President Mike McPherson has formed the Ad Hoc Committee on the Grievance Process this semester to review the current grievance procedures. According to Lynda Labounty, who is serving as head of the committee, McPherson's decision was based on complaints from several students last spring.

Last year, five students accused the college of not properly investigating registered complaints of sexual harassment against Sociology professor Terry Boychuk.

In spring 2002, Macalester College Student Government passed a resolution calling for the college "to reevaluate its grievance process for sexual harassment as well as other forms of harassment."

According to committee member Cate McDonough '05, the committee is not going to rehash anything that happened last year, but feels it should review the process in general. Concerns include Macalester's legal responsibilities in harassment cases and providing different options for those who register a complaint, McDonough said.

Under the current system, a Macalester community member who feels he or she has been harassed contacts a faculty, staff or student grievance officer. The grievance officer and complaintant then decide whether to proceed with mediation (an informal process), or a judicial forum (a formal process) to resolve the conflict.

If the judicial forum is chosen, the complaintant must file a formal written complaint to send to the accused. They would then have a limited amount of time to respond. The judicial forum then picks a hearing body to oversee the case and determine if the accused should be reprimanded.

Unlike some institutions Macalester does not pursue an investigation if a person drops the complaint, said Philosophy professor Martin Gunderson. Gunderson advises the grievance committee on legal issues and has researched the grievance processes at comparable institutions.

Gunderson also observed that while Macalester investigates allegations of sexual harassment only when the harassed community member contacts the grievance officer, other institutions do not necessarily wait for someone to come forward if there are suspicions. Any employer, including a college that knows about harassment and doesn't react could be held legally liable, he said.

The adversarial nature of the grievance process is another concern, according to McDonough. While many schools require an attempt at mediation before beginning a formal process, by opting immediately for the judicial forum Macalester community members are not forced to try a less confrontational approach.

McDonough said that the committee will also look into whether or not there should be a statute of limitations on how long people have to complain.

There are also questions about whether harassment policies are reasonably accessible, Labounty said. She added that the committee is currently reviewing a survey about the difficulties of getting information off the Macalester website.

Both Labounty and McDonough said that the grievance committee wants to hear from people who have been through the process and have suggestions for structural change. Anyone should feel free to write or meet directly with the committee, and all information will be kept confidential, McDonough said.