WAC 174-121-010 the Social Contract College Philosophy

INTRODUCTION

The University of Hawai’i at Hilo Social Contract puts forward general goals for "freedom and civility, individual and institutional rights, society and the college, prohibition against discrimination, rights to privacy, intellectual freedom and honesty, open forum and access to information, and political activities". Individuals bring different perspectives to the meaning of these goals which can cause debate and discussion that are healthy to an institution designed to explore ideas. When, however, personal actions transgress another's rights and freedoms then conflicts can occur. Because the college acknowledges its obligation to provide fair and credible conflict resolution processes that do not disrupt the teaching and learning of the college, a range of third party interventions are offered to disputants.

In keeping with the principles of the Social Contract, members of the faculty, the deans, vice-chancellors, and the Chancellor who come into conflict with one another must make a determined effort to resolve their dispute peacefully and constructively between themselves before recourse to third party intervention processes. If these efforts fail or prove impossible to do, third party help should be sought at the earliest time and within the most appropriate procedure possible for the parties involved.

Because all efforts to bring about a resolution that includes the voluntary agreement of all the involved parties should be exhausted first, facilitation and/or mediation of the dispute should be attempted before resorting to procedures, such as voluntary arbitration, where final judgments are taken out of the hands of the disputing parties. If a conflict is serious enough to warrant a formal grievance then a grievance hearing is also available.

The procedures contained in this document do not supersede or abrogate those grievance and/or appeals processes stipulated in the Hawai’i Administrative Code or other adopted college policies. Consequently, disputes involving grievance issues within the Agreement between the University of Hawai’i Professional Assembly and the Board of Regents of the University of Hawai’i, EEO/AA matters, and all other policies that include grievance procedures should be resolved following the procedures stipulated therein.

These procedures are intended to serve currently employed members of the faculty, deans, vice-chancellors, and the Chancellor. Any conflict resolution procedure that is in process through an individual's end of employment date may be continued to its conclusion where appropriate.

While it is the goal to settle disputes within the community, individuals who invoke these conflict resolution or grievance procedures in no way relinquish their right to take formal action within the appropriate local, state and/or federal legal systems unless precluded by the terms of a mediated settlement or arbitration.

Prior decisions and rulings reached via other dispute mechanisms covered by Hawaii Revised Statutes, and all federal and local regulations cannot be abrogated by these conflict resolution procedures.

University of Hawai`i at Hilo Social Contract

(1) General:UHHilo is an institution and a community that continues to organize itself so that it can clear away obstacles to learning. In order that both creative and routine work can be focused on education, and so that the mutual and reciprocal roles of campus community members can best reflect the goals and purposes of the university, a system of governance and decision-making consonant with those goals and purposes is required.
(2) Purpose:
(a) UHHilo can thrive only if members respect the rights of others while enjoying their own rights. Students, faculty, administrators, and staff members may differ widely in their specific interests, in the degree and kinds of experiences they bring to UHHilo, and in the functions which they have agreed to perform. All must share alike in prizing academic and interpersonal honesty, in responsibly obtaining and in providing full and accurate information, and in resolving their differences through due process and with a strong will to collaboration.
(b) The UHHilo community should support experimentation with new and better ways to achieve UHHilo's goals. Specifically, it must attempt to emphasize the sense of community and require members of the campus community to play multiple, reciprocal, and reinforcing roles in both the teaching/learning process and in the governance process.
(3) Freedom and civility: The individual members of the UHHilo community are responsible for protecting each other and visitors on campus from physical harm, from personal threats, and from uncivil abuse. Civility is not just a word; it must be present in all our interactions. Similarly, the institution is obligated, both by principle and by the general law, to protect its property from damage and unauthorized use and its operating processes from interruption. Members of the community must exercise the rights accorded them to voice their opinions with respect to basic matters of policy and other issues. The UHHilo community will support the right of its members, individually or in groups, to express ideas, judgments, and opinions in speech or writing. The members of the community, however, are obligated to make statements in their own names and not as expressions on behalf of the university. The board of regents or the Chancellor speaks on behalf of the university and may at times share or delegate the responsibility to others within the university. Among the basic rights of individuals are freedom of speech, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, freedom of belief, and freedom from intimidation, violence, and abuse.
(4) Individual and institutional rights: Each member of the community must protect:
(a) The fundamental rights of others in the community as citizens;
(b) The right of each member in the community to pursue different learning objectives within the limits defined by UHHilo's curriculum or resources of people, materials, equipment and money;
(c) The rights and obligations of UHHilo as an institution established by the state of Hawai’i; and
(d) Individual rights to fair and equitable procedures when the institution acts to protect the safety of its members.
(5) Society and the university:
(a) Members of the UHHilo community recognize that the university is part of the larger society as represented by the state of Hawai’i, which funds it, and by the community of the Big Island, on which it is located. Because the UHHilo community is part of the larger society, the campus is not a sanctuary from the general law or invulnerable to general public opinion.
(b) All members of the UHHilo community should strive to prevent the financial, political, or other exploitation of the campus by any individual or group.
(c) UHHilo has the right to prohibit individuals and groups from using its name, its financial or other resources, and its facilities for commercial, or political activities.
(6) Prohibition against discrimination: There may be no discrimination at UHHilo with respect to race, sex, age, handicap, sexual orientation, religious or political belief, or national origin in considering individuals' admission, employment, or promotion. To this end the university has adopted an affirmative action policy approved by the state human rights commission and the higher education personnel board. Affirmative action complaints shall be handled in accordance with state law.

