Procedures
Decision
The CSAO or designee shall receive all allegations of
student misconduct and investigate the complaints, which includes meeting with
the student to give them the opportunity to respond to the allegations of
misconduct. If the allegations of misconduct are discrimination and/or
harassment based on federal or state civil rights laws, the college will
investigate those incidents through the Civil Rights Grievance and
Investigation Process, System President’s Procedure (SP) 4-31a.
Once the investigation is complete, either through this
process or the Civil Rights Grievance and Investigation process, the CSAO or
designee shall render a sanction decision.
The CSAO or designee may decide that the charges can be
disposed of administratively by mutual consent of the parties involved on a
basis acceptable to them. If an administrative resolution is not
achieved, the CSAO or designee shall issue a decision which determines whether
the alleged conduct occurred; whether the conduct violated the Code of Conduct
or College procedures; and impose a sanction(s) if appropriate. The student
shall receive written notice of the decision and be advised of their right to
appeal the Decision, subject to the grounds below, by filing a written appeal
with the CSAO or designee within seven (7) days of service of the Decision.
Appeal
In the event of an appeal, the CSAO or designee shall give
written notice to the other party (e.g., if the accused student appeals, the
appeal is shared with the complainant who may also wish to file a response),
and then the CSAO or designee will draft a response memorandum (also shared
with all parties). All appeals and responses are then forwarded to the
appeals officer or committee for initial review to determine if the appeal meets
the limited grounds and is timely. The original finding and sanction will
stand if the appeal is not timely or substantively eligible, and the decision
is final. If the appeal has standing, the documentation is forwarded for
consideration. Because the original finding and sanction are presumed to
have been decided reasonably and appropriately, the party appealing the
decision must specifically cite the error(s) in the original determination on
which the appeal is based. The ONLY grounds for appeal are as follows:
1. A material
procedural or substantive error occurred that significantly impacted the
outcome of the hearing (e.g. substantiated bias, material deviation from
established procedures); which must be explained in the written appeal; or
2. To consider new
evidence, unavailable during the investigation or hearing that could
substantially impact the original finding or sanction. A summary of this new
evidence and its potential impact must be included in the written appeal, as
well as the reasons the new evidence was not available during the original
proceeding.
If the appeals officer or committee determines that a
material procedural or substantive error occurred, it may return the complaint
to the CSAO or designee with instructions to reconvene to cure the error.
In rare cases, where the procedural or substantive error cannot be cured by the
CSAO or designee in cases of bias, the appeals officer or committee may order a
new hearing be held by a different individual acting in the place of the designated
CSAO or designee. The results of a reconvened hearing cannot be
appealed. The results of a new hearing can be appealed, once, on the two
applicable grounds for appeals.
If the appeals officer or committee determines that new
evidence should be considered, it will return the complaint to the CSAO or
designee to reconsider in light of the new evidence, only. If the subject
matter pertains to discrimination and/or harassment pursuant to SP 4-31a, the
appeals officer or committee will return the complaint to the Title IX/EO
Coordinator to reconsider in light of the new evidence, only. The
reconsideration of the CSAO, designee, or Title IX/EO Coordinator is not
appealable.
The procedures
governing the hearing of appeals include the following:
• All parties
should be timely informed of the status of requests for appeal, the
status of the appeal consideration, and the results of the appeal decision;
• If the appeals
officer or committee determines there is new evidence or error in the original
proceeding, every opportunity to return the appeal to the CSAO or designee for
reconsideration (remand) should be pursued;
• Appeals are not
intended to be full rehearings of the complaint (de novo). In most cases,
appeals are confined to a review of the written documentation or record of the
original hearing, and pertinent documentation regarding the grounds for appeal;
• An appeal is
not an opportunity for an appeals officer or committee to substitute their
judgment for that of the CSAO or designee merely because they disagree with its
finding and/or sanctions.
• Appeals
decisions are to be deferential to the original decision, making changes to the
findings only where there is clear error and a compelling justification to do
so.
• Sanctions
imposed are implemented immediately unless the CSAO or designee stays their
implementation in extraordinary circumstances, pending the outcome of the
appeal.
• The appeals
officer or committee will render a written decision on the appeal to all
parties within four (4) days from receiving the appeal request. The
committee’s decision to deny appeal requests is final.
Special Discipline
Process Provisions
• In the event
that the student is under the age of eighteen or incapacitated, they may have
an advisor present to assist them in presenting their case.
• Students do not
have the right to be represented by an attorney or law student during these
proceedings except in the case where civil or criminal actions concerning the
student are pending and in that case the attorney’s role shall be advisory
only.
• The student is
responsible for presenting their own case and, therefore, advisors are not
permitted to speak or to participate directly in any hearing except when the
student is under the age of eighteen or incapacitated.
• Student shall
have the right to identify documents, witnesses and other material they would
like the CSAO or designee to review before making a final decision.
• Any hearing
held shall be conducted in private unless all parties agree otherwise.
• A record of the
hearing should be maintained by the CSAO or designee.
• If student has
a disability and would like to request an accommodation to assist them through
the discipline process they may do so by informing the CSAO or designee. The
CSAO or designee will then work with disability support services to accommodate
the request.
• Jurisdiction-College
disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against a student charged with
violation of a law if the violation occurred at the College or
college-sanctioned activities or was of such a nature to have an impact on the
college and the violation is also a violation of the college’s student code of
conduct.
• Proceedings
under this procedure may be carried out prior to, simultaneously with, or
following civil or criminal proceedings off-campus.
• Standard of
proof-the college will use the preponderance of evidence standard in the
disciplinary proceedings, meaning, the college will determine whether it is
more likely than not a conduct code was violated.
• All sanctions
imposed by the original decision maker will be in effect during the
appeal. A request may be made to the CSAO or designee for special
consideration in exigent circumstances, but the presumptive stance of the
institution is that the sanctions will stand. Graduation, study abroad,
internships/externships/clinical placements, etc. do not in and of themselves
constitute exigent circumstances, and students may not be able to participate
in those activities during their appeal. In cases where the appeal results
in reinstatement to the institution or of privileges, all reasonable attempts
will be made to restore the student to their prior status, recognizing that
some opportunities lost may be irretrievable in the short term.
• The procedural
rights afforded to students above may be waived by the student.
Retaliatory Acts
It is a violation of this procedure to engage in
retaliatory acts against any employee or student who reports an incident(s) of
code of conduct violations or any employee or student who testifies, assists or
participates in the discipline proceeding, investigation or hearing relating to
such allegation(s) of code of conduct violations.
Revising this
Procedure
CCCS reserves the right to change any provision or
requirement of this procedure at any time and the change shall become effective
immediately.
