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Hearing & Resolution Procedures

Review of Alleged Violation

After the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities receives a report or information that a student or group of students may have violated the Code, the Dean of Students (or designee) may:

Make appropriate action on behalf of the university;
Make a referral to the university hearing board or other hearing officers/bodies (e.g. Residential Living and Learning, Campus Recreation, etc.); or in cases of clear and present danger to the well-being of the university community or other unusual circumstances, the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) may take interim actions with respect to a student before a disciplinary hearing is held. A hearing will be scheduled as soon thereafter as is reasonable.

Notice of Allegations

The Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) shall notify the student or student group in writing of the allegations against them. The notification will specify whether their case will be an informal resolution, administrative hearing or administrative panel hearing. The Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) will determine which cases will be heard by the university hearing board.
The student will be referred to the Code, which outlines the disciplinary and appeals procedures.
The accused student will be given at least three university business days to prepare for a hearing, unless voluntarily waived by the student.

General Hearing Procedures

All hearings will be closed to the public. Admission to the hearing of persons other than the parties involved will be at the discretion of the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee).
In hearings involving more than one responding student, individual cases may be heard jointly. However, the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) may permit each hearing to be conducted separately. In joint hearings, separate determinations of responsibility will be made for each responding student.
A student may be accompanied by an advisor, but the student must represent themself at the hearing. The advisor may not make a presentation or represent the complainant or responding student during the hearing. The advisor may confer quietly with their advisee, exchange notes, clarify procedural questions with the chair and suggest questions to their advisee.
The complainant, responding student, hearing board and the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) may question all present witnesses and all present parties (directly or indirectly) at the discretion of the chair and/or the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee). Unduly repetitive witnesses can be limited at the discretion of the hearing board chair and/or the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee).
(NOTE: This procedure only applies to non-sexual misconduct cases. In cases of sexual misconduct or violence, all questions between the parties must be asked through the hearing officer.)
The responding student may present relevant information regarding the allegations, including witness information, documents or any other information that would assist the hearing officer or hearing board to determine student responsibility. Formal rules of evidence will not be observed. The hearing officer or hearing board chair may limit the number of character witnesses presented or may accept written character statements instead.
If the student fails to appear for the original hearing without good cause, the student forfeits the right to an appeal, unless the sanction results in suspension or expulsion.
If a student withdraws from the university pending disciplinary proceedings, the university reserves the right to move forward with the hearing until a final determination of responsibility is made.

Initial Meeting and Resolution

During the initial meeting with the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee), the charged student will be informed of all rights and responsibilities and provided with the following:

An explanation of the charges (Note: Charges which may result in suspension or expulsion may be referred for administrative hearing);
A review of due process rights and disciplinary procedures;
A review of all evidence on which a charge is based; and/or
A reasonable opportunity to review charges and evidence, and respond and discuss disposition of the case.

Nonacademic Misconduct Administrative Hearing Procedures

Administrative hearing procedures include the following:

Notification will be provided to the student, and the student has three business days to respond by scheduling an administrative hearing.
Absent good cause, the administrative hearing will be held after it is scheduled by the student. Should the student not respond within three business days, the administrative hearing will be held in the absence of the student (see below for additional details).
During the administrative hearing, the student will have an opportunity to respond and present witnesses on their behalf. Proceedings are not judicial trials and formal rules of evidence shall not apply, but evidence submitted must be material and relevant to the issue under consideration as determined by the hearing body chair.
After testimony is concluded, the hearing officer or members of the hearing board will deliberate. Determination of responsibility will be made on the basis of a preponderance of the evidence. If the respondent is not found responsible for a violation, then the hearing is concluded. If the respondent is found responsible for one or more violations of the Code, then the hearing officer or hearing board will deliberate and determine sanctions, as appropriate. The board may be informed of the student's conduct status/history with the university.

Note: If the student does not respond to a meeting request to discuss the alleged allegation(s), the hearing officer may, in absentia, determine whether the student is responsible for the alleged policy violation, based upon a preponderance of the evidence and if so, issue appropriate sanctions. The student maintains the right to an appeal only if the sanction given reaches the level of suspension or expulsion.

