Code of Student Conduct

Hearing Board Procedures

34. The following procedural guidelines shall be applicable in hearings conducted by The Student Conduct Board and the University Conduct Board:

1. The Asistant Director of Residence Life for Student Conduct will perform in the capacity of the conduct officer or appoint a conduct officer. The conduct officer, who may be chosen from outside the university, shall conduct the hearing. He or she may participate in board deliberations and discussions but shall not vote. During Student Conduct Boards, a Student Life staff member, typically the Assistant Director for Student Conduct, will serve in the capacity of overseeing the hearing proceedings.
2. The Assistant Director for Student Conduct or a designee shall give students who are charged with violating the Code of Student Conduct notice of the hearing date and the specific charges against them at least five business days in advance. Notice shall be sent through the students’ Susquehanna University e-mail address and to their campus mailbox in the Degenstein Campus Center or by certified mail to the last address provided by the student to the university. Respondents shall be accorded reasonable access to the case file, which will be retained in the Office of Student Life.
3. The conduct officer may subpoena relevant witnesses, after consultation with the Assistant Director for Student Conduct or a designee. Subpoenas will be sent through the individuals’ Susquehanna University email address. University students and employees are expected to comply with subpoenas issued pursuant to this procedure, unless compliance would result in significant and unavoidable personal hardship or substantial interference with normal university activities, as determined by the President of the University.
4. Respondents who fail to appear after proper notice will be deemed to have pled “not responsible” to the charges pending against them. A hearing may be conducted in their absence.
5. Hearings will be closed to the public, except for the immediate members of the complainant and respondent's family. An open hearing may be held, in the discretion of the conduct officer, if requested by the respondent.
6. The conduct officer shall exercise control over the proceedings to avoid needless consumption of time and to achieve orderly completion of the hearing. Any person, including the respondent, who disrupts a hearing may be excluded by the conduct officer.
7. Hearings shall be recorded or transcribed.
8. Any party may challenge a hearing board member or the conduct officer on the ground of personal bias. After a private discussion before the beginning of the hearing between the complainant or respondent and the conduct officer, board members may be disqualified by the conduct officer. As long as a quorum is met (three members with at least one student) the hearing can continue. In some instances, the hearing may be postponed to a later date. The conduct officer may be disqualified by the Assistant Director for Student Conduct.
9. Witnesses shall be asked to affirm that their testimony is truthful and may be subject to charges of violating this code by intentionally providing false information to the university.
10. Prospective witnesses, other than the complainant and the respondent, may be excluded from the hearing during the testimony of other witnesses. All parties, the witnesses and the public shall be excluded during board deliberations, which shall not be recorded or transcribed.
11. The charges against the respondent must be established by a proponderance of evidence.
12. Formal rules of evidence shall not be applicable in disciplinary proceedings conducted pursuant to this code. The conduct officer shall give effect to the rules of confidentiality and privilege but shall otherwise admit all matters into evidence which reasonable persons would accept as having probative value in the conduct of their affairs. Unduly repetitious or irrelevant evidence may be excluded.
13. Complainants and respondents (not their advisors) will be accorded an opportunity to ask relevant questions of those witnesses who testify at the hearing.
14. Board members may ask questions of the parties and all witnesses. They may also take judicial notice of matters which would be within the general experience of university students and faculty members.
15. Hearings shall be followed by a supplemental proceeding in which either party may submit relevant evidence or make relevant statements concerning the appropriate sanction to be imposed if a finding of “responsible” should occur. The supplemental proceeding will occur immediately following the initial hearing. The past disciplinary record of the respondent will only be supplied to the board during deliberations following the supplemental proceedings after a determination of “responsible” or “not responsible” is decided upon by a majority vote of the board.
16. Any determination of responsibility will be supported by brief written findings that will be placed in the case file and made available to the respondent before a final decision is rendered by the Dean of Student Life (University Conduct Board) or Assistant Director for Student Conduct (Student Conduct Board).
17. A decision by the University Conduct Board is a recommendation to the Dean of Students. A decision by the Student Conduct Board is recommendation to the Assistant Director of Residence Life for Student Conduct. Respondents will be provided copies of the board decision through their Susquehanna e-mail account and/or campus mailbox in the Degenstein Campus Center or by certified mail to the last address provided by the student to the university as well as campus email and will be given five business days to provide written comments to the Dean of Students or Assistant Director for Student Conduct before a final decision is made. The respondent will receive notification of the final decision and any applicable sanctions via campus mail.
18. The imposition of sanctions will be deferred during the pendency of the Dean of Student or Assistant Director’s review, unless, in the discretion of the Dean of Students, the continued presence of the student on the campus poses a substantial threat to himself or herself, to others or to the stability and continuance of normal university functions. 

Mediation

35. Mediation is encouraged as an alternative means to resolve most disciplinary cases. The Assistant Director of Student Conduct or a designee may choose to inform complainants and respondents in writing about the availability of mediation resources, including resources offered by state or local agencies. The Assistant Director, in the exercise of his or her discretion, may decline to process a complaint until the parties in a non-academic misconduct case make a reasonable attempt to achieve a mediated settlement. To be binding in a disciplinary case, any mediated settlement must be approved by the Assistant Director of Student Conduct.