The Personnel Incident Report process

The department has an Incident Report process for compiling complaints against members of the department (faculty, staff, or graduate students). The Incident Report process is intended to be used to report any act or behavior that contributes to an unprofessional or hostile work environment that doesn’t meet the threshold of sexual harassment (which falls under the UCLA Title IX Mandatory Reporting requirement, and must be reported to the UCLA Title IX office) or violence or threat of violence (which should be reported to campus or local law enforcement).

If you wish to lodge a complaint, please email the relevant member of the departmental leadership – the Department Chair (“Chair”), Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), Director of Undergraduate Studies (DUS), or the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) – as follows.

• Complaints against staff: please contact the CAO or the Chair

• Complaints against faculty: please contact the Chair

• Complaints against graduate students: please contact, depending on who is the complainant:
  • If you are an undergraduate: contact the DUS
  • If you are a graduate student or staff: contact the DGS
  • Anyone may contact the Chair

The person (Chair, DGS, DUS, CAO) receiving the complaint will fill out and file our report form, and verify with the complainant that its content is accurate. Reports will then be discussed by the departmental leadership as appropriate, and after that with the parties involved, preserving anonymity where appropriate and possible. For example, in the case of a complaint against a faculty member, the Chair will first fill out the report form based on the initial information received from the complainant, and then verify and discuss that report with the complainant (either in a personal meeting, or by email); next the Chair will discuss the matter with the complainee, add the results of that discussion to the report form, and then follow up with the complainant. If the parties would like to meet, the Chair can facilitate that meeting; however, either party can ask that the complainant remain anonymous.

These discussions may be followed by involvement of relevant staff from outside the department (e.g. the ombuds office). Reports may also be discussed as part of later personnel or student reviews. However, it is important to note that faculty and student reviews are confidential, so complainants cannot expect to hear about the results of such reviews. It also must be noted that employment commitments to faculty and graduate students, and in some cases union contracts, may limit the actions that the department leadership can take in response to complaints. However, in all cases we will work with the relevant parties to arrive at the best available solution.