The Vice President for Student Affairs is vested with the authority over student conduct by the President. The Vice President for Student Affairs designates the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs to share oversight and management of the conduct process. Administrative hearing officers and appeal officers serve to both efficiently and effectively adjudicate the conduct process.
The Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) may assume responsibility for the investigation of an allegation of misconduct.
The Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) may in his/her sole discretion, adjudicate code violations outside the parameters of this policy if so deemed necessary.
No complaint will be forwarded for a hearing unless there is reasonable cause to believe a policy has been violated. Reasonable cause is defined as some credible information to support each element of the alleged violation, even if that information is merely a credible witness or a victim’s statement. A complaint wholly unsupported by any credible information will not be forwarded for a hearing.
The Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) has discretion to refer a complaint to an appropriate alternative dispute resolution (ADR) process. All parties must agree to use ADR for resolution. Any unsuccessful ADR process can be forwarded for formal processing and hearing; however, at no time will complaints of physical sexual misconduct or violence be mediated as the sole institutional response. Hearing officers may also suggest that complaints that do not involve a violation of the Code of Student Conduct be referred for an appropriate form of alternate dispute resolution (i.e. reconciliation, mediation, restorative justice, mediated- arbitration, etc.). Should one or both parties fail to uphold the resolution agreement, the case may be forwarded to a hearing officer for non-compliance.
The Code of Student Conduct is adjudicated through an administrative hearing process through the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs. Administrative hearing officers are trained annually to conduct investigations into allegations of misconduct, and to conduct administrative hearings.
The Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) will have final authority to approve those who serve as appeal officers. Appeal officers will be assigned as follows:
| If the Hearing Officer is the… | The Appeal Officer will be the… |
| Assistant Director of Residential Life & Student Activities and/or Graduate Resident Director | Executive Director of Student Engagement & Residential Life |
| Executive Director of Student Engagement & Residential Life | Associate Vice President for Student Affairs |
| Associate Vice President for Student Affairs | Vice President for Student Affairs |
Decisions made, and sanctions imposed, by the appeal officer will be final and thus complete the student conduct process.
The Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) will develop procedural rules for the administration of hearings that are consistent with provisions of the Code of Student Conduct. The Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee) may make minor modifications to procedure that do not materially jeopardize the fairness owed to any party (i.e. offer forms of alternative dispute resolution). Any question of interpretation of the Code of Student Conduct will be referred to the Vice President for Student Affairs (or designee), whose interpretation is final. The Code of Student Conduct will be reviewed annually and revised as needed under the direction of the Vice President for Student Affairs and the Associate Vice President for Student Affairs.