Procedures in Grievances against Students

Initiation of Complaints

1.  Whenever an individual believes that a student or student organization has violated the published regulations of the College or the principles of the Student Integrity Contract, he or she should bring a complaint to the Office of Student and Community Life. Complaints regarding offenses in residential communities should be reported to The Bantam Network Residential Learning Community. However, residential community offenses of such severity that College censure, suspension, or expulsion might result will be referred to the Office of Student and Community Life. Cases alleging sexual harassment (see Policy on Sexual Harassment) will be referred to the Title IX Coordinator. For cases concerning alleged academic dishonesty, refer to Intellectual Honesty section in the Student Handbook.
2. Upon receipt of a complaint, the hearing officer assigned to the case will review the incident and conduct any preliminary investigation as appropriate. The hearing officer will  determine if there are sufficient grounds to pursue the complaint and to use the College’s grievance procedures to resolve the matter. It is the responsibility of the hearing officer to determine the appropriate process to hear the case—a formal hearing before an Honor Council panel or an administrative resolution. The hearing officer may consider the following before determining the process:
   1. The preferences of the complainant and respondent.
   2. Sensitivity of issues involved in the complaint.
   3. The stage in the semester at which the complaint is presented (note that the Honor Council adjourns after the last day of classes each semester).
   4. Whether or not the respondent wishes to contest the allegations.
   5. Circumstances where respondent was “caught in the act.”
3. Administrative Resolution—Administrative resolutions are designed to be non-adversarial proceedings conducted in an atmosphere of informality and fairness. The process is designed to hear all sides of an incident and to have honest and open discussions. Students will meet with the hearing officer in his/her office or another private space. The hearing officer who is assigned to resolve a complaint may use his/her discretion in determining the appropriate means to come to a resolution, including inviting other hearing officers to be involved. The hearing officer may, at his/her discretion, meet independently with all the parties to a complaint or choose to meet collectively. In certain circumstances and at his/her discretion, a hearing officer may make an audio recording of portions or all of the conversations with students involved in the process. All administrative resolutions are designed to provide the respondent with the appropriate information to understand the complaint and properly prepare a response. If the respondent remains unsatisfied with the resolution, that person retains the right of appeal.
4. Honor Council Resolutions
   1. Cases that are not resolved through the administrative resolution process shall be forwarded to an Honor Council Judicial Panel for adjudication. The associate dean will assemble the following materials for the panel as well as for the complainant and respondent:
      1. A formal written statement from the complainant, or an incident report complete with a detailed account regarding the nature of the alleged offense. The dean shall provide a copy of the complaint to the respondent within a reasonable period of time.
      2. Any written response that the respondent elects to submit in his/her defense.
      3. Any investigative report (may include photographs or witness statements).
      4. A copy of the grievance procedures.
   2. If the respondent does not reply within 48 hours, or if he/she does not pledge to attend and participate in the hearing, the dean will so inform the Honor Council, which reserves the right to conduct the necessary hearing without the benefit of the respondent’s input.
   3. A panel of five students from the Honor Council will constitute the judicial panel. The members of the hearing panel will designate a chairperson of the panel to serve as the presiding officer.
   4. The dean will inform the complainant and respondent of the hearing date, review the procedures to be followed, and give both parties such other information as seems pertinent.
   5. A member of the Office of Student and Community Life will serve in an advisory capacity to the hearing panel and, during the hearing, as a non-voting participant. In the event that the regular adviser to the hearing panel is a party to a complaint, or has relevant witness testimony, that person may not serve as an adviser in the hearing of that particular complaint. In such cases, the dean of students shall appoint another individual as adviser.
5. Hearings – The following rules and procedures shall govern all hearings
   1. A member of the Honor Council shall recuse him/herself from a case if he/she is involved in the matter in some way.
   2. The complainant and respondent are expected to attend all sessions of the hearing, except that either may be excused at his/her own request by the chairperson of the hearing panel. No hearing session will be held without the complainant and the respondent having been given ample notice and opportunity to attend.
   3. The chairperson of the panel, the complainant, and the respondent have the right to name material witnesses and/or consultants and request their presence at the hearing. Each party to the case is responsible for notifying his/her witnesses of the time and place of the hearing and shall make all reasonable attempts to ensure that the witness is present during the hearing.
