures. The Adjudication Committee can advise administrators on redress and alterations of decisions when it is judged that it may determine, however, that such an academic judgment has been unfairly made or hopelessly sufficiently corrupted by bad practices or procedures and is, therefore, improper or invalid.
  • To decide whether or not the facts of a faculty petition merit a detailed investigation.
    To accept a complaint as a grievance and conduct an investigation when it appears to be warranted based upon the information on the situation provided to the committee.
  • To seek to bring about a settlement, if this appears to be possible, among the involved parties with or without a formal investigation of the situation.
  •  To report its findings and recommendations, if the case is found to have merit, but a settlement cannot be affected by the committee. Copies of these findings will be sent to all parties involved in the investigation, and in a case, which requires administrative assistance, copies will be sent to the LSU administration and to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. If the findings indicate that the grievance complaint does not merit an investigation, the committee’s report shall only be communicated to the petitioner and Faculty Senate President. When the case has been considered by the committee, the committee’s report of findings and recommendations shall be communicated to all parties, and to all levels of administration which have been involved in the case. In all cases the distribution of information in reports will comply with all applicable statutes and University regulations and policies, particularly if students are involved in the complaint or grievance.
  • To keep confidential all complaints, grievances, and findings of the committee relative to complaint and grievance petitions. Parties to a complaint or grievance will be protected from retaliation of any form.

Meeting Notice

Monday, July 1, 2024
1:30pm
Room 105 School of Music

July 1 Agenda

 

 

Definitions 

  • The adjudication process provides for actions to address disputes through formal clarification and evaluation of the issues surrounding the complaint and information obtained during any investigations of the complaint for those disputes that have not been resolved through reasoned discussions and decisions of the involved parties and/or the University Ombudsperson.
  • A “complaint” is any action or decision that a faculty member feels has adversely affected his or her professional capacity as an LSU employee that appears to have occurred or been decided unfairly, improperly, or in violation of University policy or has caused hostile or intolerable work conditions. The complaint will be considered a grievance when the Adjudication Committee agrees to accept the complaint as a grievance and begin committee activities on the complaint. Misapplications of University policies, but not dissatisfaction with existing University policies, may be considered as grievances. Violations of academic freedom, negative evaluations not based on objective criteria, salary decisions indicative of a pattern of poor administrative judgments, uncorrected inappropriate or unsuitable work environments, continuing intolerable conditions, and continuing behavior or conduct unbecoming a faculty member may be considered as grievances. Actions or decisions that may not be considered grievances are those that are encompassed by specific University policies, including, but not limited to sexual harassment; discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a disabled veteran or a veteran of the Vietnam era; or policies and procedures for appointment, tenure or promotion decisions. The committee shall not hear appeals arising from the dismissal for cause of a tenured faculty member, after due process as outlined in PS-104.
  • The definition of the term, “faculty member,” as used by this committee, shall be the definition provided in Section 1-2.2 A, Bylaws and Regulations of the Board of Supervisors.
 

Membership

Nine tenured faculty members; three members elected each year by the Senate to serve a three-year term. Nominations may be made from the floor of the Senate. The three persons who receive the largest number of votes shall be elected. The fourth person shall be an alternate. If a replacement is needed for a member unable to serve a full term, the alternate shall serve. Chairs or heads of departments and higher administration personnel are ineligible to serve on this committee. The Committee at the beginning of each academic year will elect a Chair-elect who will succeed the Chair the next academic year, and the Chair will become the Past Chair, who will not serve on the Committee if the term has expired. Committee members may only be elected and serve for two consecutive 3-year terms. The committee will meet within the first month of each semester to review the operating guidelines and on a regular basis to discuss pending complaints or accepted grievances.

 

Members 

Name College Email Term
Kerry Dooley Engineering dooley@lsu.edu  2025
Joseph Legoria Business jlegoria@lsu.edu  2025
Dominique Homberger Science zodhomb@lsu.edu  2025
Jeanne Donaldson Humanities & Social Sciences jdonaldson@lsu.edu  2026
Mayank Tyagi Engineering mtyagi@lsu.edu  2026
Joy Blanchard Human Sciences & Education jlblanchard@lsu.edu  2027
Jean Christopher Chamcheu Veterinary Medicine jchamcheu@lsu.edu  2027
Julia Irwin  Humanities & Social Sciences jirwin7@lsu.edu  2027
Edward Shihadeh Humanities & Social Sciences edsoc@lsu.edu  2027

 

Minutes and Agendas

2023-2024

Date Agenda Minutes
May 21, 2024 05/21/2024 Agenda 05/21/2024 Minutes
May 8, 2024 05/08/2024 Agenda 05/08/2024 Minutes
May 2, 2024 05/02/2024 Agenda 05/02/2024 Minutes
December 8, 2023 12/08/2023 Agenda 12/08/2023 Minutes
November 15, 2023 11/15/2023 Agenda 11/15/2023 Minutes
November 8, 2023 11/08/2023 Agenda 11/08/2023 Minutes
October 25, 2023 10/25/2023 Agenda 10/25/2023 Minutes
September 29, 2023 09/29/2023 Agenda 09/29/2023 Minutes