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Conduct Board Procedures

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Conduct Board Procedures Conduct Board Procedures

A Conduct Board Hearing will ordinarily follow the procedures as listed below. Deviation from the following procedure will not invalidate a decision of responsibility or sanction that is otherwise fair under the circumstances. The Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee has discretion to modify these procedures as necessary or appropriate to ensure fairness. Refer to Procedural Notes for Conduct Board Hearings marked with an asterisk (*). The Procedural Notes are located at the end of this section.

Hearings of the Conduct Board shall be conducted as follows:

  1. Prior to presenting or hearing information, any person participating in the hearing, including but not limited to, the Complainant, Respondent, all witnesses, advisors, Conduct Board members shall sign a statement of confidentiality and nondisclosure.  Any person presenting information, including but not limited to, the Complainant, Respondent, all witnesses, and the Hearing Administrator shall sign a statement of honesty.
  2. The Hearing Administrator will read aloud the reported College Community Standard violations and the Respondent will be asked to state whether they are either “Responsible” or “Not Responsible” for each of the reported violations. 
  3. The Hearing Administrator will present all reported information documented in the hearing materials and any information obtained from witnesses not participating in the hearing. 
    1. Once the Hearing Administrator has concluded presenting the reported information, the Complainant (if applicable) will be provided the opportunity to ask the Hearing Administrator questions about the information presented.  This will be followed by questions from the Respondent and then the Board.*
    2. If applicable, the Hearing Administrator will call upon any witnesses who have relevant information pertaining to the case. Individually these witnesses will present their information.*
  4. If applicable, the Complainant will be called upon to present any information relevant to the case.
    1. Following the completion of the Complainant’s presentation, the Respondent, Board, and the Hearing Administrator (in that order) will be permitted to ask questions of the Complainant.*
    2. The Complainant will then be given an opportunity to explain or clarify anything that came up in the questioning of them. This process will continue until the Complainant has acknowledged that their presentation is complete.
    3. The Complainant will be permitted to present five witnesses to speak on their behalf.*
    4. After each witness, the Complainant will be given an opportunity to explain or clarify anything that came up during the witness presentations.
  5. After the Complainant has confirmed that the presentation is complete, the Respondent will be called upon to present any information relevant to the case. 
    1. Following the completion of the Respondent’s presentation, the Complainant (if applicable), Board, and the Hearing Administrator (in that order) will be permitted to ask questions of the Respondent.*
    2. The Respondent will then be given an opportunity to explain or clarify anything that came up in the questioning of them. This process will continue until the Respondent has acknowledged that their presentation is complete.
    3. The Respondent will be permitted to present up to five witnesses to speak on their behalf.*
    4. After each witness, the Respondent will be given an opportunity to explain or clarify anything that came up during the witness presentations.
  6. When the Respondent has indicated that the presentation is complete, the Complainant (if applicable) and Respondent, in that order, will be granted the opportunity to make an oral closing statement. Closing statements are optional. A closing statement is the opportunity for each party to highlight for the Conduct Board any documents or information that were presented to the Board during the hearing which each party wishes to have the Board focus on. It is not an opportunity to refer to any information that was not introduced during the hearing in the documents or in the presentations.
  7. Following the closing statements, the Respondent and Complainant (if applicable) will be excused from the hearing.  The members of the Conduct Board will then meet to determine the level of responsibility and if responsible, recommend sanctions. The Hearing Administrator will be present to advise members of the Conduct Board.  The Board will consider the factual presentations and use the preponderance of evidence standard for each of the charged violations of the College’s Community Standards. 
  8. Only when the Board determines that the Respondent is responsible for a violation of the College’s Community Standards, the Board will recommend sanctions to assign to the Respondent. At this time the Board will receive the Respondent’s disciplinary history, if any. 
  9. The Board will ordinarily complete these deliberations and submit, via the Hearing Administrator, a written rationale for the Conduct Board’s findings and recommended sanctions, if any, to the Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee within 2 business days.
  10.  The Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee will typically review the written rationale within two business days. The Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee will, at their discretion, accept, reject, or modify the sanctions recommended by the Conduct Board. The Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee may reject or modify the Panel’s sanction recommendation if the Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee believes that the sanction recommendation:
    • Does not appropriately address a violation;
    • Is fundamentally unfair;
    • Is inconsistent with sanctions imposed for other violations of comparable seriousness;
    • Contradicts the mission of the Office of Community Standards or College;
    • Current resources or policies prevent the sanction from occurring;
    • Presents a significant risk to the Respondent or College community;
    • Lacks clarity; and/or
    • Does not appropriately consider the Respondent’s disciplinary history. 
  11.  Should the recommended sanctions be rejected, a new written rationale of the Conduct Board’s recommended sanctions will be submitted to the Assistant Dean for Campus Life typically within two business days. 
  12.  Upon accepting or modifying the sanctions assigned by the Conduct Board, the Assistant Dean for Campus Life or shall, within two business days advise the Respondent, in writing, of all findings, any sanctions assigned, and the Respondent’s right to appeal. If applicable, the Assistant Dean for Campus Life or designee shall simultaneously advise the Complainant of all findings and sanctions assigned on the Respondent in accordance with applicable law.

Procedural Notes for Conduct Board Hearings

  1. Hearing Participants:
    Attendance at Conduct Board Hearings will be restricted to the members of the Conduct Board, the hearing advisor, the Complainant, the Respondent, and advisors. Persons appearing as witnesses will only participate in the hearing when making their individual presentation.
  2. Multiple Respondents:
    In the event more than one Respondent is documented during the same incident and the Respondents are reported for common violations, the Director of Community Standards or designee may, at their discretion, refer all Respondents to the same hearing for the purpose of ensuring fairness and efficiency.
  3. Questioning:
    The Hearing Administrator will supervise all questioning to ensure that the questions asked by the Complainant, Respondent, and Board are relevant to the case. Questions that have no relevance to the case will be rejected by the Hearing Administrator.
  4. Witnesses:
    1. The Hearing Administrator may call upon individuals to present information relevant to the case.  Witnesses typically called by the Hearing Administrator include, reporting parties, impacted parties, or expert witnesses. 
    2. Both the Complainant and the Respondent will be permitted to present up to five witnesses to speak on their behalf at a Conduct Board Hearing. The Complainant and the Respondent must inform the Hearing Administrator of the names and relevance of each witness 72 hours prior the hearing.  It is the responsibility of the Complainant and Respondent to inform their witnesses of the date, time and location of the hearing. 
    3. Witnesses may present relevant information to the incident and/or information to the character of a Complainant/ Respondent.  Witness presentations may be in person or submitted as a written statement.  Written statements must be sent to the Hearing Administrator at least 24 hours prior to the hearing. When possible, written statements will be presented to the Complainant, Respondent, and Board prior to the hearing.
    4. The Complainant (if applicable), Respondent, Board, and Hearing Administrator (in that order) will be provided the opportunity to ask each witness questions about the information presented. To ensure fairness, the Hearing Administrator may alter the questioning order.
    5. After all questions have been asked, the witness will be given an opportunity to explain or clarify anything that came up in the questioning of them. This process will continue until the witness has acknowledged that their presentation is complete.