Disciplinary Procedures by Judiciary Committee

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Interim Suspension – 72 Hours

In certain circumstances, there may be a need for immediate Interim Suspension of 72 hours.  Interim suspension recommendations must be routed through the office of the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus. During the interim suspension, the accused student shall be denied access to the campus (including classes) and/or all other College activities or privileges for which the student might otherwise be eligible, as the dean may determine to be appropriate.

  1. Interim suspension may be imposed for the following reasons:
    • To ensure the safety and well-being of members of the College community or preservation of College property;
    • To ensure the student’s own physical or emotional safety and well-being; or
    • If the student poses a definite threat of disruption of or interference with the normal operations of the College.
  2. The Dean shall request a hearing of the charges before the College Judiciary Committee within 72 hours of the interim suspension.
    • The Dean or designee shall provide the accused student(s) a written Statement of Charges as filed to provide the student(s) reasonable notice of the circumstances on which the alleged violation is based.  The statement will be sent to the student’s College Email AND by a Process Server.  The written Statement of Charges shall include the following:
      • Date the original complaint was reported,
      • Name of person to whom the original complaint was reported,
      • Facts of the complaint, and
      • Action taken, if any, by the receiving official to resolve the complaint.
      • Notification to the student(s) that it is permissible to appear alone or with counsel before the Judiciary Committee and may be present during all phases of the hearing except during the committee’s deliberation.  Requestor of counsel shall be required to sign a FERPA release before the meeting begins.
      • Counsel shall be made aware of the following:
        • Counsel shall not speak for or on behalf of the accused student(s) but may act only in an advisory capacity.
        • Counsel may not question or cross-examine witnesses or committee members. (If counsel attempts to question or cross-examine a witness or committee member, they will be excused from proceedings.)
      • Notification to the student(s) that they will be provided the opportunity to present evidence and to conduct reasonable cross-examination of witnesses. 
      • The student(s) that is scheduled for a hearing before the Judiciary Committee and that fails to appear at the designated date, hour, and place of the hearing after notification thereof, shall be deemed to have waived the right to a hearing and the right to appear before the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee may then proceed with the hearing. If the accused student(s) is unable to attend the hearing for good cause at the appointed time, prior written notice of the inability to attend shall be submitted to the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus, where upon a new date shall be set by the Dean in coordination with the chairperson of the Judiciary Committee. Only one such extension shall be granted except where additional extensions would cause undue hardship to the student(s).

Judiciary Committee Designations

  1. The chairperson assumes the following duties:
    • ​​​​​​​Arranges for appropriate times and places for committee meetings and hearings.
    • Informs the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus, in writing when possible, the location and time of the committee hearing and a list of individuals whom they request or require to attend the hearing.
    • Arranges for the hearing to
    • be electronically recorded.
    • Conducts the hearing.
    • Maintains committee records and all documents that will be presented to the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus after conclusion of the meeting.
    • Informs, the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus, by Memorandum of Record, the decisions of the committee, to include findings and, if appropriate, sanctions.
    • Arranges for appropriate security when necessary, during hearings.
  2. The office of the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus assumes the following duties:
    • Informs the appropriate individuals, including but not limited to the complainant and accused, the scheduled hearing date, time and location.
    • Notification to the student(s) that it is permissible to appear alone or with counsel before the Judiciary Committee and may be present during all phases of the hearing except during the committee’s deliberation.  Requestor of counsel shall be required to sign a FERPA release before the meeting begins.
    • Counsel shall be made aware of the following:
      • ​​​​​​​Counsel shall not speak for or on behalf of the accused student(s) but may act only in an advisory capacity.
      • Counsel may not question or cross-examine witnesses or committee members. (If counsel attempts to question or cross-examine a witness or committee member, they will be excused from proceedings.)
    • Notification to the student(s) that they will be provided the opportunity to present evidence and to conduct reasonable cross-examination of witnesses. 
    • The student(s) that is scheduled for a hearing before the Judiciary Committee and that fails to appear at the designated date, hour, and place of the hearing after notification thereof, shall be deemed to have waived the right to a hearing and the right to appear before the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary Committee may then proceed with the hearing. If the accused student(s) is unable to attend the hearing for good cause at the appointed time, prior written notice of the inability to attend shall be submitted to the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus, where upon a new date shall be set by the Dean in coordination with the chairperson of the Judiciary Committee. Only one such extension shall be granted except where additional extensions would cause undue hardship to the student(s).
  3. The hearing before the Judiciary Committee shall not be conducted as a courtroom trial, but shall proceed as follows:
    • One appointed faculty or staff member shall serve as chairperson of the Judiciary Committee. The chairperson shall screen the committee members prior to the hearing for any prejudicial knowledge. In the event of special prejudicial knowledge, those members may be replaced by the President or his or her designee with other qualified faculty or staff members and/or students. A simple majority of the members present will be allowed to make a judgment and render a decision in the matter with regard to a finding of guilty and imposition of appropriate disciplinary action. (A minimum of 3 committee members must be present to hear and rule on the case.)
  4. A record of all proceedings shall be kept in the form of a video or audio recording, and a copy may be reproduced at the expense of the accused student(s) or organization.

