Section 400 – Student Affairs
406 COLLEGE COURT
POLICY
In order to provide due process to
students charged with infractions of the student conduct code or academic
honesty policy, the Dean of Student Services may refer these students to the
College Court for disposition of the charges.
PROCEDURE
1. Composition of the Courts shall consist of two (2)
Faculty Justices and three (3) Student Justices.
In case of unavoidable schedule conflicts
or other good cause shown, alternate faculty justices will be appointed by the
Campus Provost to serve. Members of the Student Government Association may
be designated by the Dean of Student Services to serve as alternates for
Student Justices.
2.
Terms of Office
A.
Members are appointed in June (Summer term) for one year or until an existing case is decided.
B.
Faculty Justices are appointed by the Campus Provost.
C. Student Justices are appointed by the
Student Government Association with one
appointed Chief Justice.
3.
The
Pre-Hearing Process
A. Filing of a charge
(1)
The accuser files a written complaint with the Dean of Student Services,
stating
the facts underlying the
alleged violations and the witnesses to the alleged violation.
(2) GPC Protective Services Incident Reports or
the Dean of Student Services
Incident Report may be used to initiate college court
procedures.
(3)
Except
under extraordinary circumstances, complaints must be filed within 45
days of the occurrence of the alleged
violation.
B. Notification
(1)
The Dean of
Student Services shall give the accused student notice of charges against
him/her. If the accused is a student
organization, the notice shall be served to an officer of the organization and
the advisor of the organization.
(2)
The notice
shall be in writing and contain the facts underlying the alleged violation, the
specific College Conduct Regulation(s) the student is alleged to have violated,
possible penalties, the date, time, and place of the hearing before the College
Court, and the right to receive a list of witnesses.
(3)
Except in
emergency circumstances, service of notice shall be by letter delivered by hand
or by registered mail at least five (5) business days before the date of the
hearing.
(4)
The accuser
and accused shall notify the Dean of
Student Services at least three (3) business days prior to the hearing of the
names of witnesses he or she wishes to appear on his behalf; the Dean of
Student Services shall supply the
names of these witnesses to the accused or accuser upon request.
C. Request for Postponement
(1)
The College
Court hearing will be held at the date and time specified in the written notice
unless an official postponement has been requested and approved in writing by
the Dean of Student Services.
(2)
If the
accused has a serious reason for postponing the hearing, he or she must notify
the Dean of Student Services no later than 48 hours prior to the hearing time.
(3)
If the
accused has not obtained an official postponement and fails to appear for the
hearing, the College Court may decide to conduct the hearing without the
accused and to impose penalties.
D. Hearing Involving Multiple Defendants or
Multiple Campuses
(1)
Two or more
accused students may be required to participate jointly in a hearing if they
are alleged to have participated in the same incident, act, events, or series
of related acts. The regulation(s) or
factual circumstances alleged need not be identical for the accused in a
hearing held jointly.
(2)
When
students from more than one campus are alleged to have participated in the same
incident, the Deans of Students from those campuses will determine the location
of the court hearing.
(3)
Motion for
a separate hearing: The accused
students may file a written motion, within
two (2) business days of notification,
with the Dean of Student Services for a separate hearing, citing specific
reasons why being heard jointly would unfairly prejudice his/her defense. The motion will be decided by the Dean of
Student Services.
E. Summons of Witness
If there are reasonable grounds to
suspect that a witness will refuse to appear before the College Court, any
party may request the Dean of Student Services to summon a witness. Failure of a summoned witness to appear or
to submit a written statement may result in disciplinary action.
4.
Hearing Process
A. Attendance at the
Hearing:
(1) Members of the College Court
(2) A recorder appointed by the Dean of
Student Services
(3) The accused
(4) The accuser
(5) Students, faculty and staff of the
college
(6) Both
the accuser and the accused are entitled to have an advisor, who may not
actively participate in the dialogue of the hearing but will be restricted to
consulting and advising their clients. Failure to abide by these rules may
result in the advisor’s removal from the hearing. The accused may request the SGA to appoint an advisor for the
accused.
(7) The accuser and the accused shall be
given an opportunity to present necessary witnesses and documentary or other
evidence, but all witnesses will be admitted to the hearing only when their
personal participation is necessary.
B.
Rights of the Accused Students
(1) Right to a notice in writing of any charges.
(2) Right to admit the alleged violation, to
waive a hearing and to accept the college’s action
(3) Right to admit the alleged violation but
request a hearing.
(4) Right to deny the alleged violation and
request a hearing.
(5) Right to a fair hearing before an
impartial committee.
(6) Right to appear in person at a hearing or
not to appear with assurance the failure to appear shall not be construed as
indicative of guilt.
(7) Right to select an adviser of their
choice to attend the hearing with them.
(8) Right to call witnesses and present
evidence in their behalf.
(9) Right upon request to a list of witnesses
who will appear against them.
(10)
Right to
confront and cross-examine witnesses and/or accusers.
(11)
Right to
request a copy of the record of the tape recording of a hearing if the offenses
involve possible suspension or expulsion.
(12)
Right to
appeal to the Provost, then to the Vice President for Academic and Student
Affairs, and then to the President of the college.