(7) Right to privacy:
(a) All members of the university community have the right to organize their personal lives and conduct according to their own values and preferences, with an appropriate respect for the rights of others to organize their lives differently.
(b) All members of the UHHilo community are entitled to privacy in the university's offices, facilities devoted to educational programs, and housing. The same right of privacy extends to personal papers, confidential records, and personal effects, whether maintained by the individual or by the institution.
(c) UHHilo does not stand in loco parentis for its members.
(8) Intellectual freedom and honesty:
(a) UHHilo's members live under a special set of rights and responsibilities, foremost among which is that of enjoying the freedom to explore ideas and to discuss their explorations in both speech and print. Both institutional and individual censorship are at variance with this basic freedom. Research or other intellectual efforts, the results of which must be kept secret or may be used only for the benefit of a special interest group, violate the principle of free inquiry.
(b) An essential condition for learning is the freedom and right on the part of an individual or group to express minority, unpopular, or controversial points of view. Only if minority and unpopular points of view are listened to, and are given opportunity for expression will UHHilo provide bona fide opportunities for significant learning.
(c) Honesty is an essential condition of learning, teaching or working. It includes the presentation of one's own work in one's own name, the necessity to claim only those honors earned, and the recognition of one's own biases and prejudices.
(9) Open forum and access to information:
(a) All members of the UHHilo community enjoy the right to hold and to participate in public meetings, to post notices on the campus, and to engage in peaceful demonstrations. Reasonable and impartially applied rules may be set with respect to time, place and use of UH Hilo facilities in these activities.
(b) As an institution, UH Hilo has the obligation to provide open forum for the members of its community to present and to debate public issues, to consider the problems of the university, and to serve as a mechanism of widespread involvement in the life of the larger community.
(c) The governance system must rest on open and ready access to information by all members of the community as well as on the effective keeping of necessary records.
(d) In the UH Hilo community, individuals should not feel intimidated or be subject to reprisal for voicing their concerns or for participating in governance or policy making.
(e) Decision making processes must provide equal opportunity to initiate and participate in policy making, and UH Hilo policies apply equally regardless of job description, status or role in the community. However, university policies and rules shall not conflict with state law or statutory, regulatory and/or contractual commitments to university employees.
(10) Political activities: The university is obligated not to take a position, as an institution, in electoral politics or on public issues except for those matters which directly affect its integrity, the freedom of the members of its community, its financial support, and its educational programs. At the same time, UH Hilo has the obligation to recognize and support its community's members' rights to engage, as citizens of the larger society, in political affairs, in any way that they may elect within the provision of the general law.

