Office of Community Standards | Discipline Hearings

Discipline Hearings

Guidelines
Additional Guidelines for CSB Hearings
CSB Order of Events
Assault Cases
Hearing Advisors
Appeal Process
The Discipline Process V. The Court of Law

Guidelines

The following guidelines generally apply to both Administrative and CSB hearings. Since every case is unique, the guidelines may be changed or modified by a Hearing Administrator or CSB as needed:

Matters are decided based upon a preponderance of the information presented at the hearing. In cases involving the CSB, the members will meet in closed executive session to determine whether or not a violation has occurred and what sanction should be imposed.
The technical rules of evidence applicable to civil and criminal cases do not apply.
The hearing normally shall be conducted in private only including involved parties, relevant witnesses or hearing advisors. No character witnesses are allowed.
A student has the right to an advisor at the hearing who may not be an attorney. Advisors are present for support only and are not permitted ask questions, answer questions, or present evidence. Students need to notify the Director of Community Standards or Residence Director in writing at least 48 hours prior to a hearing with the name of the advisor.
Admission of any person into the hearing will be at the discretion of the Director of Community Standards, Residence Director or CSB.
In incidents involving more than one student, the hearing may be conducted as a joint hearing.
The student, Director of Community Standards, Residence Director, and/or CSB members will be given copies of the complaint and any evidence at the Administrative Meeting before conducting the hearing.
A student may refuse to answer a question, but the Hearing Administrator or CSB will decide the matter based upon the information it has available.
Written witness statements are not allowed, except in exceptional circumstances, and the weight, if any, to be given to them is determined by the Hearing Administrator or the CSB. Any witness statements must be notarized and presented to the Director of Community Standards or Residence Director 48 hours before the hearing is schedule to begin.
Students are permitted to review their case files and information regarding their hearing at a scheduled time in the Dean of Students Office. Students are not allowed to make copies or retain physical representations of information contained in their file.
If at anytime during the course of the hearing a party exhibits behavior or language that is disruptive or threatening, he/she shall be dismissed and the process will continue in lieu of his/her presence.
All written or physical evidence to be used by any party at the hearing must be presented to the Director of Community Standards or Residence Director 48 hours before the hearing is scheduled to begin. Copies of such evidence will be given to the CSB members and other parties to the matter before the hearing.
If the accused student is found responsible, the Hearing Administrator and the CSB has the full student disciplinary record available to them to decide if a sanction should be more severe based upon past history of the student. This information is not used to determine responsibility.
The student accused of violating the Student Code of Conduct will receive a written notice of the findings and sanction, if any, within five business days of the conclusion of all hearings and fact finding related to the case.
The complainant, if a victim of an incident of violence, will receive notification of the outcome of the hearing.
These guidelines apply to cases involving student organizations, clubs and teams, except the organization, club or team must designate an officer or captain to act as the spokesperson during the hearing.

Additional Guidelines for CSB Hearings

The person filing the complaint, the students accused and the victim (if applicable) may all testify and present witnesses who can speak from personal knowledge about the incident.
the party filing the complaint, accused student and victim (if any) shall receive in writing 72 hours before the hearing is scheduled the names and positions of the members of the CSB assigned to hear the matter. If one of these parties has a valid basis for believing that a member of the CSB assigned to hear the matter has a reason to be biased, the party shall put his/her reasons in writing and submit them prior to 48 hours before the hearing is scheduled to begin. The Director of Community Standards will decide whether or not to replace the CSB member in question.

CSB Order of Events

The following is a guideline for the order of events for a CSB hearing. It maybe modified at any time by the Hearing Administrator or advisor of the CSB as circumstances require.

Introduction of the parties.
Signing of the Honesty Statement by any participating students.
Reading of the alleged violations.
Oral statement by complaining party (five minutes).
Oral statement by student accused of violating the Code (five minutes).
Questions to the accused student from the Hearing Administrator or CSB, then questions by the accusing party.
Questions to the accusing party from the Hearing Administrator or CSB, then questions by the accused student.
Testimony by each witness to the incident.
Questions by Hearing Administrator or CSB of each witness, then questions by the accusing party and accused student.
Final Statement by party who filed complaint (five minutes).
Final Statement by the accused student (five minutes).
Final questions from Hearing Administrator or CSB.

