Williams College Employee Handbook

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Discrimination Grievance Procedures

Advisory Conversations and the College's Non-Discrimination Policy

The following guidelines are for persons who have advising functions related to the College's Non-discrimination Policy. As with all parts of the advising procedure, they are not part of the actual discrimination grievance procedures, which require that a complaint be officially filed. An "advisory conversation" is merely one of the options that College-designated advisors or other persons whose positions carry advising functions, such as chairs or managers of department or programs, might want to describe to an advisee whose situation resembles the following:

The advisee does not wish to file a complaint but does want the person whose behavior is at issue to be advised that he or she should be careful to avoid actions that could very well be innocent but could be misinterpreted.

An advisory conversation might be appropriate, in other words, when the advisee perceives the conduct to be ambiguous or innocent but nonetheless finds it dislocating. The guidelines are as follows:

GUIDELINES FOR ADVISORY CONVERSATION

The advisee requests the conversation and the executive officer makes the decision as to whether an advisory conversation shall take place. The advisee, before deciding to recommend such a conversation, should be made aware of the following. His or her name will need to be made known to the executive officer. Depending on the circumstance of the case, the executive officer might also need to talk to the advisee, and the advisee's identity might need to be made known to the person whose behavior is at issue.

If the advisee wishes the conversation to take place, either the advisor and/or the advisee should discuss the matter with the executive officer of the person whose behavior is at issue. If the executive officer decides that an advisory conversation would be useful, the executive officer may choose to conduct it, or may delegate the responsibility to a member of his or her staff, or to another member of the faculty or staff, depending on who is likely to be the most appropriate and effective person. If the responsibility is delegated, the executive officer shall discuss what is to be said with the person who conducts the conversation and shall receive notice of its having taken place.

The executive officer or the delegated person shall inform the advisee that the conversation has taken place. Nothing else shall be conveyed to the advisee without the explicit permission of the person whose behavior is at issue. No record shall be kept of the conversation, unless the person whose behavior is at issue requests one, in which case he or she shall be given a copy. Such a record would have no "probative value" (i.e., it would provide no "proof" or "evidence" of discriminatory behavior concerning either the present situation or any future allegations of discriminatory behavior, should such be made).

Both the conversation, and the written record, if there is any, must make clear the following:

That no charges of discriminatory behavior have been filed nor are any such allegations currently being made.
That the case has not been investigated.
That the behavior at issue may be entirely innocent.
That the sole purpose of the conversation is to discuss for the sake of all concerned, the need to be careful about the impressions that even well-intentioned comments or contacts with students, faculty, or staff can have.

Discrimination Grievance Procedures

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