Article V: Judicial Procedures
A. Charges and Investigations
(1) Any member of the University community may file complaints against any student for misconduct. Complaints shall be prepared in writing and directed to the The Office of Student Conduct. Any alleged violation should be submitted as soon as possible after the event takes place, preferably within one month (28 days) of the knowledge of occurrence.
(2) Any Judicial Investigator, who has reason to believe that a violation of this Student Code may have occurred, is authorized to begin an investigation in the same manner as if a written complaint had been received. The The Office of Student Conduct may investigate and cite students or organizations with misconduct when that office has reason to believe that a violation may have occurred.
(3) A Judicial Investigator or Judicial Body may issue a summons for a student or organization to appear for discussion about an alleged violation or for a hearing in a pending complaint. The summons may also include an order to produce records which may be helpful in the course of an investigation or in the prosecution of a complaint.
(4) The Judicial Investigator may conduct an investigation to determine if the alleged violations have merit and/or if they can be disposed of administratively by mutual consent of the parties involved on a basis acceptable to the Judicial Investigator, subject to the approval of the Judicial Administrator. Such disposition shall be final and there shall be no subsequent proceedings.
(5) All alleged violations shall be presented to the accused student in written form. A time shall be set for a hearing, not less than five nor more than fifteen calendar days after the student has been notified. Maximum time limits for scheduling of hearings may be extended at the discretion of the Judicial Administrator.
B. Hearing
(1) Hearings shall be conducted by a Judicial Body according to the following guidelines. A Hearing Officer shall exercise all the powers attributable to the chairperson of the Judicial Body as described below. Student organizations shall have all the rights of students listed herein, which shall be exercised by the president of the organization.
- (a) Hearings normally shall be conducted in private. At the request of the accused student, and subject to the discretion of the chairperson of the Judicial Body, a representative of the student press may be admitted, but shall not have the privilege of participating in the hearing.
- (b) Admission of any person to the hearing shall be at the discretion of the chairperson of the Judicial Body.
- (c) In hearings involving more than one accused student, the chairperson of the Judicial Body, in his or her discretion, may permit the hearings concerning each student to be conducted separately.
- (d) The accused has the right to be assisted by any adviser he/she may choose, at their own expense. The adviser may be an attorney. The accused is responsible for presenting his or her own case, and, therefore, advisers have no right to speak to speak or participate directly in any hearing before a Judicial Body.
- (e) The Judicial Investigator and the accused shall have the privilege of presenting witnesses, subject to the right of cross examination by the other party and by the Judicial Body.
- (f) Pertinent records, exhibits and written statements may be accepted as information for consideration by a Judicial Body at the discretion of the chairperson.
- (g) All procedural questions are subject to the final decision of the chairperson of the Judicial Body.
- (h) After the hearing, the Judicial Body shall deliberate in private and shall determine (by majority vote if the Judicial Body consists of more than one person) whether the student is responsible for violating the Code of Student Conduct as cited.
- (i) The Judicial Body’s determination shall be made on the basis of whether there is substantial information that the accused student violated the Code of Student Conduct.
(2) Reasonable efforts shall be 8undertaken to create a single verbatim record, such as a tape recording, of all hearings before a Judicial Body. The record shall be the property of the University.
(3) Except in the case of a student cited with failing to obey the summons of a Judicial Body or University official, no student may be found responsible for having violated the Student Code solely because the student failed to appear before a Judicial Body. In all complaints, the information in support of the alleged violation shall be presented and considered