Proceedings

Proceedings shall open with the chairperson of the Judiciary Committee reading the following statement:

“A College is an academic institution, not a courtroom or administrative hearing. The Judiciary Committee is not bound by the rules of legal evidence which would apply in a court proceeding. The committee is allowed to admit and consider evidence that might not be admissible in a court of law. This includes hearsay; however, evidence must be relevant to the charge.”

Note: Formal rules of evidence shall not be observed in proceedings before the Judiciary Committee; however, the chairperson of the committee shall be authorized to exclude irrelevant, redundant, or unduly inflammatory evidence. The findings of the committee on the issue of violation(s) of the Code of Student Conduct will be based solely on evidence introduced at the hearing. Evidence of previous violations of rules and regulations or violations of local, state, or federal laws, ordinances, and regulations shall not be considered in any way by the committee in determining whether the violation charges were committed, but such evidence may be considered by the committee in consideration of the appropriate sanctions. They may also be introduced as evidence in rebuttal of any related character evidence introduced by the accused party.

  1. The chairperson of the Judiciary Committee will then read the charge against the student(s). The student(s) shall then make a plea of guilty or not guilty. If the accused student(s) admits guilt, the committee will go directly into closed session to deliberate sanctions.  Failure to make a plea by the student(s) is considered an admission of guilt.
  2. The complainant or his or her representative shall present the evidence against the accused student(s). The accused student(s) will be afforded the opportunity for reasonable cross-examination.
  3. The accused student(s) may then present evidence by oral testimony, witnesses, and/or written sworn affidavits. Reasonable cross-examination will be afforded.
  4. Rebuttal evidence may be presented by either party as necessary but not so as to be redundant. The accused student(s) may make a closing statement.
  5. The complainant, College, and the accused student(s) may each have an attorney or other personal representative present to act as an advisor. The respective attorneys or personal representatives shall not be advocates and shall not question witnesses or have any role in the proceedings.  The advisor may only communicate with the individual they are advising. 
  6. After presentation of all evidence, the Judiciary Committee shall enter closed session. The committee shall deliberate and make its determination of findings and determine appropriate sanctions if the student(s) is found guilty.  Student(s) shall be notified of the determination within 72 hours of the close of the hearing.
    • If the Judiciary Committee determines that the student is not guilty, the student will be cleared of all charges. If the student is found guilty, the Committee will disclose the findings and sanctions determined by the committee.  The Sanction Agreement shall be submitted, by email, to the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus for processing. 
    • The Dean’s office will send a hard copy of the Sanction Agreement by Certified mail OR by a Process Server.  The office of the Dean will prepare an additional copy of the Sanction Agreement for student signature and email to the student’s college email account.
  7. Upon administrating the Sanction Agreement, the student will select one of the following options:
    • Sign the Sanction Agreement, indicating acceptance of the sanctions imposed and waiving all rights to appeal; OR
    • Sign the Sanction Agreement, declining the opportunity to accept the sanctions imposed and an appeal may be filed with the President or designee. 
    • Any student who fails to select ‘Accept’ or ‘Do Not Accept,’ and fails to sign the Sanction Agreement shall be deemed to have waived all rights to further appeal and the sanctions imposed will be final. 
    • Students have five (5) working days from the date of the emailed Sanction Agreement, to sign the document.  At this time the judgement is final.
    • The complainant will be notified by email, the final resolution.
  8. Upon completion of the hearing and determination, the Committee shall submit a Memorandum of Record, by email, to the office of the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus.
    • ​​​​​​​The office of the Dean shall email copies of the Memorandum of Record to the appropriate Dean(s).
  9. All original documents shall be submitted to the office of the Dean, Student Success and Sparks Campus, to be filed and recorded on the Student Complaint Drive.