University Hearing Board

University hearing board members will consist of a group of trained faculty and staff members who serve as conduct officers during the adjudication process. Hearing board members will listen to all of the information presented during the administrative hearing and use that information to make a recommendation to the hearing officer on whether the responding student is responsible for violating the Code, and to assign appropriate sanctions.
The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (or designee) will appoint one board member as the chair for the hearing.
A staff member from the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities shall attend all hearings to ensure that disciplinary procedures are followed. This staff member may not be present during hearing board deliberations but may respond to procedural questions from the hearing board regarding procedure.
The parties have the right to be present at the hearing; however, they do not have the right to be present during hearing board deliberations. If a student is unable to attend the hearing, they must notify the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities no less than three university business days prior to the scheduled hearing to arrange for another date, time and location. Except in cases of grave or unforeseen circumstances, if the responding student fails to give the required minimum three university business days' notice, or if the responding student fails to appear for the hearing, the hearing may proceed as scheduled.
After the hearing, the hearing board will deliberate and determine, by a preponderance of the information, if the responding student has violated the Code. A majority vote is required. If the responding student is found responsible for violating any section of the Code, the university hearing board will determine the appropriate sanction(s). The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities is responsible for informing the hearing board of applicable precedent, any previous conduct violations, or other relevant pattern information about the responding student. The hearing board shall serve the best interests of any responding students by making use of appropriate university resources, including but not limited to the University Counseling Center, Academic Success Center, etc.
The chair will prepare a written report of the recommendations for the findings and sanctions, then deliver it to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) detailing the findings and rationale for the hearing board's decision, and any information the hearing board excluded from its consideration and why. This recommendation must include any sanctions or other actions imposed. This recommendation should not exceed two pages in length and must be submitted to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) within two university business days of the end of deliberations. The hearing officer will review the rationale, decision on charge(s) and sanction(s) to issue a final decision to the student(s).
The responding student and complainant will be notified of the final determination in writing within three university business days of the hearing.
In cases of sexual misconduct and other crimes of violence, notice of the outcome will be delivered to all parties without substantial delay between the notifications to each party.
There will be a single verbatim record, such as an audio recording, for all hearing board proceedings. Deliberations will not be recorded. The record will be the property of the university and maintained according to The Texas A&M University System's record retention policy.

Procedures for Allegations of Sexual Misconduct, Discrimination, Violence and Stalking.

Allegations of sexual misconduct and non-sexual misconduct by a student will be reviewed and investigated by the university's civil rights office or other designated officials. At the conclusion of the investigation, a report will be provided to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee) for review. After receiving a report indicating that a student or group of students may have violated sections of the Code related to sexual misconduct, discrimination, violence and/or stalking, the Dean of Students (or designee) may take action on behalf of the university.

The following procedures shall apply:

The complainant shall attend the hearing.
The complainant has the right to be assisted by an advisor of the complainant's choice; however, the complainant must present Their own information. Cross examination must be conducted by the advisor.
For sexual misconduct, discrimination and other complaints of a sensitive nature, alternative testimony options may be provided to the complainant, such as placing a privacy screen in the hearing room or allowing the complainant to testify from another room via audio or audio/video technology.
The past sexual history or sexual character of a party may be admissible by the other parties in hearings 1.) to prove consent or 2.) to prove another party besides the respondent committed the alleged sexual harassment, if determined to be particularly relevant to the facts and circumstances at issue. Evidence of pattern, repeated and/or predatory behavior by the responding student in the form of previous findings in any legal proceedings or campus proceedings will always be relevant to the finding, not just the sanction.
A complainant alleging sexual misconduct, other behavior falling within the coverage of civil rights, and/or a crime of violence will be notified in writing of the outcome of a hearing, any sanctions assigned, and the rationale for the decision.
The proceeding must be completed within reasonably prompt timeframes as designated by the institution's policy, including a process that allows for the extension of timeframes for good cause with written notice of the delay and the reason for the delay to the complainant and the respondent.
Officials who do not have a conflict of interest or bias for or against the complainant or the respondent must conduct the proceeding.

Student Organization Hearing Procedure

Student organizations that fail to meet the responsibilities listed below will be subject to disciplinary action. Alleged student organization violations will follow the same procedures as alleged individual student violations, except for those related to organizational status only. If three or more members of the same student organization and/or collaborating student organizations were present during an alleged violation of the Code, the student organization may be subject to disciplinary action. Notification will be sent to the chief student leader of the organization and the organization's advisor.

The president of the student organization (or designee) will represent the organization throughout the duration of the conduct process. Any student organization with a regional and/or national affiliation that receives a sanction of “conduct probation” or higher will have their regional and national organization notified by the university.

Student Organization Responsibilities

Student organizations, societies, clubs, and living and learning communities, on or off campus, are responsible for conducting their affairs in a manner that reflects favorably upon the university.

Compliance with university policies, rules and regulations;
Taking reasonable steps, as a group, to prevent violations of law or university regulations by members of the group or the group's guests;
A willingness to address individual member's behavior with those members of the group whose behavior reflects unfavorably upon the university.

A group representing the student organization is defined by at least three members present, half the number of members needed to start a student organization at East Texas A&M. This includes both active and inactive members. If an event is co-sponsored by two or more organizations, a group is defined by any combination of three individuals representing the co-sponsored organizations.

Appeals

Any appeal from action by the hearing official that affects organizational status only (i.e., no sanctions against individuals) shall be directed to the Office of Student Rights & Responsibilities (or designee).