A Code of Ethics Procedure Section
for Employees of The College of New Jersey

 

VII. Procedure for Adjudicating Complaints of Unethical Conduct
 

A member of The College community who wishes to initiate a complaint of unethical conduct against an employee of The College (hereafter referred to as the grievant) must take the following steps:
 

A. Informal Proceeding

 The grievant shall inform the immediate supervisor of the complaint. Should the accused be the supervisor, then the accused's supervisor will be informed. Situations may exist wherein the grievant experiences difficulty in bringing a complaint forward. In such situations, the grievant may seek an adviser to assist in the process. The role of this adviser is not to judge the complaint but simply to facilitate compliance with the procedures described herein. For students, this adviser may be a member of (but is not limited to) the Student Government Legal Services Committee, Affirmative Action Office, Psychological Counseling Services, or the Women's Center. For employees, an adviser may be a member of (but is not limited to) the Affirmative Action Office or Human Resources. 

The supervisor, shall conduct a confidential investigation of the complaint. If the investigation reveals evidence that unethical conduct may have occurred, the supervisor shall within five (5) business days request the accused member(s) of the faculty or staff to appear for an informal discussion of the complaint. The supervisor shall, within five (5) business days of this discussion, take one of the following actions:
 

1. Dismiss the complaint.

2. Resolve the complaint informally with the agreement of the parties concerned.

3. Refer the complaint to the College Ethics Board for a Formal Hearing.
 

 Within five (5) additional business days, the supervisor must notify the concerned parties of the action taken on the complaint. If the complaint is dismissed by the supervisor or if the supervisor fails to take action or to notify the parties as required above, then the grievant shall have the right to file formal charges with the College Ethics Board within seven (7) business days after notification of the decision of the supervisor.
 

B. Formal Hearing

 Following the informal proceeding, if either the supervisor, or the grievant deems it necessary and advisable, a formal written statement of complaint may be submitted to the Chairperson of the College Ethics Board, stating in detail the nature of the complaint and the evidence upon which it is based.
  1. The Chairperson of the College Ethics Board shall within ten (10) business days of receipt of a formal complaint (and a minimum of fifteen (15) business days prior to the formal hearing) mail a notice to the person charged and to the grievant which shall include:
  a. A statement of the unethical conduct with reference to the specific violation under the Code of Ethics.

b. The name(s) of the grievant(s).

c. A notification of the time and place of the hearing, which shall occur no more than fifteen (15) business days following the mailing of the notice.

d. A copy of the Code of Ethics for the Employees of The College of New Jersey, including these procedures.

e. The names of the College Ethics Board members hearing the case.
 

 2. The hearing body shall consist of the College Ethics Board, of which a quorum shall be five (5) members including the Chair. The Chairperson of the College Ethics Board shall preside. All proceedings of the College Ethics Board in resolving complaints of unethical conduct shall be in closed session, and all communications therein shall be regarded as confidential.

3. The accused may request a delay of the hearing from the Chair of the College Ethics Board. A request for delay detailing the reasons for such a request must be submitted in writing within five (5) business days before the scheduled date of the hearing. The Chair of the College Ethics Board will determine the legitimacy of the request for delay.

4. Both the grievant and the accused may request the exclusion of any member of the College Ethics Board should they feel there is a potential bias. Within five (5) business days before the hearing is scheduled, a written objection detailing the reasons for such a request must be submitted to the Chair of the College Ethics Board. Challenged members will be asked to voluntarily step down and will be replaced by an alternate from the area on campus which they represent (eg., staff, Arts & Sciences faculty). In the event that the challenged person refuses to step down, then the College Ethics Board will meet and vote by a simple majority to resolve the issue. Challenged members cannot vote on their own inclusion/exclusion.

 5. The grievant(s), the person(s) charged, and the College Ethics Board have the right to be counselled or accompanied by an adviser of their choice, who may be an attorney. The role of the attorney is that of an adviser to their client. Advisers may not directly address the Chair, the College Ethics Board, or others present for the hearing. In cases in which the accused is a member of a bargaining unit, the respective bargaining unit and the President of The College may each have a non-voting observer present during the formal closed hearing. Neither observer, nor any other observers, may address any of the participants in the hearing. If the accused refuses to attend the formal hearing, the hearing will be held nevertheless in his or her absence, and the College Ethics Board may still render a decision.

6. Both the grievant and the accused shall have the opportunity to hear and examine all witnesses and all evidence. In addition, both the grievant and the accused may call witnesses and present other evidence in his/her behalf. At the discretion of the Chair, a written statement from witnesses may be considered. Such statements must be submitted a minimum of ten (10) days prior to the scheduled hearing. The College Ethics Board should immediately upon receipt of such statements, distribute them to both the accused and the grievant. The College Ethics Board may exclude evidence which it deems irrelevant or repetitious. At the conclusion of the presentation of witnesses and evidence, the accused may present a closing statement.

