Operating Procedures for Complaints Related to Intellectual Diversity

Effective Date: June 1, 2025

Filing a Complaint

Students, faculty, and staff of the University may file a complaint when they believe a faculty member, lecturer, teaching assistant, or other employee or individual assigned teaching responsibilities has not:

1. Fostered a culture of free inquiry, free expression, and intellectual diversity;
2. Exposed students to scholarly works from a variety of political or ideological frameworks that may be within and applicable to the given academic discipline;
3. Refrained from subjecting students to views and opinions concerning matters not related to the discipline or assigned course of instruction; or
4. Adequately performed their academic duties and obligations.

Written complaints may be filed with Human Resources for the campus where the named employee works. The complaint must be filed in a timely manner and should be addressed to the Vice President or Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, as the case may be. The Vice President or Associate Vice Chancellor for Human Resources, or designee, will provide a copy of the complaint to the instructor within 10 days of receipt and afford the instructor an opportunity to provide a written response.

Review of Complaints

The Vice President or Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resources, in consultation with the Provost or the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, or their designee, will review complaints, taking into account the appropriate exercise of academic freedom and the academic standards established by the faculty of the college in which the instructor works, and communicate with the complainant and instructor regarding their determination.

In the event the complaint is substantiated, the instructor against whom the complaint was filed may be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

Reporting

Human Resources reports the outcome of a complaint to the parties and the instructor’s supervisor as applicable for consideration in performance reviews.

Human Resources provides to the Diversity Committee for their campus a report on complaints filed in the format and with the frequency determined by the committee.

Not later than April 1 of each year, each campus of the University submits to the Indiana Commission for Higher Education a report regarding this complaint process and the complaints filed pursuant to it.

History and updates

June 1, 2025: Added that academic standards are considered when reviewing complaints, clarified titles.

July 1, 2024: These are the first operating procedures to address this issue.