Faculty votes in favor of new grievance policy

COLUMBIA — MU faculty voted to recommend an amendment to the grievance procedure on Wednesday, according to Faculty Council Chairman Tom Phillips. One of the major changes would be to include an administrator on the initial body that gathers and evaluates information related to a complaint.  

"I think this will be a big advance where many problems will be meditated, and the ones that will not be mediated will come to a fair and equitable solution," Phillips said.  

Ballots were sent in by 491 tenured and tenure-track faculty members; 346 of those faculty members voted for the changes to the procedure. However, not everyone is pleased with the outcome.

Rainer Glaser, a professor at MU and the faculty council representative from the American Association of University Professors, filed a grievance against the university in 2005. He said he was "disappointed" in the results of the ballot.

"I think that this was self-mutilation," Glaser said. "I am convinced this will not work. I think (the faculty) will see that this is a bad deal to have an administrator on the committee."  

The result of the vote will be passed along to Chancellor Brady Deaton. From there, Deaton will present the recommended changes to the Board of Curators at the upcoming meeting in December. The ultimate decision of whether to adopt the new grievance procedure lies in the hands of the curators.