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WITHIN THE FAMILY

Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Issues Report

By Alex Sachare ’71

In December, a faculty Ad Hoc Grievance Committee was formed and charged with examining student complaints of intimidation in the classroom by faculty from the department of Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures (MEALAC).

After meeting with 62 individuals — students, faculty, alumni and administrators — and considering more than 60 written submissions over a nine-week period, the committee submitted a report containing its findings and recommendations to President Lee C. Bollinger, Provost Alan Brinkley and V.P. for the Arts & Sciences Nicholas Dirks. The full report was made public on March 31, with accompanying letters of endorsement from Bollinger, Brinkley and Dirks.

In the report, the committee found evidence to support one incident of inappropriate faculty behavior toward a student, during the 2001–02 academic year. The report also discussed two other incidents, but neither was found to be a case of faculty misconduct. The committee also identified repeated incidents in which certain MEALAC teachers were subjected to harassment, apparently by outside visitors and auditors of classes.

Among its recommendations, the committee called for strengthening the University’s grievance and advising procedures, and on April 11, Bollinger announced new grievance procedures along with the formation of a Presidential Council on Student Affairs. College students may bring grievances to their class deans or the dean of academic affairs, or to a newly formed Arts & Sciences faculty panel. There is a provision for final appeal to the University Provost. The grievance procedure for all Columbia schools can be found at www.columbia.edu/cu/provost/docs/policies.html.

The University has posted the full Ad Hoc Committee report on the Columbia website: www.columbia.edu/cu/news/05/03/ad_hoc_grievance_
committee_report.html. The press release announcing the report, along with letters from Bollinger, Brinkley and Dirks, may be found at www.columbia.edu/cu/news/05/03/response_to_report.html.

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