Any student accused of violating a policy shall appear before one or more duly constituted hearing officers (Area Director for Student Conduct or a designee by the Dean of Students).

Hearings

In order to provide equity and efficiency in the administration of conduct procedures, the following guidelines for the operation of Administrative hearings have been created. These hearings will be used for all cases requiring adjudication. Administrative hearings will be facilitated by an administrative hearing officer which may be Residence Life staff, a trained University administrator, the Dean of Students or designee.

Administrative Hearings shall adhere to the basic fundamentals of fairness as stated below:

• The student shall be notified in writing, either in person or via campus e-mail by an appropriate official of the University, that the student is accused of violating a policy.
• The student shall be notified that they may elect one of two courses of action:
  • The student may admit to the alleged violation and request a hearing before a Hearing Officer to determine sanctions.
  • The student may deny the alleged violation, in which case a hearing will be held by a Hearing Officer.
• The student shall be entitled to an expeditious hearing of the case.
• The hearing shall be of an informal nature and need not adhere to formal rules of procedure or technical rules of evidence followed by courts of law.
• Following due notification of the hearing, the student shall be entitled to the following:
  • Notification of the time and place of the hearing.
  • Statement of the charges of sufficient specificity to enable the student to prepare their defense.
  • A copy of the procedures as outlined here.
• The student shall be entitled to appear in person and to present their defense to the Hearing Officer and may request the Hearing Officer question witnesses on their behalf. The Hearing Officer has the discretion to determine the relevancy of individual witnesses and to decline to question named witnesses.  The student may also elect not to appear before the Hearing Officer. Should the student elect not to appear, the hearing shall be held in their absence and a written determination will be issued.
• The student shall be entitled to suggest questions for the hearing officer to ask relevant witnesses, subject to any other applicable policies.
• The student shall be entitled to support from any person they choose. The person in the supporting role does not have a role in the administrative hearing or process, and shall not speak on behalf of the student, question the Hearing Officer, or otherwise interfere with the proceedings. Any person in a supportive role who does not adhere to these expectations will be removed from the proceedings.
• The student shall be entitled to refuse to answer questions.

Procedures

The administrative hearing shall be conducted in accordance with the following general format:

• Introductions and a review of privacy.
• The incident report shall be shared along with a review of the charges against the student.  The student may share whether they concur with the charges or not. If the student concurs, the administrative hearing officer shall then consider the charges accurate and hear any information which the student may present in mitigation or explanation.
• If the student does not concur, the student will be invited to present any relevant evidence, witnesses, or information they may have.
• The student may ask questions of the Hearing Officer. The student may provide to the Hearing Officer questions that they have for any witnesses. The administrative hearing officer may ask questions of the student charged as well as of any witness testifying at the hearing.
• The student will be excused.
• The administrative hearing officer will deliberate and formulate their findings and recommendations based on a preponderance of the evidence standard.

Post Hearing

The findings and recommendations of the administrative hearing officer will be emailed in writing to the student within 48 business hours of the decision.  The timing of the decision may be impacted by evidence provided by the student or the need to question witnesses.

If the student does not attend the administrative hearing, a determination will be made in their absence and they will receive written notification via email.