Determining Outcomes
Outcomes are what are determined as a result of a administrative hearing or community review board hearing. Outcomes may also include sanctions when a finding of responsibility is determined.
The standard used to determine whether or not a student is responsible for a policy violation is ‘preponderance of evidence’. This means that according to the administrator or board the reported actions more likely occurred than not. Determining responsibility is also called determining a finding, and an administrator or board will either come to a finding of “responsible” or “not responsible.”
This is different than criminal proceedings where the standard is 'beyond a reasonable doubt'. The student conduct process is not a criminal proceeding, and the terms “guilty” or “innocent” are not used. Students are not considered "responsible" until a hearing has occurred[1], however interim administrative actions may be put in place at the discretion of the dean of students office until a hearing occurs.
Assigning Sanctions
Sanctions are actions taken against a student who is found responsible for violation of policy. Some sanctions require students to complete a specific assignment. Sanction definitions can be found in the sanctions section.
Some violations have sanctioning guidelines defined within the policy. For policies that do not have specified guidelines, conduct administrators or boards will consider the outcomes in similar cases as well as any previous disciplinary history the student may have. In determining whether or not a student’s behavior meets the expectations defined in the Student Handbook, a “reasonable person” standard may be applied. The term “reasonable person” takes on a different meaning, often depending upon the situation at hand. The reasonable person standard compares an individual’s behavior in a situation with the behavior of a hypothetical reasonable person in the same set of events. This is not the standard used for determining responsibility in a situation, however the reasonable person standard may be considered in determining appropriate sanctions when a student is found responsible for violation of policy.
Fulfilling Sanctions
Failure to complete a sanction in the allotted time assigned is considered a violation of policy, failure to comply. Further action may be taken in this case.
If a student leaves the College for any reason before completing a sanction, the dean of students office and office of student rights and responsibilities have the authority to determine next steps; typically the student will be required to complete a sanction upon return to the College.
If a graduating student has not fulfilled the sanctions determined by a board or administrator, the student’s degree will be withheld and official transcripts will not be released. The student will be issued an unofficial transcript, which will be stamped “issued to student” and “outstanding obligation.” Transcripts will not be issued to third parties.
[1] Except in cases of minor violations of policy and failure to comply with completion of sanctions where students may receive an outcome letter without a meeting with an administrator. Opportunity for a conversation with an administrator is still available.
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