Assault Cases

In complaints between students involving any type of assault, these additional procedural guidelines are applicable:

In sexual misconduct cases, past incidents of sexual conduct with other persons will not be discussed or taken into consideration, except in highly unusual cases.
A "victim impact statement" may be read at the hearing in addition to the closing statement.
The student filing the complaint has the right to be informed of the decision resulting from the meeting or hearing.
In sexual misconduct, the CSB will consist of up to five student, faculty and/or staff members.

Hearing Advisors

Students are afforded the right to have an advisor present at a hearing. A list of faculty/staff advisors who have offered to serve in this role is available from the Dean of Students Office. No faculty or staff is required to accept a request from a student to serve as an advisor. If a student feels more comfortable, he/she may ask another member of the Wentworth community to serve as his/her advisor. The advisor’s role is to assist the student before the hearing in preparing a statement, understanding the process, and seeking answers to any questions that the student may have. The Institute does not warrant the level or competency or ability of any volunteer advisor.

Appeal Process

A student or student organization (or club/team) that has participated in an Administrative or CSB hearing may file an appeal. An appeal is a written document which must be sent to one of the following Appeal Administrators:

Original Hearing Administrator	Appeals To
Residence Director	Director of Community Standards or Designee
Director of Community Standards	Dean of Students
Community Standards Board	Dean of Students
Dean of Students	Vice President of Student Affairs

An appeal must demonstrate one of more of the following bases for appeal and explain in detail the support for each basis:

New and material information not available at the time of the hearing which might have affected the outcome of the hearing;
The discipline hearing was unfair and the unfairness affected the outcome of the hearing;
The sanction is not proportionate to the violation found.

The appeal request must be received within 3 business days of the receipt by the student of the decision letter.

If the appeal does not meet one of the criteria above or is not filed on time it will be dismissed. The Appeal Administrator may speak to the underlying decision maker/body or the accused, review all evidence taken during the underlying hearing and seek new evidence. The Appeal Administrator may change the violations found or change the sanctions imposed. The decision made in the appeal process is final. Students are allowed only one appeal.

The Discipline Process V. The Court of Law

The Wentworth Institute of Technology Discipline System is not conducted in the same manner as a court of law. It is not a criminal prosecution by the government, nor does it attempt to determine liability for violations of state or federal law. Consequently, the rules of criminal and civil procedure, which apply in courts of law, do not apply to the Institute’s Discipline System. Students also do not have the same legal rights as criminal defendants or parties in civil litigation. Some of the differences between the Discipline System and legal actions are described below.

Within the Student Discipline System, a student is not permitted to "Plead the 5th". The 5th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution does not apply to these proceedings. Students may choose to not answer a question, with the understanding that the board will make a decision based upon the information available. The Institute expects that students bring forth any and all information they have regarding the incident in question.

The Community Standards Board (CSB) or Institute Hearing Administrator does not need to find a student responsible "beyond a reasonable doubt". Rather, sanctions may be imposed if there are reasonable grounds for the CSB or Institute Hearing Administrator to believe that the student is responsible for violating the Student Code of Conduct.

Lawyers are not permitted in the discipline process. Students may obtain a faculty/staff member to serve as an advocate during the process. Students need to notify the Dean of Students Office at least 24 hours prior to a hearing regarding the presence of an advisor. The advisor cannot address the board or act in an adversarial manner and may only ask procedural questions.

Students are allowed to bring relevant witnesses to their hearing as long as they notify the Director of the Office of Community Standards and/or their particular Hearing Administrator in writing 24 hours prior to their hearing. However, unlike a court of law, character witnesses are not permitted. Witnesses may appear before the IDB or Hearing Officer if they have information pertaining directly to the incident in question. The Board or Hearing Officer may decide that the content of the witness' statement is not relevant and ask that it be disregarded during the deliberation phase of the process.

Information regarding student discipline hearings is not available for public viewing, unlike most court proceedings. All discipline matters are considered a part of a student's Academic Record and are covered under the Family Educational Rights Protection Act of 1974. Only Institute employees with a legitimate educational interest are allowed to view student records without a student’s consent. If the student is a minor, the Institute will inform the student’s parents about any violations of the Student Code of Conduct. If the student is not a minor, the Institute may, in its discretion, notify the student’s parents about violations of the Student Code of Conduct. Students should assume that their parents would be notified if a violation involves the safety of the student or other members of the community, or if the sanctions received by the student affect their residence or students status within the Institute.