ConflictResolution and Grievance Procedures

The University of Hawai’i at Hilo’s Social Contract puts forward general goals for "freedom and civility, individual and institutional rights, society and the college, prohibition against discrimination, rights to privacy, intellectual freedom and honesty, open forum and access to information, and political activities" (Board of Trustees 1989). Individuals bring different perspectives to the meaning of these goals which can cause debate and discussion that are healthy to an institution designed to explore ideas. When, however, personal actions transgress another's rights and freedoms then conflicts can occur. Because the college acknowledges its obligation to provide fair and credible conflict resolution processes that do not disrupt the teaching and learning of the college, a range of third party interventions are offered to disputants.

In keeping with the principles of the Social Contract, members of the faculty, the deans, and the provost who come into conflict with one another must make a determined effort to resolve their dispute peacefully and constructively between themselves before recourse to third party intervention processes. If these efforts fail or prove impossible to do, third party help should be sought at the earliest time and within the most appropriate procedure possible for the parties involved.

The procedures contained in this document do not supersede or abrogate those grievance and/or appeals processes stipulated in the Washington Administrative Code or other adopted college policies. Consequently, disputes involving grievance issues within the faculty reappointment policy, sexual harassment policy, the affirmative action policy, parking regulations, the mid-contract termination policy, the release of student information, and all other policies that include grievance procedures should be resolved following the procedures stipulated therein.

These procedures are intended to serve currently employed members of the faculty, the provost, and the deans in the academic division of the college. Any conflict resolution procedure that is in process through an individual's end of employment date may be continued to its conclusion where appropriate.

Prior decisions and rulings reached via other dispute mechanisms covered by Hawai’i Revised Statutes, and all federal, state, and local regulations cannot be abrogated by these conflict resolution procedures.

Part I. The Conflict Resolution Process

If a member of the faculty, deans, vice-chancellors, or professional staff come into conflict with another member of these groups the offended individual should at the soonest possible time inform the individual of the perceived transgression. The parties should discuss the situation among themselves. They should, if necessary, make supervisors aware of the conflict giving them the opportunity to assist in settling the differences. If the dispute then continues, the disputants should seek the assistance of the Conflict Resolution Officer (CRO) who can help set up a Third Party Facilitation, an agreeable form of Structured Mediation, or a Voluntary Arbitration process. A Grievance Hearing Panel is the University's settlement process of last resort and the dispute must meet additional criteria for one to be assembled.

In all third-party procedures, the CRO will inform the accused individual(s) and any witnesses that they are involved in a conflict resolution process. The CRO also coordinates and administers the duties necessary to assure a smooth and timely continuance of the process. CRO Coordination and Administration Guidelines should be prepared by a designee of the Chancellor in consultation with the Agenda Committee. These guidelines should be reviewed and updated periodically by the Chancellor's designee in consultation with the Agenda Committee.

Primary Options for the Resolution of Conflicts

A. Third Party Facilitation

Third Party Facilitation provides the disputants the opportunity to invite a person, whom all trust, to listen to the arguments and facilitate discussion. Neither written agreements to settle by any of the disputants nor record of the facilitation is required. Facilitation can go on as long as the disputing parties feel that it is beneficial. There is no limit on how many facilitators are brought in or how often they are changed. Facilitation does not prohibit any participant from later carrying the dispute to other processes in this policy should the dispute fail to be settled.

Any disputant may suggest a particular person or group of persons be facilitator(s) for a grievance to the other parties involved in a dispute. All should agree on the facilitator(s), the venue, and the meeting time. Facilitators, upon request, may obtain guidelines in the art of good facilitation from the CRO, but the CRO may not participate in the discussions unless specifically asked to do so by the disputants. The CRO should be notified of the outcome of this process.

B. Mediation

Mediation is a confidential structured process where trained mediators act as impartial third parties in formal, scheduled negotiation sessions to arrive at mutually acceptable settlement agreements which may be written down and signed by all parties. The mediators are assigned from a pool of trained volunteer mediators available within the University. Alternatively, the disputants can request off-campus mediation of the dispute. If the chosen mediators are unacceptable to any disputant, others will be selected. In all cases the disputants must agree on the mediators. The CRO works with the disputants to establish the timing and venue of the mediation process.

Prerequisites for Mediation are:

a. All parties must be able to recognize that a dispute exists;