Oregon daily emerald., April 29, 1985, Page 3, Image 3

New grievance policy intended
to deal with sex discrimination
By Scott McFetridge
Of (he Emerald
The Oregon State System of Higher Educa
tion adopted a new grievance policy last week
to deal with potential sex discrimination
claims by faculty women, but a leader of a
faculty women's group believes the new pro
cedures will have little positive effect.
The new policy gives more authority to in
dividual institutions and allows them to
delegate this power to specific departments.
Because institutions in the Oregon State
System of Higher Education vary so widely,
members of the chancellor's office believe a
binding system-wide policy would not be
effective.
The policy adopted by the state board
should speed up the grievance procedures,
while at the same time involve the faculty, said
Bill U*mman, vice chancellor for administra
tion at the monthly meeting of the State Board
of Higher Education.
The initial decision in a grievance pro
cedure will typically be reached at the depart
ment level, but faculty will be able to appeal
(his decision directly to the presidential level.
If faculty members choose to, they may appeal
a president’s decision to the state board.
The new policy also calls for the creation
of a three- or four-member panel, which will
be responsible for reviewing cases referred to
the state board. The panel would be made up
of “individuals experienced in issues of
academic employment but not employed by
the” OSSHE. The state board would be bound
to the decisions of the panel except for deci
sions involving awards of indefinite tenure.
The panel would be appointed by the state
board, Lemman said. Members of the board
would likely be retired judges or out-of-state
faculty members, he said.
One part of the new policy, which states
that announcements for open faculty positions
must contain a minimum salary, has provoked
criticism from Margaret Lumpkin, co-chair of
Faculty Women for Equity.
Lumpkin, an unsuccessful plaintiff in the
recent $33.1 million sex discrimination
lawsuit against the state board, said that
minimum salary statements were already
available at most institutions. Furthermore,
previous announcements had contained max
imum salary statements, Lumpkin said.
Lumpkin also criticized the new grievance
policy for not demanding evaluations of affir
mative action procedures at the various state
institutions. Although presidents are told to
remind deans and department heads of their
affirmative action obligations, this is not
enough, she said.
‘‘What they did has no teeth, no time line
and no change in the status quo,” Lumpkin
said. ‘‘This is really nothing more than we
have now.”
The new procedures will not apply to the
22 plaintiffs of the Penk case because their
claims have already gone through litigation.
Legislative update
Editor's note: Here are
highlights of the Oregon
Legislature last week.
Umemployment
Benefits
The Senate on Friday voted to
continue extended state benefits
for the unemployed in the wake
of a federal phase out of extend
ed jobless benefits.
The bill (Senate Bill 448)
would continue a state-funded
program providing an addi
tional six and one-half weeks of
benefits if no federal program is
in force. The state program will
expire at the end of June if the
bill, which is now headed for
the Senate, does not pass.
Miscellaneous
Senate Bill 402, passed by the
Senate on Wednesday, would
require employers to establish
and maintain written policies
for smoking in a work place.
The House State and Federal
Affairs Committee on Wednes
day approved a bill (House Bill
2433) to establish the third
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Monday in January as a holiday
in honor of civil rights leader
Martin Luther King, Jr.
The House on Thursday voted
to repeal a law that bans
“slighting” of the country’s
founding fathers in textbooks
used in Oregon public schools.
Public officials, doctors, and
others required to report child
abuse will face increased
penalties if they fail to do so,
under a bill (HB 2160) that pass
ed the House on Thursday.
This Week
The Senate’s Business, Hous
ing and Finance Committee on
Wednesday is to consider State
Treasurer Bill Rutherford’s re
quest that the open records law
be revised to exclude records
dealing with negotiations in
volving investments of state
funds.
The Senate Energy and
Natural Resources Committee is
to work Tuesday on a bill ex
panding the beverage container
refund law to include car
bonated wine bottles and cans.
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