Responsible Office: Student Development
Policy Administrator: VP for Student Development
Scope: |Student

Approved By: VP/Provost

Approved Date: 7/1/2017

Effective Date: 7/1/2017

Category: Student

Description/Purpose:

Incident Review Hearing Process

Details:

A written notice of the complaint will be issued, and the Incident Review Hearing will be held before a Hearing Officer. Both the accused student and the complainant (if applicable) will receive notification of the date, time, and location of the Incident Review Hearing.

In an Incident Review Hearing, the student who is accused, or the complainant has the right:

1. to be present at the hearing. However, if the student who is accused fails to appear at a scheduled hearing, without giving prior notice, the hearing may be held in his or her absence Students who fail to appear, without giving prior notice, may have additional charges brought against him/her. Students will not be found is violation solely based on their failure to appear.
2. to present evidence and witness It is the responsibility of the accused student to notify their
3. witnesses of the date, time, and place of the hearing. If witnesses fail to appear, the hearing will be held in their absence.
4. to bring an advisor to the hearing. The advisor may not participate in the examination of witnesses or present material/information unless asked to do so by the Hearing Office This advisor may not be an attorney or paralegal.

Additional guidelines:

• The proceedings are not open to the public
• Students are not required to make self-incriminating statements

The purpose of the Incident Review Hearing is to examine the complaint, interview witnesses, review any items submitted as physical evidence, obtain any documentary evidence and information that is available, interview the accused student and the accusing party (if applicable) listen to the accused and/or compliant (if applicable) account of the event(s), discuss the circumstances regarding the incident and hear the concerns expressed by either party if appropriate.

Incident Review Hearing process

Once it is determined that an Incident Review is warranted, and the appropriate parties have been notified of the incident, a date and time of the Incident Review Hearing will be established. The accused student, the Hearing Officer and the accusing party (if applicable) will review the incident. The accused student may present evidence to support his/her position. All witnesses for the accused are heard during the Incident Review. The complainant may present evidence that supports his/her position or that differs for evidence that has been presented. The Hearing Officer presents any available additional evidence that differs from the evidence presented by either the accused student or the complainant.

1. The Hearing Officer will review the fact If additional information is needed the Hearing Officer may decide to recess until further investigation is completed. Once all pertinent facts are reviewed, the Hearing Officer will render a finding.
2. The Hearing Officer will make a finding based on the preponderance of the evidence (whether a policy violation is more likely than not to have occurred).
3. The Hearing Officer will review with the accused student the appropriate sanctioning protocols, and review of the student's conduct history, to determine appropriate conduct sanction. The student will be notified in writing as to the outcome of the hearing.
4. The student found in violation will be notified in writing of the outcome and the sanction.
5. The Hearing Officer will inform the accusing party as to the status of the investigation and the outcome.