Using an academic assessment or other academic action as a means to retaliate against a student worker for engaging in conduct protected by the HGSU-UAW bargaining agreement (the “Agreement”), or for participating in any investigation or proceeding arising under the Agreement, is unacceptable and prohibited. Examples of prohibited academic retaliation include basing a grade, academic credit, attribution of authorship, denial of an academic opportunity or other academic judgment on a student worker’s exercise of a right conferred by the Agreement.
The following procedures should be used by student workers who believe they have been the subject of retaliatory academic action by a Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health academic appointee for engaging in conduct protected by the Agreement or for participating in any investigation or proceeding under the Agreement. This process applies only to allegations of academic retaliation that are not covered by the Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy, which contains an anti-retaliation provision that also applies to concerns falling under the Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy. If a student worker believes they have been the subject of a retaliatory academic action for reporting or complaining of sexual harassment or other sexual misconduct, participating or refusing to participate in any proceeding regarding such a complaint, or opposing conduct the student worker believes violates the Interim Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy or the Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy, then the student worker should contact a Title IX Resource Coordinator to discuss options and procedures under the Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy. There may be other University policies, outside of the Interim Other Sexual Misconduct Policy, that also provide protection from retaliation. Student workers may elect to follow the process in those other policies, as appropriate, instead of the process set forth here. That choice is final, and there will not be duplicative reviews of the same complaint.
A student worker shall have the right to a HGSU-UAW representative or UAW representative at any and all steps of the handling of the process outlined below. An academic appointee who allegedly took the academic action may have a personal advisor at any and all steps of the handling of the matter.
Informal Resolution of Complaint
A student worker with a complaint concerning academic retaliation should initially take the matter to one of the following people: their academic adviser, program director/department chair, Associate Dean for Student Services, Chief Diversity Officer, Longwood Campus ombudsperson, or another appropriate faculty member or administrator. If the complaint cannot be resolved satisfactorily, the student worker may, at their discretion, seek resolution via the formal complaint procedure outlined below.
Formal Complaint Procedure
An aggrieved student worker may request resolution of the complaint by initiating the following formal procedure:
- A student worker may submit a complaint in writing to the Associate Dean for Student Services asking that they review the case. The written complaint must include the following:
- Description of the alleged facts, including a description of the alleged protected conduct, the alleged retaliatory action, and the connection between the alleged protected conduct and the alleged retaliatory action;
- Summary of the steps the student worker already has taken in attempt to resolve the issue;
- Name/s of the academic appointee/s alleged to be responsible for the retaliation;
- Other facts considered to be pertinent to the complaint; and
- Signature of the person initiating the complaint.
- Upon receipt of the formal complaint, the Associate Dean for Student Services, or their designee will contact Harvard’s Office of Labor and Employee Relations (“OLER”) to determine if the student worker engaged in conduct protected by the Agreement. If it is determined that the student worker did not engage in conduct protected by the Agreement, then the procedures outlined below do not apply.
- The Associate Dean for Student Services, or their designee, will send the written complaint to the Code of Conduct Council within twenty (20) business days of receipt of the written complaint, absent extenuating circumstances requiring an extension of time.
- The Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, shall investigate the complaint. This investigation shall include, but need not be limited to:
- Meeting/s with the student worker and the academic appointee, and/or representatives of the academic appointee’s department or program;
- Review of documents that the Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, deems relevant; and
- Consultation with such others as the Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, deems necessary to provide a thorough investigation of the complaint.
For example, in the event of an allegation of academic retaliation involving a graded assignment or other assessment, the Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, may identify an academic appointee with subject matter expertise, and no involvement in the matter at issue, to review the student worker’s work product or the action and advise as to whether the action was reasonable. The Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, will make every effort possible to keep the identity of the academic appointee with subject matter expertise confidential and will redact the name of the student worker and the name of the academic appointee from the student worker’s work product.
If the academic appointee with subject expertise does not find that the academic assessment or other academic action was reasonable, they may review other recent academic assessments or other academic actions of comparable student work by the same academic appointee. The Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, will redact the names of the students and the name of the academic appointee from the students’ work product.
- The Code of Conduct Council, or its designee, shall consider the facts of the case, including but not limited to the academic appointee’s basis for the academic assessment or other academic action, and the student worker’s description of the connection between the protected conduct and the retaliatory action, and issue a written determination as to whether the challenged action was retaliatory. This written determination will be provided to the student worker and the academic appointee. Retaliation is established when there is a clear connection between the academic assessment or other academic action and the student worker’s protected activity.
- Within seven (7) business days of receipt of the written determination, the student worker or academic appointee can submit an appeal of the decision in writing to the Academic Dean on the basis of a procedural irregularity that affected the outcome of the decision; new evidence that was not reasonably available at the time the determination was made and that could affect the outcome of the decision; or member(s) of the Code of Conduct Council that took part in the investigation and disposition of the complaint had a conflict of interest or bias for or against the student worker or academic appointee that affected the outcome of the matter. In the event of an appeal that meets one or more of these grounds, the Academic Dean, or their designee, will review the written determination and may conduct further inquiries or consult other subject matter experts as necessary. The Academic Dean, or their designee, will issue a final written determination of the appeal to the student worker and the faculty member. The decision rendered by the Academic Dean, or their designee, will be final.
In the event of a finding of academic retaliation, the determination of the Code of Conduct Council, or their designee (and, in the event of an appeal, the final determination of the Academic Dean, or their designee) will be sent to the Dean of the School, or their designee, who will determine what action to take. The final action of the Dean of the School, or their designee, constitutes the formal completion of the formal complaint procedure.
- Any request for exceptions to the foregoing should be addressed to the Associate Dean for Student Services. By mutual agreement of the Associate Dean for Student Services and the student worker, the stated formal procedure may be waived in favor of a procedure more appropriate to a particular circumstance.