   4. It will be the chairperson’s responsibility, along with the hearing adviser from the Office of Student and Community Life, to interpret the College regulations; to inform the panel of correct procedures; to rule, with the panel’s agreement, on the relevance of questions asked by parties to the case; to rule on questions that are redundant; and to ensure that fair treatment and opportunity for civil and orderly participation are accorded to all parties.
   5. The hearing shall be recorded in its entirety (this does not include the panel’s deliberations) and shall be kept by the Office of Student and Community Life until the matter is concluded and no further appeal is possible. The confidential recording of the hearing is the property of the College and may not be copied or reproduced without the
      permission of the dean of students or his designee. In situations in which a decision of the hearing panel is granted an appeal, the appellant may request to review the recording. If the request is granted, the dean of students will arrange for the respondent to review the recording in the Office of Student and Community Life. The College will not provide a written transcript of the hearing to the appellant.
   6. Each party to the case may be accompanied by one adviser during each hearing session. Advisers may not participate directly in the hearing session, but they may consult freely with the person whom they are advising. All advisers must be members of the College community (i.e., current student, faculty, or staff). An adviser may not have formal legal training.
   7. Hearings will be private, and the proceedings kept confidential. Witnesses and consultants may appear individually; the latter may appear at any time in the proceedings that the chairperson thinks proper. When a consultant is called to provide medical or psychological information about one of the parties to a case, the consultant may, with the concurrence of the chairperson and dean, exclude from the hearing room the complainant, the respondent, or both.
   8. The chairperson and the dean may modify these procedures at their discretion to fit particular situations as long as any modification presents no advantage in favor of, or any bias against any party to the complaint.
6. Hearing Sequence
   1. At the outset, the chairperson may read aloud the complaint and any response, written copies of which will be provided to members of the hearing panel and to the complainant and respondent. The chairperson or the dean will specify the College regulations involved in the matter.
   2. The hearing panel will first hear from the complainant, who may choose to make a statement, after which the panel may question the complainant. Then the respondent may question the complainant. Next, the respondent may make a statement, after which the panel may question the respondent. Then the complainant may question the respondent. In the event that there is more than one complainant and/or more than one respondent, the chairperson will determine the order in which parties are to be questioned.
   3. If witnesses have been summoned, they will next appear, in an order determined by the chairperson. Each witness may be questioned first by the hearing panel, then by the parties to the case. Witnesses may be recalled to the hearing as required.
   4. After all witnesses have appeared and been questioned, the hearing panel will question the complainant and the respondent. The complainant and respondent will also have a final opportunity to question one another and make closing statements.
   5. Within five business days after the hearing adjourns, the hearing panel will determine by majority vote of the members of the panel who have been present throughout the hearing whether the accused student has violated a College regulation and recommend a sanction that follows the guidelines for sanctions, below. The hearing panel may, at its
      discretion, consult with the adviser from the Office of Student and Community Life regarding an appropriate penalty. The hearing panel will use the standard of “preponderance of the evidence” (i.e., whether it is “more likely than not” that a violation has occurred) to make its decision.
   6. The chairperson of the hearing panel will refer its decision on any violations of College regulations along with any recommendations for a penalty in writing to the dean, who will, within five business days, review the panel’s findings for conformity to established policies and procedures. If the dean concurs, he will implement the decision. If the dean has substantial concerns regarding the recommendations on a penalty, he/she will return the case to the hearing panel within 48 hours with a rationale of these concerns for reconsideration. The panel will either affirm or alter its decision. The dean may not overturn the panel’s finding of a violation. The determination of an appropriate penalty is the responsibility of the dean of students (though he/she may entertain the recommendations of the hearing panel). After such reconsideration, the dean may not raise the same concerns a second time.
   7. The dean will notify the respondent of the decision and sanction.
7. Appeals Procedures
