General Provisions
1. All participants in the Complaint Resolution Procedure must communicate and behave with civility and mutual respect in a manner consistent with the KCTCS Core Values.
2. Supervisors are accountable for ensuring KCTCS delivers high quality service and positive performance results. Accordingly, they have primary responsibility for appropriately addressing work-related complaints and disputes.
3. Decision Considerations
  1. A supervisor deciding issues under this Procedure may gather additional information he/she deems necessary to a fair and proper result. Supervisors should be guided by:
    1. The interests of our students, along with the academic and community service missions of the institution;
    2. The KCTCS Core Values;
    3. Applicable policies and procedures;
    4. Information provided by the Employee; and
    5. Fundamental fairness to all stakeholders.
  2. The proper standard to weigh information and make decisions under this Procedure is “preponderance of the evidence,” or whether something is 51% more likely than not.
  3. Supervisors should consult Human Resources leaders, the KCTCS Human Resources Department, or the Office of General Counsel for guidance on issues or questions.
  4. Because the Complaint Resolution Procedure is not a legal proceeding, rules of evidence and trial procedure do not apply.
  5. The Employee is entitled to fairness and should have sufficient facts to process a complaint under this Procedure. However, there is no right to conduct “discovery” as in a court proceeding.
4. Employee Representatives
  1. Face-to-face meetings are not required under this procedure but are permissible if the parties believe such a meeting is helpful to clarifying issues. If such a meeting is scheduled, the Employee may, at his/her own expense, have a representative of his/her choosing for support purposes only.
  2. The representative is bound by KCTCS policies and procedures.
  3. The representative may not direct questions, speak on behalf of the Employee, or otherwise directly participate in any meeting. The representative may only consult with and appropriately support the Employee. The representative may be removed if his/her conduct becomes disruptive.
5. Failure to Meet Timeframes or Submit Required Information
  1. Failure of an Employee to meet stated deadline or submit required information specified in this Procedure is grounds to reject the appeal, with no further action other than notifying the Employee of the rejection and supporting reasons. If the Employee’s appeal process terminates for lack of timeliness, the Employee shall have no further legal, contractual, administrative, or other remedies available arising from the same or essentially the same facts.
    1. The Employee may refile the complaint if done before the originally prescribed deadline for that Step.
    2. The Employee and the decider responsible for the applicable step may agree in writing to extend any deadline specified in this Procedure.
  2. Failure of the decider of a Step to provide a timely response to the Employee at any stage of this Procedure is considered a denial of the complaint.
6. New Information on Appeal
  1. Appeals from a decision at a prior Step under this Procedure may not contain new information or matters not addressed at the prior Step, except that the Employee may offer to resolve the matter for a lesser remedy than what he/she requested at the prior Step.
  2. Claims of retaliation for filing the Complaint are not “new information or matters.”
7. Skipping Steps or Alternate Deciders
  1. If a person designated in this Procedure to issue a decision at any Step is the same person designated to decide a subsequent Step, or is the subject of the complaint, the Employee may skip that Step and proceed to the next level.
  2. College employees appealing termination decisions made by the College Chancellor go directly to Step 4.
  3. If the immediate supervisor is a System Vice President, the KCTCS President may assign uninvolved System Vice Presidents to serve as Step 2 and Step 3 authorities.

Complaint Resolution Procedure

College Employee appeals are decided primarily by college administrators, except that academic issues may be appealed from a college Faculty Member to the Provost of KCTCS at Step 3 if a resolution cannot be reached within the College. System Office Employee appeals are decided by System Office administrators. The steps in the Complaint Resolution Procedure are as indicated below:

Step 1

An Employee may direct a written complaint about matters subject to this procedure to the immediate supervisor within 10 working days of the occurrence or when a reasonable person should have become aware of the issue. The complaint must state:
1. The particular act(s) of which the Employee complains with date(s) of occurrence;
2. The specific policies, procedures, or other authorities the Employee believes have been violated; and
3. The requested remedy.
The supervisor shall attempt to resolve the matter in accordance with the General Provisions in Section 1. The supervisor shall issue a written decision within 10 working days.
If no decision is issued within 10 working days or if the Employee does not accept the decision, then the Employee has 10 working days to proceed to Step 2.

