Appeal Procedures

When a party wishes to present for consideration new evidence or challenged the sanction, an appeal request of the decision of the Conduct Committee Hearing may be filed in writing to the Dean of Students or designee within three (3) business days of the notice of the outcome to the hearing, barring urgent circumstances.

All parties should be timely informed of the status of requests for appeal, the status of the appeal consideration, and the results of the appeal decision when appropriate by procedure or law.

The Dean of Students or designee will refer the request(s) to the Vice President of Student Services who will conduct an initial review to determine if the appeal request meets the limited grounds and is timely.

• If the appeal is not timely or substantively eligible, the original finding and sanction will stand and the decision is final.
• If the appeal has standing, the Vice President of Student Services remands the appeal to the original decision-maker(s), typically within 3-5 business days. Where the original decision-maker may be unduly biased by a procedural or substantive error, a new Conduct Committee will be constituted to reconsider the matter. The Vice President of Student Services will have final authority to approve all those serving on the panel.

Full rehearings by the Conduct Committee Hearing are not permitted.

In review, the original finding and sanction are presumed to have been decided reasonably and appropriately, thus the burden is on the appealing party(ies) to show clear error. The original decision-maker or new Conduct Committee will limit its review to the new evidence or sanction challenges presented.

All decisions of the original decision-maker or new Conduct Committee are to be made within seven (7) days of submission to the Panel and are final, as are any decisions made by the original hearing body or Dean of Student Affairs as the result of reconsideration consistent with instructions from the Vice President of Student Services.

The presumptive stance of SCC is that all decisions made and sanctions imposed by the original decision-maker are to be implemented during the appellate process. At the discretion of the Dean of Students, implementation of sanctions may be stayed pending review only in extremely urgent circumstances.

Grounds for Appeal Requests

Appeals requests are limited to the following grounds:

1. A procedural or substantive error occurred that significantly impacted the outcome of the hearing (e.g. substantiated bias, material deviation from established procedures, etc.).
2. New evidence, unavailable during the original hearing or investigation, that could substantially impact the original finding or sanction needs to be considered. A summary of this new evidence and its potential impact must be included;
1. Failure to provide information during or participate in an investigation or a hearing, even resulting from concern over pending criminal or civil proceedings, does not make evidence “unavailable” at the time of the hearing.
2. The Dean of Students or designee is expected to consult with the chair of the original panel to inquire as to whether the new evidence would, in the opinion of the Chair, have substantially impacted the original finding or sanction.
3. The sanctions imposed are substantially outside the parameters or guidelines set by the College for this type of offense or the cumulative conduct record of the responding student.

Appeals Related to Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Harassment Hearings

Appeals related to sexual misconduct and sexual harassment hearings are separate from the information above. Appeals related to these types of matters are addressed on the Title IX Resources page. In the event there are differences with regard to appeals in these matters, the information on the Title IX Resources page governs when addressing sexual misconduct and sexual assault matters.