Policy and Process Training

Overview

• Investigation and hearing model
  • Parties are allowed an advisor of their choosing, including attorneys
• Hearing Process overseen by the Hearing Officer
• All parties and witnesses must testify at the hearing and be subject to questioning
• Hearing Officer and the Review Panel determine responsibility 
  • For student respondents, the Review Panel and Hearing Officer determine the sanction
  • For faculty and staff respondents, the Review Panel and Hearing Officer recommend a sanction
• Review Panel delivers the final finding and sanction
• Appeal process available to all parties

Investigation: What Happens?

1. Notice of Complaint is delivered to both parties
2. Investigation Team is appointed -generally an external investigator 
3. Both parties meet separately with the Investigation Team. The team asks questions of both parties. 
   1. Any written statements are collected
   2. Advisors are encouraged to attend
   3. Witnesses are identified by the Investigation Team and interviewed.
4. Physical evidence (text messages, police reports, photographs, etc.) is gathered.
5. Interviews with parties and witnesses are recorded and each individual has an opportunity to review the transcript of their own interview.
6. Once the investigation concludes, both parties review the draft investigation report, the interview transcripts, and other materials. 
7. Both parties have ten days to respond in writing.
8. After responses are gathered, the Investigation Team issues its final report to the Chair and Title IX Coordinator. 

Hearing: What Happens?

1. Final Report Delivered to parties and hearing participants
2. Participants
   • Hearing Officer
   • Review Panel
3. Prehearing Conference
4. Generally, the hearing will proceed in the following order:
   • Opportunity for Opening Statement by the Complainant
   • Opportunity for Opening Statement by the Respondent
   • If requested by the Hearing Officer, the Investigator may provide a summary of the results of the investigation by the investigator(s)
   • Questions for the investigator(s) by the Review Panel and/or Hearing Officer and, if desired, on behalf of Complainant and the Respondent (as described below)
   • Questions for the Complainant by the Review Panel and/or Hearing Officer and, if desired, on behalf of the Respondent (as described below)  
   • Questions for the Respondent by the Review Panel and/or Hearing Officer and, if desired, on behalf of the Complainant (as described below)
   • Questions for each witness by the Review Panel and/or Hearing Officer and, if desired, on behalf of Complainant and the Respondent (as described below)
   • Opportunity for Closing Statement by the Complainant
   • Opportunity for Closing Statement by the Respondent
5. Preponderance of the Evidence
6. Majority Vote
7. Impact Statement
8. Sanction
9. Transcript Notation
10. Notice of Outcome – written determination including:
    • A description of the charges that were adjudicated; 
    • A description of the procedural steps taken from the submission of the formal complaint through the determination, including notifications to the parties, interviews with parties and witnesses, site visits, methods used to gather other evidence, and hearings held;
    • Findings of fact supporting the determination;
    • Conclusions regarding the application of the Policy to the facts;
    • A statement of, and rationale for, the result as to each allegation, including a determination regarding responsibility, any disciplinary sanctions to be imposed on the Respondent, and whether remedies designed to restore or preserve equal access to the College’s educational programs or activities will be provided to the Complainant; and
    • The procedures and permissible bases for the Complainant and Respondent to appeal.

Appeal: What Happens?

• Equal Rights to Appeal
• Grounds for Appeal
  • a sanction inconsistent with the severity of the violation or otherwise inappropriate;
  • procedural irregularity that affected the Review Panel’s determination or the determination regarding dismissal (the Appeals Board is not to substitute its judgments on the merits for that of the Review Panel); 
  • conflict of interest or bias (generally for or against complainants or respondents or individually for or against a party) on the part of the Title IX Coordinator, investigator(s), Hearing Officer, or Review Panel member(s) that affected the Review Panel’s determination or the determination regarding dismissal; and/or
  • the discovery of new evidence that was not reasonably available at the time the determination regarding responsibility, sanction, or dismissal was made that could affect the Review Panel’s determination or the determination regarding dismissal.
• Seven days to file appeal
• The Appeals Board may:
  • uphold the original decision as to responsibility, sanction, or dismissal;
  • alter the decision as to responsibility, sanction or dismissal;
  • remand the matter to the Review Panel. The Appeals Board may (but is not required to) take this action when there is a procedural irregularity that could be corrected in a review or the presentation of previously unavailable relevant information that could significantly impact the result of the Review Panel’s determination;
  • remand the matter to the Review Panel with a recommendation that the sanction be modified, together with an explanation of why the original sanction is deemed inappropriate; 
  • remand the matter to the Title IX Coordinator for reinstatement of a dismissed complaint or allegation, together with an explanation of why the dismissal is deemed inappropriate; or
  • remand the matter to an ad hoc Review Panel composed of a new Hearing Officer and members of the SMB not previously involved in the matter. This will be done only in cases in which the Appeals Board has concluded that bias exists, or otherwise when, in the considered opinion of the Appeals Board, the matter would be best addressed by a newly-constituted panel.