Step 2

The Employee may forward a written, dated complaint to the department head, or if the department head is implicated by the complaint, then to the next senior administrator in the line of supervision. The complaint must:
1. Contain copies of the written complaint and decision at Step 1;
2. Identify the reasons the Employee believes the Step 1 decision is improper, citing specific policies, procedures, or other authorities he/she believes have been violated; and
3. The requested remedy.
The department head or the next senior administrator shall attempt to resolve the matter in accordance with the General Provisions in Section 1.
The department head or the next senior administrator shall issue a written decision within 10 working days.
If no decision is issued within 10 working days or if the Employee does not accept the decision, then the Employee has 10 working days to proceed to Step 3.

Step 3

The College Employee may forward a written dated complaint to the College Chancellor, and the System Office or Fire Commission Employee may forward a written dated complaint to the System Vice President responsible for the Employee’s department. The complaint must:
1. Contain copies of the written complaints and decisions at Steps 1 and 2;
2. Identify the reasons the Employee believes the Steps 1 and 2 decisions were improper; citing specific policies, procedures, or other authorities he/she believes have been violated; and
3. The requested remedy.
The College Chancellor/System Vice President shall attempt to resolve the matter in accordance with the General Provisions in Section 1. The College Chancellor/System Vice President shall issue a written decision within 20 working days.
If no decision is issued within 20 working days or if the Employee does not accept the decision at Step 3, then the Employee shall have 10 working days to proceed to Step 4, EXCEPT:
1. If the Employee is a faculty employee performing a faculty role (not an administrative role) AND the issue involves matters of academic freedom or academic policy, the Employee must appeal the academic issue to the System Provost. This is a Step 3- Academic Appeal.
  1. If the appeal involves both academic and non-academic issues, the College Chancellor shall determine the non-academic issues and the Provost shall decide the academic issues.
2. Step 3-Academic appeals to the System Provost must state:
  1. The particular act(s) of which the faculty employee complains and dates thereof;
  2. The date the Employee submitted the appeals at all prior Steps of the process and the results thereof;
  3. The academic principle at issue and an explanation of how the that academic principle has been violated;
  4. The requested remedy; and
  5. The reasons the Employee believes the Step 3 decision is improper, citing specific policies, procedures, or other authorities he/she believes have been violated.
3. The System Provost shall attempt to resolve the matter in accordance with the General Provisions in Section 1.
  1. In any complaint in which a filing alleges the System Provost acted improperly, the KCTCS President shall designate another System Vice President or other appropriate official to perform any function the System Provost would otherwise perform under this Procedure.
  2. The System Provost shall issue a written decision within 20 working days.
  3. If the no decision is issued within 20 working days of the date the Step 3- Academic appeal is timely filed or if the Employee does not accept the decision, then the Employee has 10 working days to proceed to Step 4.

Step 4

Employees may file a written appeal to the KCTCS President in accordance with the requirements of this Section, PROVIDED that such appeal must be filed in writing no later than 10 working days after deemed denial or receipt of the Step 3 decision.
The Step 4 appeal must:
1. Contain copies of the written complaints and decisions at Steps 1 and 2;
2. Identify the reasons the Employee believes the Steps 1 and 2 decisions were improper; citing specific policies, procedures, or other authorities he/she believes have been violated; and
3. The requested remedy.
The KCTCS President or designee shall consider and respond to timely, proper complaints.
1. The KCTCS President may designate staff to assist in the investigation and response as he/she deems necessary.
2. The KCTCS President will render a decision within 20 working days of receiving the complaint and provide a written decision to the Employee, with copies to appropriate parties as necessary.
The KCTCS President’s decision is final.