Procedures of Conduct Boards
APPENDIX A:
PROCEDURES OF CONDUCT BOARDS
The procedure below is the process that is ordinarily followed for a Conduct Board. Procedural mistakes will not invalidate a student discipline decision that is otherwise fair under thecircumstances.
Any student asked to respond to a charge that he or she has violated the Student Code of Conduct before a Conduct Board is entitled to receive the following:
1. A written statement setting forth the procedural rights to which an accused is entitled:
a. A description of the procedures that will be followed by the Conduct Board in its consideration of the charges of violation of the Student Code of Conduct;
b. A description of the Accused’s right to be accompanied to the Conduct Board by an advisor chosen from one of the following groups:
i. The faculty
ii. The administration
iii. The student body
iv. The Accused’s immediate family
c. A description of the Accused’s right to have witnesses testify in support of the Accused’s factual presentation or as character witnesses.
2. A written statement which identifies the specific provisions of the Student Code of Conduct which the Accused is alleged to have violated and describes the Accused’s acts which are alleged to have violated those provisions.
3. A written notice of the date, time and place of the hearing.
4. A list of the members of the Conduct Board who will hear the case and a description of the procedures for challenging the participation of a particular member of the Conduct Board for reasons of conflicts of interest.
B. Hearings of the Conduct Board shall be conducted:
1. The statement of charges will be read;
2. The Accused, the Complainant and all other persons scheduled to offer testimony will be required to sign an honesty statement.
3. The Accused will be asked to state whether he or she is either “responsible” or “not responsible” for each specific violation alleged in the statement of charges;
4. The Complainant will be called upon to present the facts which support her or his charge that the Accused violated the Student Code of Conduct as alleged in the statement of charges;
a. Following the completion of the Complainant’s individual testimony, and at the close of the presentations made by each witness presented by the Complainant, the Chair of the Conduct Board will invite the Accused to ask questions of that person, either directly or through the Chair, in the Chair’s discretion. The Chair will supervise the questioning to insure that the questions asked by the Accused aid in the process of determining the truth or falsity of the charges against the Accused.
b. After the Accused has been given an opportunity to ask questions of each person who appears before it to support the Complainant’s charges, the Chair and the members of the Conduct Board will have the opportunity to ask questions.
c. After the Accused and the members of the Conduct Board have been given an opportunity to ask questions of a person, the Complainant will be given an opportunity to explain or rebut anything that came up in the questioning of that person.
d. When it appears that the Complainant has completed the presentation of her/his case, the Chair of the Conduct Board will ask the Complainant to state for the record that his/her presentation is complete.5. After the Complainant has confirmed that her/his presentation is complete, the Accused will be called upon to present the facts and/or extenuating circumstances which he/she believes the Conduct Board should rely on in finding her/him not responsible for the violations alleged in the statement of charges made by the Complainant.
a. Following the completion of the Accused’s individual testimony, and at the close of the presentations made by each witness presented by the Accused, the Chair of the Conduct Board will invite the Complainant to ask questions of that person, either directly or through the Chair, in the Chair’s discretion. The Chair will supervise the questioning to insure that the questions asked by the Complainant aid in the process of determining the truth or falsity of the charges against the Accused.
b. After the Complainant has been given an opportunity to ask questions of each person who appears before it to support the Accused’s testimony, the Chair and the members of the Conduct Board will have opportunity to ask questions.
c. After the Complainant and the members of the Conduct Board have been given an opportunity to ask questions of a person, the Accused will be given an opportunity to explain or rebut anything that came up in the questioning of that person.
d. When it appears that the Accused has completed the presentation of her/his case, the Chair of the Conduct Board will ask the Accused to state for the record that his/her presentation is complete.
6. When the Accused has indicated that her/his presentation is complete, the Chair will give the Complainant and Accused, in that order, the opportunity to make a closing presentation.
