III. Disciplinary Committee Process

1. If the matter is not resolved by the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management in accordance with item 2 above, or is a Level 2 or 3 Offense, then a Disciplinary Committee will be appointed using, as much as possible, members who have no prior knowledge of or involvement with the alleged violation.

   The Committee shall consist of the following members:  

   Coordinator of Retention & Counseling Services, Chair,

   Provost,

   Academic Dean or Campus Associate Dean (1)

   Instructional Personnel (1) 

   Assistant Dean of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management or Advisor (1)

   Student (1) (Preferably a Student Government Association (SGA Officer)

1. In the event that the Coordinator of Retention & Counseling Services:
   1. was involved in the alleged violation incident or in the mediation of the alleged offense, or:
   2. has been involved in the mediation of the alleged offense; then,
   3. The Coordinator of Retention & Counseling Services shall not serve on the Disciplinary Committee hearing the complaint of such alleged offense. In the place of the Coordinator of Retention & Counseling Services, the Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management will serve as Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee.
2. The Chairperson of the Disciplinary Committee will schedule a date, time, and location for the Disciplinary Committee to convene to hear the complaint, taking into consideration the class schedule of the accused student and the availability of potential witnesses and Disciplinary Committee members. If at all possible, the hearing should take place within 10 business days following the referral of the matter to the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management. The Coordinator of Retention & Counseling Services shall send the accused student, via certified mail, and first class mail, to the student’s address in the College’s student record system, a summary of the complaint; a tentative list of potential witnesses; a notice of the date, time, and location of the hearing; and a copy of the rules that govern the hearing. The accused student will be informed that the College Equity Officer will be available to assist the student with understanding and following the College disciplinary procedures. While the Equity Officer will not represent the student at the hearing, the Equity Officer may, at the student’s request, attend the hearing to provide procedural assistance to the student. The student may also have any other person present at the hearing, but this person shall be an observer only and shall not participate in the hearing.
3. The Assistant Dean of Student Affairs who initially investigated the complaint will make arrangements for the presentation of witnesses and evidence to the Disciplinary Committee. 
4. At the conclusion of hearing and after reviewing all the evidence, including testimony, the accused student will be given the opportunity to make a closing statement. After the closing statement, the Disciplinary Committee will decide, by majority vote, outside the presence of the accused student and any other non-Disciplinary Committee members, whether the student violated the College’s Code of Student Conduct, and what, if any, sanction(s) should be imposed. The College Equity Officer shall not be excluded during the deliberation and voting process.
5. The decisions of the Disciplinary Committee shall be placed in writing.

   A recommendation for suspension or expulsion of the student must be referred to the President for approval and final imposition. The Disciplinary Committee may impose all other sanctions. The Chair of the Disciplinary Committee shall send a copy of the Committee’s recommendation to the Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, Campus Provost, Senior Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management, Director of Safety and Security, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management, and Associate Dean of Retention and Academic Affairs.

   If the Disciplinary Committee’s recommendation is for student suspension or expulsion, the Senior Vice President of Student Affairs and Enrollment Management will discuss this recommendation with the College President for approval and final imposition before notifying the Chair of the Disciplinary Committee to send the final decision to the student via certified mail and first class mail.

6. A student found to have violated a student code of conduct may appeal a decision by the Discipline Committee in writing to the Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management within 10 days following notification of the hearing outcome. In order for an appeal to be granted, the appeal must demonstrate one or both of the following:
   • Procedural error(s) that may have prejudiced the Discipline Committee;
   • Evidence unavailable at the original proceeding which would likely have affected the decision.

   The Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management will respond to the appeal and either deny the appeal, request the discipline committee to reconvene to review new evidence, or determine that procedural errors occurred and request a new discipline committee to hear the case.

   If the Vice President of Student Affairs & Enrollment Management cannot respond to the appeal, another executive administrator will be appointed by the President to hear the appeal.

7. At the conclusion of the process, all records of the proceedings shall be returned to the Office of the Coordinator of Retention & Counseling Services for storage and retention in accordance with College policy and State law.