Revised June 1, 2021

The Judicial Board is responsible for adjudicating alleged violations of any University regulations and student-made regulations. It has jurisdiction over alleged violations of the Code of Academic Responsibility when the violation is not the first offense or when either the accused student or the instructor concerned so requests. Alleged violations of the Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct and the Non-Discrimination and Non-Harassment Policy that reach a Board level are not managed through this process, as there are specific Board procedures for resolution of such complaints (see the Procedures for Resolution of Complaints Under the Non-Discrimination and Non-Harassment Policy and the Policy Prohibiting Sexual Harassment and Sexual Misconduct).

Since many violations of University regulations are traditionally and properly subject to administrative action, generally only those offenses which are serious, subject to serious penalties, or offenses involving misconduct not already customarily dealt with by some specific department of the University shall call for Judicial Board action. Decisions about whether a case is properly in the domain of Judicial Board shall be made jointly by the Dean of Students and the Judicial Board Chairperson, subject to review by Judicial Board as a whole. (See Administrative Action.)

I. The membership of the Board shall be constituted as follows:

A. At least three members of the faculty appointed by the President on recommendation by the Faculty Senate. One of these faculty members shall be Chairperson and shall vote only in the case of a tie. The Chairperson should be someone who has previously served as a member of the Board.

B. At least two students selected by the appropriate student government body.

C. A quorum for a hearing of the Judicial Board is defined as two student members and two faculty members (excluding the chair person).

II. Pre-hearing

A. The following pre-hearing procedures will be coordinated through the Student Affairs Office, in the order listed below:

1. Any person or persons who witness or who have knowledge of any violation of University regulations or student regulations shall submit a written, dated and signed report of the alleged violation to the Student Affairs Office within 14 days of the discovery of the violation.  This period of time may be extended at the discretion of the Dean of Students (or designee).
2. If the alleged violation is of the Code of Academic Responsibility, then the involvement of Judicial Board may be initiated in two ways:  
   

   A student accused of violating the Code, or the instructor concerned, may request a hearing by the Board. In that case, either the student or the faculty member must present to the Dean of Students a written, dated, and signed statement of the reasons for the hearing within 15 days of the violation or its discovery.  

   A faculty member who has chosen to deal with a violation of the Code himself or herself notifies the Dean of Students of the action taken in the case, and if it is determined that this is not the student’s first offense. In that event, the Dean of Students notifies the student that a Judicial Board hearing will be held for the purposes of determining a sanction for the offense.

3. The Dean of Students or his or her designee shall promptly inform the Chairperson of the Judicial Board of the charges.
4. As soon as possible after receiving the written report, the Dean of Students or his or her designee, in consultation with the Chairperson of the Judicial Board, will assess whether there is sufficient evidence to bring a case before the Board. If a case is to be brought, the Dean of Students or his or her designee will formulate the charges against the accused student(s), in consultation with the Chairperson of the Board and the person(s) reporting the violation. If no case is to be presented, the Dean of Students or his or her designee will inform the person(s) reporting the alleged violation as to why charges are not being brought to the Board.
5. The Dean of Students (or designee) and the Chairperson of Judicial Board will set a date and time for the hearing. The hearing should be set at least seven days, but no more than fourteen days, after written statement of the charges is received by the accused. The right to seven days’ notice of a hearing, and the right to have a hearing within fourteen days may be waived by the accused student, but it must be done so in a signed, dated statement. At the end of a semester, a hearing may be held within 7 days of receipt of the charges by the accused, provided the accused waives his or her right to have at least 7 days’ notice and provided it is possible to convene the Judicial Board. Otherwise, the hearing will take place within 3 weeks of the beginning of the following semester. The timetable for adjudication may be accelerated for students graduating from the University in order to complete the process prior to graduation ceremonies.
6. The accused student shall be given a written statement of charges being brought against him/her/hir. The statement shall describe the charges with sufficient particularity to enable the student to prepare a defense. The student is to be notified of the date, time and place of the hearing, of the right to choose an advisor from among the faculty or staff of the University, of the right to submit any pertinent evidence and to call witnesses. (A student may have a member of the faculty/staff as an advisor, who will be present during the hearing, although the student may also, in writing, waive the right to an advisor. Although students may choose any member of the University faculty/staff as advisor, the Provost will designate two members of the faculty, who are familiar with the procedures of the Judicial Board, as advisors. The names of these faculty members will be given as suggested advisors to students appearing before the Board. Students may, if they wish, consult an attorney, but the attorney may not be present at the hearing.)
7. The Dean of Students (or designee) will notify the members of the Board of the date, time, and place of the hearing.
8. The Dean of Students (or designee), will investigate the charges and will present the case against the accused.

III. Hearing

A. The hearing shall be held on the Arcadia University campus, but it shall be closed to all except the following: members of the Judicial Board, specified witnesses and advisors, the accused student, person(s) reporting the case, and members of the Arcadia University community whose special knowledge is deemed important to the full consideration of the case by the Board and who may be invited to the hearing for advice and information at the request of the Chairperson.

B. The accused student shall be required to appear in person and to present his or her defense, if any, to the Judicial Board. If without just cause a student fails to appear, an additional charge of contempt of the Board may be entered, and the Chair of the Judicial Board may determine whether to proceed with the hearing.

C. A tape recording of the proceedings should be made. The accused is to be informed of the existence of these summary records, which will be kept on file in the Student Affairs Office for five years, and of his or her right to have access to these records in the case of an appeal.

D. The hearing shall begin with a review of the hearing procedures with the accused. This review is to be made a part of the record.