C.
Burden of Proof
The accused student shall be presumed innocent
until proven guilty. The accuser must
prove his/her case against the accused by a preponderance of the evidence which
may be defined as a belief that it is slightly more probable than not that the
facts are true and exist. This is
sometimes expressed as 51% certainty.
D.
General Guidelines for Conducting a
Hearing
The following hearing guidelines shall be
followed in all cases. These rules
shall be interpreted to maintain a hearing procedure to the extent that
informality will not hinder or obstruct the basic fact-finding function of the
Court.
(1) The College Court will not be bound by
formal rules of legal proceedings and may admit any information that may be of
value in determining the issues involved.
(2) Hearings shall be open except for cases involving
academic records.
(3) A tape recording of the proceedings may
be kept in the office of the Dean of Student Services.
(4) The College Court may grant adjournments
to enable either the accuser or the accused to investigate evidence if a valid
claim of surprise is made or when in the opinion of the Court an interruption
in the hearing would be desirable.
(5) The accuser and the accused shall have
the right to question all witnesses.
(6) The findings of fact and the decision of
the College Court will be based solely on the hearing record.
E.
Oath/Affirmation
by Witness
(1) As each witness is called, he/she will
take an oath or affirmation, administered by the Chief Justice, that he/she
will tell the truth.
(2) The
oath shall be: “Do you swear or affirm
that the testimony you will give at this hearing will be the truth?”
F.
Pleas
A plea is not required. However, the accused shall have the right to
plead guilty or not guilty.
G.
Evidence
(1) The Court shall consider only evidence
presented at the hearing. Irrelevant,
immaterial, or unduly repetitious evidence shall be excluded.
(2) Signed affidavits (written statements)
shall be admissible. If a witness
legitimately cannot appear at the hearing, that witness may testify in
writing. However, the court will recognize
that no questioning of the witness is then possible. The Court will place highest value on direct examination of all
witnesses; therefore, it is in the highest interest of all parties to ensure
the attendance of their witnesses.
Affidavits must be served on the opposing party no later than three (3)
days prior to the hearing. Affidavit forms may be requested from
the Dean of Student Services.
H.
Orders of Proceedings
(1) The Chief Justice will explain the order
of proceedings and answer questions regarding that order.
(2) The Chief Justice will read the statement
regarding truthful testimony to all parties in the hearing. Afterwards, witnesses will wait outside the
hearing room.
(3) The accuser presents the charge. (3
minute statement)
(4) The accused answers the charge. (3 minute
statement)
(5) The Court may question the accuser and
accused at any time during the hearing.
(6) The accuser presents relevant evidence
and witnesses.
(7) The accused may question the accuser and the accuser’s witnesses.
(8) The Court may question those witnesses.
(9) The accused presents relevant evidence
and witnesses.
(10)
The accuser
may question the accused and the accused’s
witnesses.
(11)
The Court
may question those witnesses.
(12)
The Court
presents any witnesses separately summoned by the Court as relevant to the
case.
(13)
First the
accuser and then the accused may question the Court’s witnesses.
(14)
Any
witnesses may be recalled for further questioning by any participants.
(15)
Final
statement by the accuser.
(16)
Final
statement by the accused.
(17)
The Court
deliberates.
I.
Deliberations of the College Court
(1) The deliberations of the College Court
shall be closed to all except Court members.
(2) Decision of the Court shall be based on a
majority vote.
(3) The Chief Justice shall vote only in case
of a tie.
J. Prior Record
(1) During the hearing, evidence of the
accused student’s past violations of the Student Conduct Code will be excluded
from the hearing unless the Court concludes that it is necessary and that
admitting the prior record would not be unduly prejudicial to the accused
student.
(2) In recommending a penalty, if the Court
concludes that the accused student is guilty of the present charge(s), the
Court may then consider the accused student’s prior record in determining the
appropriate penalty.
(3) The accused student has the option of
raising the matter of his/her prior record for the Court to consider when
setting a penalty.
K. Sanctions may be imposed by the College
Court. See Disciplinary Sanctions
section of the Student Handbook for a listing of possible sanctions.
5. Reporting the Court’s Decision
A.
Within one
(1) business day of the hearing, the Chief Justice of the Court shall forward
the Court’s decision and penalty to the Dean of Student Services.
B.
Within five
(5) business days of the hearing, the Dean of Student Services will inform the
accuser and the accused of the decision of the Court and the penalty
imposed. Notification shall be in
writing and shall be delivered by hand or by registered mail.
C.
One record
of the charge and the Court’s decision and penalty shall be kept in the
student’s confidential activity file in the office of the campus Dean of
Student Services. Court records will be
maintained in a collegewide database maintained by the Deans of Student
Services. A copy of the file will be
made available to the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs.
D.
Any further
distribution of the information shall be restricted because of the
confidentiality requirements for student records.
6. Appeals
A.
Within five
(5) business days of notification of the Court’s decision, the accuser, the
accused, or the executing administrator may file a written appeal with the
Campus Provost. Further appeals can be
made through the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs, and finally,
the President.
Approved by CAB 1/25/01