7. Following the formal hearing, the College Ethics Board shall deliberate upon and weigh the evidence to sustain the complaint in closed session. The College Ethics Board shall decide, by majority vote, whether to sustain the complaint or whether to dismiss it. In the event that the complaint is sustained, the Board shall determine a sanction. Sanctions will be enforced by the office of Human Resources. The decision of this board shall be forwarded in writing to the accused and the accuser within twelve (12) days of the hearing. Decisions and sanctions of previous complaints should be referenced to provide for continuity and fairness in the Board's decisions.

8. The Chair of the College Ethics Board shall, within twelve (12) business days following the formal hearing, report its findings, decisions, and sanctions, if any, to the President. This written report shall be signed by the Chair of the College Ethics Board.

9. The entire formal hearing shall be transcribed by means of a recording device. A copy of the recording shall be made available upon request to either the grievant(s) or the accused with the understanding that the communications contained therein remain confidential. While the grievant, the accused, and their adviser(s) may review the records, the records may not be reproduced or taken from the college without the specific authorization of the President of The College of New Jersey.

 10. Either party may file an appeal with the President within seven (7) days of receiving the written determination of the College Ethics Board. Notification must be in writing and specify, in detail, the grounds for the appeal. The President shall respond to the grievant(s) and the College Ethics Board in writing within fifteen (15) business days as to the disposition of the case and the reasons therefore.     C. Records

A written record of all formal and informal proceedings must be retained in the Affirmative Action Office for seven (7) years after the employee's termination and then be destroyed. In cases where the complaint was sustained, a duplicate record must also be maintained in the employee's personnel file.

  

VIII. Composition of The College Ethics Board

The College Ethics Board shall be a standing body of The College of New Jersey consisting of six (6) full-time employees and two (2) full-time student members with a minimum of five (5) members present to hear a complaint. Membership of the employees serving on the board shall consist of two (2) faculty members, two (2) members of the college administration, and two (2) classified employees. 

The Student Government Association (SGA) will recommend two (2) students and two (2) alternates to the President to be appointed to the College Ethics Board. The Vice President of each division (Student Life, Administration and Finance, College Advancement, and Academic Affairs) will recommend one administration and one classified employee to the President to sit on the board. From this pool of eight (8) representatives, two (2) - one (1) each from administration and classified, will serve on a case by case rotating basis. An effort will be made to ensure that the classified representatives from each Vice President represent a variety of vocations and that no one classified position is over-represented. Each school (Arts and Sciences, Business, Education, Nursing, and Engineering) will elect one (1) representative from their school. Library employees will also elect one (1) representative. From this pool of six (6) representatives, two (2) will serve on a case by case rotating basis. Initial rotations will be determined randomly with efforts being made to ensure that the representatives from each of the specified areas are diverse in regard to gender, race, ethnicity, and age.

Members shall serve for staggered terms of three (3) years. Student members must be at least of rising sophomore status and will be recommended by the Student Government and appointed by the President. The College Steering Committee should supervise the election of members of the College Ethics Board and shall arrange for a special election in case of resignation, death, or other cause by which a vacancy occurs on the board. Once constituted, the College Ethics Board shall elect its own Chair. Should a conflict of interest suggest the removal of a board member from serving on the deliberation of a particular case, the Chair shall appoint an alternate from the appropriate area who is currently not serving their rotation to sit in for that particular case. The Chair will serve in a non-voting capacity, casting a vote only in the case of a tie.

In order to avoid conflicts of interest and to ensure the confidentiality of all College Ethics Board deliberations, the following policies shall apply:

 1. In no case may a member of the College Ethics Board hear a complaint brought against himself or herself. In such cases, the member must recuse himself or herself from the board's deliberations.

2. Should a complaint come before both the College Ethics Board and a Union grievance process stipulated in a contract then in effect, no individual may participate in the deliberations of both bodies on that issue.

3. A Dean, Department Chairperson, or other immediate supervisor serving on the College Ethics Board may not participate in deliberations concerning any complaint which they have previously acted upon informally.

4. Members of the College Ethics Board may further be removed or recuse themselves from the board's deliberations if a written request from the grievant or the accused substantiates the presence of potential bias in a particular case. See the preceding Section VII. B. 4.
 

 Should a member of the board need to be replaced due to one of the aforementioned reasons, an alternate from the appropriate area shall serve on the Ethics Board for that case only.

 

 IX. Procedures for Approving and Amending these Statues The Code of Ethics for the Employees of The College of New Jersey may be revised or amended at any time. The procedure for approval or amendment must be in accordance with the general policies and procedures of institutional governance in effect at the time the request for approval or amendment is made. In no case shall any article of the aforementioned document or any amendment thereto be deemed to have force or effect until procedures specified by the appropriate governance policies have been completed. Nothing in the aforementioned document shall be interpreted as giving license for actions which violate municipal, state, or federal laws.
  5/14/97

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