E. The hearing coordinator will next read the charges.

F. The Chairperson shall ask the accused to respond to the charges as read. Should the accused admit the charges, or if the hearing is due to a second (or succeeding) violation of the Code of Academic Responsibility, the Board will then proceed with the hearing for the purpose of determining the sanction to be imposed. Should the accused not admit to the charges, the Board proceeds to hear evidence as to the level of responsibility of the accused.

G. The Judicial Board shall not be bound by the technical rules of evidence, but may hear or receive any testimony or evidence which is relevant and material to the issue presented by the charges and which will contribute to a full and fair consideration of the charges.

H. The accused will not be considered responsible unless or until allegations are admitted to or proven in the hearing. The standard of proving one responsible shall be the preponderance of evidence.

I. If at issue in the hearing is the level of responsibility of the accused student, and should the Dean of Students (or designee) be aware of previous violations by the student, such information must be withheld from every member of Judicial Board until the student is found responsible for the violation of the charges under consideration.

J. The Dean of Students (or designee) will present the case, bringing appropriate witnesses and evidence before the Board.

K. The accused is then given the opportunity to challenge or refute the charges in whole or in part, to call the present witnesses, and to submit other pertinent evidence.

L. Both the accuser and the accused shall be present during these presentations and shall have the opportunity at reasonable times to question witnesses or to ask for clarification of any testimony or evidence. The Chair has the responsibility to ensure that all questioning of witnesses and of parties must be specifically related to the charges presented. Submission of written reports in lieu of the presence of a witness will be permitted in situations where it is unreasonable for a witness to appear or at the discretion of the Dean of Students (or designee). If either party challenges the fairness of such documentation, the Chair will decide, based upon (1) the relevance and substantiality of the evidence so presented and (2) the importance of the principle that accused persons have the right to confront witnesses.

M. During the entire presentation, members of the Board have the right to ask questions at reasonable time of those presenting testimony or evidence.

N. The Chairperson of the Board, at the end of the presentations, shall summarize the presentations of both sides.

O. The accused, accuser(s) and any advisors and witnesses will be dismissed while the members of the Board deliberate on the case in private to decide whether the accused student is responsible and/or sanctions. Decisions shall be made by majority vote of the members of the Board present at the hearing. The Board shall consider only the evidence that results from the hearing, and that which is pertinent to the case in question.

IV. Sanctions

A. If a student is found responsible for a violation of a University regulation, the Judicial Board shall impose one or a combination of the following sanctions or alternative sanctions when they seem appropriate. In every case concerning academic integrity, the faculty member has the final authority for determining penalties to be applied within the course. Sanctions applied by the Judicial Board that involve grades are advisory to the faculty member concerned. But violations of the Code of Academic Responsibility are also liable to the other sanctions.   In cases that do not involve academic integrity the Board will recommend appropriate sanctions and remedies to the Dean of Students.  In cases that do not involve academic integrity, the Dean of Students is not bound by the recommendations of the Judicial Board and has final authority to impose appropriate sanctions and remedies.

After the Board has made a finding of responsibility, the Board will consult with the Dean of Students to learn of any previous violations, and will use such knowledge to determine the sanctions appropriate to the case. Students reporting their own violation shall be given special consideration in the determination of penalties.

V. Post-hearing

A. Once a decision has been reached, the accused student shall be informed of the decision and sanctions, if any, in person or by telephone by the Judicial Board Chairperson.

B. The decision and the sanctions, if any, shall be communicated to the person in writing within 48 hours of the decision by the Dean of Students (or designee). This letter shall include a statement of the student’s right to appeal the decision to the Appellate Board, on procedural grounds, and the procedure for doing so.

C. In the case of a violation of the Code of Academic Responsibility, a copy of the letter shall also be sent to the faculty member involved. If the sanction decided upon by the Judicial Board involves a grade, the Board’s decision is only advisory to the faculty member. The faculty member shall forward a reply to the Chairperson of the Board, indicating the action taken. This action will be kept on file with the other records of the case.

D. If the sanction decided upon by the Board involves suspension, dismissal, or expulsion, this recommendation will be reviewed automatically by the Appellate Board. In these cases, the Chairperson of the Judicial Board will send a copy of the Board’s recommendation, together with all records of the case, to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost or the Dean of Students, as appropriate.

E. A copy of the record and tape recordings of the hearing, and a copy of the letter to the accused student relating the decision shall be kept on file in the Student Affairs Office for five years. The record and tape recordings of the hearing are property of the University and may be reviewed, but not copied, by the accused, accuser(s) and any advisors to those individuals. In cases where the Judicial Board only recommends a sanction and does not have final approval, a record of the final action taken will be maintained with the other records from the case. All reports will be destroyed after five years. The only actions recorded on a student’s permanent file are suspension, dismissal and expulsion, unless the Judicial Board has specifically instructed such a recording to be made and has so informed the student.

F. If, within a reasonable period after a decision is made, new evidence becomes available, or other extraordinary circumstances are revealed, the Judicial Board may be asked to reconsider the case. Such a request must be made in a letter addressed to the Dean of Students, who will then consult with the Chairperson of the Judicial Board as called for in the pre-hearing procedures to decide whether to grant the request.

G. In addition to automatic review by the Appellate Board of decisions involving suspension, dismissal, and expulsion, any party in a case who wishes to appeal a disciplinary action or a decision shall present, within one week of the receipt of the decision, his or her request in writing to the Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost or the Dean of Students, as Chairperson of the Appellate Board. Appeals to the Appellate Board may be made only on the grounds that an error was made in the pre-hearing or hearing procedures which affected the outcome of the hearing. The letter requesting a hearing by the Appellate Board shall state the basis or reasons for the appeal. Any action assessed by the Judicial Board shall be held in suspension until acted upon by the Appellate Board.