   1. Respondents who have been found to have violated College community standards and have received a sanction(s) may appeal the outcome. An exception to this procedure relates to cases of sexual harassment where both the complainant and the respondent may appeal the outcome (see Policy on Sexual Harassment). If a student wishes to appeal the decision of a hearing panel or administrative resolution, he/she must notify the dean of students in writing within five business days of the initial decision. For those cases resolved through The Bantam Network Residential Learning Community, persons may elect to appeal directly to the Director of The Bantam Network in lieu of an appeals panel from the Honor Council. A judicial decision may be appealed only on the following grounds:
      1. Discovery of new factual information that was not known or available at the time of the adjudication and the presentation of which would have affected the original outcome. Omission of factual information that was known and available to the appealing party is not a valid ground for an appeal;
      2. Material procedural error that rendered the adjudication fundamentally unfair;
      3. Abuse of discretion in the issuance of a sanction, meaning that the imposed sanction was significantly disproportionate to the offense; or
      4. Evidence of bias in the adjudication.
   2. Upon receipt of the letter of appeal, the dean of students will review the appeal and determine whether the request meets the criteria for appeal. If the dean determines that there is no basis for an appeal, he will inform the student bringing the request of his decision, along with a rationale for denying any appeal. If he determines that reconsideration is warranted, he will invoke the following procedures:
      1. The dean will constitute the appeals panel, which will consist of two students chosen from the Honor Council who were not previously involved in the case and one faculty member chosen from the faculty jury pool.
      2. The appeals panel will be provided with all pertinent evidence, records, finding, and statements for review.
      3. The appeals panel may rehear a case in its entirety, following the procedures above, or the panel may solicit additional relevant information.
      4. After review(s) of relevant materials, or after rehearing the case, the appeals panel will determine that the original decision and sanction be upheld, or that the decision and/or sanctions be modified.
      5. The appeals panel will forward its findings to the dean of students, who shall, within five business days, review the panel’s findings. If the dean concurs, he will implement the decision. If he has substantial concerns regarding the sanction, he will return the case to the appeals panel within 48 hours with a written summary of these concerns for
         reconsideration. The panel will either affirm or alter its decision. The dean may not overturn the panel’s finding of a violation. After such reconsideration, he may not raise the same concerns a second time.
      6. The dean will notify the student of the appeals panel’s decision.
8. Other Pertinent Information
   1. The Honor Council will function only during those periods when classes are in session at the College. At other times, the dean may either hold a complaint in abeyance until classes resume or he may take whatever other actions seem necessary. During the summer, the dean, or in his absence an appropriate officer designated by him, will hear complaints and take such disciplinary action as may be warranted.
   2. Requests for appeals of a disciplinary action may be submitted to the dean during a vacation or examination period. An appeals board will meet only while the College is in regular session. At other times the dean may hold requests in abeyance, or he may take such action as he deems necessary.
   3. At any time between the initial receipt of a complaint and the start of hearings, the dean may suspend temporarily, until the case has been adjudicated, any party to a case whose continued presence he believes would constitute a danger to the person himself/herself, to other members of the community, or to the well-being of the institution. Such temporary suspensions will not be entered on the student’s permanent record.
   4. Disciplinary action under these administrative procedures will be taken only when the complaint involves a published regulation of the College.
   5. In extreme cases in which a significant number of people are alleged to have violated College regulations in a single incident, the dean of students will use reasonable means to restore order and investigate the circumstances of the incident. He may invoke summary suspension, seek the aid of civil authorities, and take action under the law. If disciplinary proceedings are to be employed, they will be similar to those described above.
   6. All students who are involved in a College investigation/hearing are expected to provide all relevant evidence/information during the investigation phase and introduce all available information for consideration at the time of the hearing. A student may not appeal a hearing decision on a ground of new evidence/information if s/he elected to withhold relevant information at the time of the hearing.

Sanctions

The following is a list of sanctions that are authorized by the College.

Note: Suspensions and expulsions are permanently recorded on the student’s transcript. Fines, pensums, restriction, and censure may be imposed upon student organizations, including Greek-letter organizations. The activity of student organizations, including Greek-letter organizations, may be suspended under certain circumstances and the College retains the authority to terminate the activities of any student organization.