We have been asked by our Equal
Opportunities Committee to review the way in which our current College policies
and procedures deal with issues of discrimination.
In the first instance we will be focusing on
the student dimension and on cases where students raise allegations of
discrimination of a non-academic nature, so for example a complaint about the
way a particular service has been provided or in relation to the advice that
was given. We will then turn our attention to how best to deal
with allegations of discrimination that are of an academic nature, so for example
those that relate to examination decisions or course work extensions etc.
Lastly we will focus on how best to deal with allegations of discrimination that
are raised by staff.
Our initial thoughts are that issues of
discrimination should be dealt with separately from our harassment and bullying
policies for staff and students. One approach might be to develop a
process for dealing with discrimination that can then be grafted on to the
other relevant policies, such as our staff grievance procedure and policies
covering complaints raised by students. This option could then be followed
when relevant issues arise.
We would be interested to hear how other
HEIs have dealt with this issue.
Best wishes
Debbie
Epstein
Policy Development and Training Officer
Equality and Diversity Department
King's College
Tel: 020 7848 3767