7. Following the closing presentations, the members of the Conduct Board will meet in closed session to consider the case. The Board will consider the factual presentations made by the determination as to whether it is more likely than not the Accused was responsible for each of the violations alleged in the statement of charges. With respect to any violations alleged in the statement of charges of which the Board determines that the Accused was responsible the Board will consider any claim of extenuating circumstances, which the Accused presented
a. The Board will ordinarily complete its deliberations within forty-eight hours after receiving the closing presentations.
b. The Conduct Board will set forth its findings with respect to each alleged violation of the Student Code of Conduct contained in the statement of charges in writing, indicating that it finds the Accused responsible, not responsible, or that it was unable to make a determination of responsibility.
8. If the Board determines that the Accused is responsible for any violation of the Student Code of Conduct alleged in the statement of charges, it will proceed to consider what sanctions should be imposed.
a. During its consideration of sanctions, the Conduct Board will consider the Accused’s disciplinary record.
9. A copy of the written findings of the Conduct Board and a description of the sanctions imposed will be delivered to the Accused.
a. Together with the findings of the Conduct Board, the Accused will be given a description of the right to appeal decisions of the Conduct Board.
b. The Dean of Students of his/her designee will inform the Complainant of the Conduct Board’s findings, including when appropriate, the sanctions imposed.
10. Attendance at hearings of a Conduct Board will be restricted to the members of the Conduct Board, the Complainant, the Accused, and their respective advisors. Persons appearing as witnesses will only be asked into the room in which the hearing is being held when making their individual presentation to the Board.
a. The Chair of the Conduct Board, may where the Board believes that it is appropriate and/or that fairness will be achieved by doing so, permit persons appearing as witnesses to attend all or a portion of the hearing, in addition to the presentation of their own testimony.C. The Conduct Board will ordinarily provide a separate hearing for each individual statement of charges presented to it.
1. If more than one student is alleged to be responsible for common violations of the Student Code of Conduct during a common incident and/or that share common facts, the charges against the multiple Accused will be heard as one case.2. The Conduct Board will consider charges stemming from separate incidents if violations are relatively closely related in time or in the nature of the conduct, or the Accused student agrees to have them heard simultaneously.
D. The Conduct Board will consider all materials which assist it to determine whether the charges of violations under the Student Code of Conduct in the statement of charges are true or false in a fair and equitable manner.
1. Ordinarily, the Conduct Board will require that evidence concerning the facts at issue be presented by a person who was a witness to the events in question.
a. The Board may accept the testimony of a person who heard a description of an event from one of the persons who was physically present, provided that there are reasons to conclude that the second-hand testimony is reliable.
b. In the discretion of the Conduct Board, when it is shown that it is unreasonable to expect an important witness to attend the hearing in person, the Board may accept a written description of an event; but only if the opposing party is given a copy of the written description sufficiently in advance of the hearing to permit that party to submit written questions to the missing witness and receive answers in time to offer them to the Board. A written description will only be accepted if it is accompanied by a signed honesty statement.
2. Testimony as to the character of either the Complainant or the Accused may be presented by a witness or through a written statement, provided that such a statement is accompanied by a signed honesty statement.
3. When they concern facts that relate to the charges being heard, documents prepared in the course of College business and official reports will be accepted into the record without the need for the author of the report or document being present to testify.
E. The Chair of a Conduct Board shall be responsible for assembling all of the records of a hearing and delivering them to the Dean of Students or his/her designee.
1. The records of a hearing are the evidence summary, a copy of the Board Hearing Notification and the Charge Notification delivered to the Accused, and any documents and/or physical evidence submitted in the course of the hearing by the Complainant, Accused, their respective witnesses or otherwise received by the Board.
a. Notes taken during the Board’s deliberations will only be considered part of the record if the members of a particular Conduct Board so designate them.
2. The Dean of Students or his/her designee shall file and maintain the records of each hearing in a manner which ensures that the records will be available for purposes of any appeals permitted by the College.
Conduct Board procedures for cases involving an allegation of sexual assault follow a special set of hearing procedures. Copies of the procedures are available in the Office of the College Conduct Coordinator and the Office of the Dean of Students.
