Ohio Administrative Code
Title 3337 - Ohio University
Chapter 3337-4 - Policies
Section 3337-4-02 - Ohio university judicial system
Universal Citation: OH Admin Code 3337-4-02
Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Section 1. Purpose. The primary purpose of the Ohio university judicial system shall be to help govern the university community by regulating student conduct and enforcing the code of student conduct consistent with the principles of due process of law applicable to state universities.
(B) Section 2. Establishment of judicial bodies. The Ohio university judicial system shall be the responsibility of the dean of students; and the office of legal affairs shall administer the system. The assistant director of legal affairs shall be the director of the operation of the judicial system and shall serve on the staff of the dean of students in fulfilling that responsibility.
(C) Section 3. Jurisdiction.
(1) University
judiciary---The university judiciary shall have jurisdiction over all
violations of code Aof the code of student conduct. This shall
include, among other things, review of cases of students arrested and/ or
convicted of criminal offenses, presidential interim, suspensions, matters of
academic misconduct, and felonious thefts. The university judiciary shall also
have jurisdiction over organizational conduct. A student or student
organization may choose either to have a hearing at the university by a
university hearing board, or a designated hearing officer, ususally the
director of university judiciaries.
(2) University appeal board-The university
appeal board shall, hear appeals from decisions of the university
judiciary.
(3) Administrative
judiciary---The administrative judiciary shall have jurisdiction over code
B
offenses and all code Coffenses not
handled by residence judiciaries. Upon request by the student (written appeal
within seventy-two hours), decisions may be reviewed by the director of
university judiciaries. In cases where the director served as the original
hearing officer, appeals will go to the university appeal board.
(4) Residence judiciaries--The residence
judiciaries shall have jurisdiction over all violations of code
C
except for those handled by the administrative judiciary.
The violations involve conduct in the residence halls and will result in a sanction less than university disciplinary probation. Upon request by the student (written appeal within seventy-two hours), decisions may be reviewed by the director of university judiciaries.
(D) Section 4. Composition.
(1) University judiciary-The university
judiciary is composed of either the director of university judiciaries or his
or her designee who shall be the hearing officer at an administrative hearing,
or a five-person university hearing board composed of three students, one
faculty member and one administrator. The director shall serve as a nonvoting
hearing officer for the hearing board. The director shall appoint on a rotating
and random basis a hearing board from a pool of twenty-three board members, who
shall be appointed by the committee on committees for a one year term, and will
be called the judiciaries committee. The pool shall consist of thirteen
students (ten at the undergraduate level and three at the graduate level), five
administrators, and five faculty members. Every reasonable attempt shall be
made to assure that all classes of undergraduate students are represented on
the judiciaries committee. Members are eligible for reappointment. Once five
board members have been selected in accordance with the above procedures and
have agreed to serve on a case, three of the five shall constitute a quorum, so
long as two of the three are students. A hearing board for the summer session
will be appointed each year by the office of legal affairs from the original
hearing board membership for the preceding year.
(2) University appeal board--The university
appeal board shall consist of three members, including one faculty member, one
student, and one administrator. These three members shall be selected from the
judiciaries committee, and shall be appointed for each appeal on a random basis
by the director of university judiciaries. The director shall also appoint one
of the selected members as chairperson, who shall have a vote in all appeals.
The director shall appoint a member of the judiciaries committee in the event
that a board member cannot be present at an appeals hearing.
(3) Administrative judiciary-The
administrative judiciary shall consist of a single hearing officer, who shall
be the director of university judiciaries or a staff member of the university
judiciaries.
(4) Residence
judiciaries-The residence judiciaries shall consist of the three green
coordinators, each of whom shall have jurisdiction over violations which occur
on his or her green.
(E) Section 5. Judicial procedures.
(1)
University judiciary.
(a) A student appearing
before the university judiciary shall be notified in writing of the hearing at
least three days (seventy-two hours) in advance. This notification shall
include;
(i) a statement of the rule or regulation the student
allegedly violated,
(ii) a specific statement of the operative facts
constituting the alleged violation,
(iii) the time and
place of the hearing, and
(iv) a statement of the
policies and procedures to be followed at the hearing. If the student fails to
appear at a scheduled hearing and his or her absence is not excused, the
hearing may proceed without him or her. Hearings shall be closed unless
specifically requested to be open by the student. Hearings can be rescheduled
with permission of the director of university judiciaries.
