WAC 132B-128-050   Procedures for dismissal.  (1) A dismissal review committee created for the express purpose of hearing dismissal cases shall be established no later than October 15 of each academic year (except if this provision is passed after October 15 of any academic year, the dismissal review committee will be chosen within thirty days after passage of this provision), and shall be comprised of the following members:

     (a) One member chosen by the college president

     (b) Three faculty members chosen by the faculty and division heads acting in a body and in the following manner:

     (i) Two individuals will be nominated for each of positions one, two and three by a district-wide random selection process as described in (v) below.

     (ii) Two individuals will be nominated in the same manner as (i) above to run for each of three alternate positions identified as alternate one, alternate two and alternate three.

     (iii) The nominees receiving a majority of the votes cast will be elected for a one-year term.

     (iv) In case of a vacancy in position one, two or three occurring any time after the election, the vacancy will be filled by the alternates, beginning with alternate one.

     (v) A district-wide random selection process will be developed by the president of Grays Harbor College. This selection process will be designed to remove any element of preselection or predisposition from the dismissal review committee selection process.

     (c) A student representative, who shall be a full-time student, shall be appointed by the Grays Harbor College student council. The student council shall also appoint a full-time student as an alternate member to serve on the dismissal review committee should the regularly appointed member be unable to serve on the committee.

     (d) The college president shall choose one alternate member to serve on the dismissal review committee should the regularly appointed member be unable to serve on the committee.

     (e) The dismissal review committee will select one of its members to serve as chairman.

     (2) When the president receives or initiates a formal written recommendation about a faculty member which may warrant dismissal, he shall inform that faculty member. Within ten days after having been so informed, the faculty member will be afforded an opportunity to meet with the president or his designee and the chairman of the division. At this preliminary meeting, which shall be an information-gathering session, an adjustment may be mutually agreed upon. If the matter is not settled or adjusted to the satisfaction of the college president, he shall recommend that the faculty member be dismissed.

     (3) If the president recommends that the faculty member be dismissed, he shall:

     (a) Deliver a short and plain statement to the faculty member which shall contain:

     (i) The grounds for dismissal in reasonable particularity;

     (ii) A statement of the legal authority and jurisdiction under which the hearing is to be held;

     (iii) Reference to any particular statutes or rules involved.

     (b) Call into action the dismissal review committee and deliver the above statement to the members of the dismissal review committee, if the professional requests a hearing.

     (4) After receiving the president's recommendation for dismissal, the affected professional may request a hearing within the following five days. If the president does not receive this request within five days, the professional's right to a hearing will be deemed waived.

     (5) If the president receives a request for a hearing, the dismissal review committee shall, after receiving the written recommendation from the college president, establish a date for a committee hearing giving the faculty member so charged twenty days notice of such hearing, and inform in writing the faculty member so charged of the time, date and place of such hearing.

     (6) The dismissal review committee shall:

     (a) Hear testimony from all interested parties, including but not limited to other faculty members and students and receive any evidence offered by same;

     (b) Afford the faculty member whose case is being heard the right of cross-examination and the opportunity to defend himself and be accompanied by legal counsel;

     (c) Allow the college administration to be represented by an assistant attorney general.

     (7) The dismissal review committee shall include a neutral presiding officer appointed by the appointing authority. Such presiding or hearing officer shall not be a voting member of the committee; it shall be his responsibility to:

     (a) Make all rulings regarding the evidentiary and procedural issues presented during the course of the dismissal review committee hearings;

     (b) Meet and confer with the members of the dismissal review committee and advise them in regard to procedural and evidentiary issues considered during the course of the committee's deliberations;

     (c) Appoint a court reporter, who shall operate at the direction of the presiding officer and shall record all testimony, receive all documents and other evidence introduced during the course of hearings, and record any other matters related to the hearing as directed by the presiding officer;

     (d) Prepare a record which shall include:

     (i) All pleadings, motions and rulings;

     (ii) All evidence received or considered;

     (iii) A statement of any matters officially noticed;

     (iv) All questions and offers of proof, objections and rulings thereon;

     (v) Proposed findings and exceptions;

     (vi) A copy of the recommendations of the dismissal review committee.

     (8) A copy of the above shall be transcribed and furnished upon request to the faculty member whose case is being heard.

     (9) The hearing shall be closed. However, interested parties, including but not limited to faculty members and students, will be given an opportunity to present evidence.

     (10) Within ten college calendar days of the conclusion of the hearing, the dismissal review committee will arrive at its recommendations in conference on the basis of the hearing. Before doing so, it should give the faculty member or his counsel(s) and the representative designated by the president of the college the opportunity to argue orally before it. If written briefs would be helpful, the dismissal review committee may request them. The dismissal review committee may proceed to a recommendation promptly or await the availability of a transcript if making a fair recommendation would be aided thereby. Within fifteen college calendar days of the conclusion of the hearing the president of the college, the faculty member and the board of trustees will be presented with recommendations in writing and given a copy of the record of the hearing.

     (11) The board of trustees shall meet within a reasonable time subsequent to its receipt of the dismissal review committee recommendations to consider those recommendations. The board of trustees shall afford the parties the right to oral and written argument with respect to whether they will dismiss the faculty member involved. The board of trustees may hold such other proceedings as they deem advisable before reaching their decision. A record of the proceedings at the board level shall be made and the final decision shall be based only upon the record made before the board and the dismissal review committee, including the briefs and oral arguments. The decision to dismiss or not to dismiss shall rest, with respect to both the facts and the decision, with the board of trustees after giving reasonable consideration to the recommendations of the dismissal review committee. The dismissal review committee's recommendations shall be advisory only and in no respect binding in fact or law upon the decision maker, the board of trustees. The board of trustees shall within fifteen days following the conclusion of their review, notify the charged faculty member in writing of its final decision.

     (12) Suspension of the faculty member by the president during the administrative proceedings involving him (prior to the final decision of the board of trustees) is justified if immediate harm to himself or others is threatened by his continuance. Any such suspension shall be with pay.

     (13) Except for such simple announcements as may be required covering the time of the hearing and similar matters, no public statements about the case shall be made by the faculty member, the dismissal review committee or administrative officers of the board of trustees until all administrative proceedings and appeals have been completed.

     (14) Any dismissed faculty member shall have the right to appeal the final decision of the board of trustees within ten days of the receipt of the notice of dismissal. The filing of an appeal shall not stay enforcement of the decision of the board of trustees.

     (15) If the president of Grays Harbor College initiates a formal written recommendation that a faculty member be dismissed and the board of trustees decides to retain the faculty member, or if the trustees' decision to dismiss a faculty member is reversed by a court, all evidence concerning the dismissal will be removed from the faculty member's permanent personnel file if the reason for the denial of the recommendation was the president's failure to establish the facts which were the basis for the dismissal recommendation.

     If the facts which were the basis for the dismissal recommendation were shown to the satisfaction of the trustees and the courts, but the dismissal recommendation was not followed because the trustees or the courts decided that the facts were not sufficient to warrant dismissal, the facts which were shown would be retained in the faculty member's permanent personnel file along with a record of the outcome of the dismissal proceeding.

     If the facts are to be retained in the faculty member's permanent personnel file, the faculty member will be given an opportunity to review the facts and to write an explanation which will be retained along with the findings of fact.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 28B.50.140(13). 79-08-129 (Order 79-1, Resolution No. 11-79), § 132B-128-050, filed 8/1/79; Order, § 132B-128-050, filed 3/28/73.]