(b) When charged with a violation of
university regulations before university judiciaries, a student shall have the
right by request to have his or her hearing before the director of university
judiciaries (hereinafter referred to as an administrative hearing), or before a
hearing board (hereinafter referred to as a board hearing) The director may not
overrule a student's selection of a board hearing, and he or she must honor a
student's request to have an administrative hearing.
(c) A student may request that any member of
the Ohio university community, or his or her parents, or legal counsel assist
in his or her presentation of the case. If a student so desires, he or she may
request counseling or aid concerning his or her case from a volunteer student
organization currently known as "Students Defending Students". Legal counsel
may assist the student in presenting a defense at the hearing according to the
university judiciaries procedures. If a student wishes to have legal counsel
present at the hearing, he or she must inform the director of university
judiciaries, at least two days (forty-eight hours) prior to the
hearing.
(d) In cases before the
university hearing board a student may ask for the removal of any member of the
hearing board, except for the hearing officer, by showing written or verbal
evidence of bias against him or her on the part of the member. The hearing
officer will determine whether a student's charge of bias is valid or invalid.
If bias is shown, the member will be excused by the hearing officer. A charge
of bias on the part of the hearing officer may be submitted to the dean of
students for review.
(e) The
student has the right to speak or not to speak on his or her own behalf, and
the right to remain silent when questioned. At no time will the student be
forced to speak against himself or herself nor will the right to remain silent
be used against him or her. The student has the right to present any evidence
on his or her behalf, including witnesses and written or testimonial character
references. All written evidence must be presented to the hearing officer for
authentication before admission to evidence.
(f) The director of university judiciaries
shall be a nonvoting hearing officer in all cases before a hearing board. If
the director cannot serve, he or she shall appoint a substitute hearing
officer.
(g) Three members shall
constitute a quorum, so long as at least two students and one faculty member or
one administrator are present.
(h)
An official record of all proceedings shall be kept by the university
judiciaries. The record shall normally be a tape recording of the
hearing.
(i) The hearing officer,
acting in an official university capacity, shall assure an orderly hearing
process, so that the policies protecting the accused student ' and other parties are
upheld. The general operating procedure of a board hearing is as follows:
(i) The hearing officer shall insure that the
student understands the policies and procedures of the hearing. Then, the
hearing officer shall instruct the hearing board of its obligation to make a
factual determination of whether the student's actions violated the charged
university regulations, and, if so, to decide the sanction to be
recommended.
(ii) The complainant
and student shall present their evidence as to the alleged violation. The
evidence against the accused student shall be presented by the complainant. The
hearing board members and the hearing officer may examine all written evidence
and question all witnesses.
(iii)
The hearing officer has the responsibility to insure the orderly conduct of the
hearing and development of the evidence. He or she shall rule on all
procedureal questions raised during the hearing and on the admissibility of all
evidence.
(iv) The student and the
complainant shall have the right to examine and counter all the evidence,
including the right to examine all written evidence and question all witnesses.
The student has a right in the process of the actual hearing to request the
names of all witnesses against him or her.
(v) After the evidence has been presented,
the complainant and the student, in that order, shall summarize their
positions. The hearing officer shall instruct the hearing board of its
responsibilities to determine by majority vote whether, from the preponderance
of the evidence, there was a violation of university regulations. The board
shall then go into closed session to make this determination.
(vi) The majority of the hearing board shall
determine whether the student committed the offense. In the case of a tie vote,
the hearing officer will cast the deciding vote. The student then has the
opportunity to present mitigating evidence, including statements by character
witnesses; and the complainant may rebut any evidence so presented. Afterwards
the hearing board will vote on the sanction to be recommended. The hearing
board shall consider the following things in making its decision:
(a)
the evidence presented, at the hearing;
(b) the prior
disciplinary record of the student;
(c) disciplinary
precedent;
(d) the guidelines specified in the code of student
conduct as detailed by the hearing officer.
(vii) If the hearing board determines that a
sanction is to be recommended, the board will inform the student and tine
bearing officer of its' decision. Individual board members may speak to the
recommended sanction. The hearing
officer will have the responsibility to sanction the student and will accept
the board's recommendation if reasonable; but he or she may approve a different
sanction as determined by the criteria specified in paragraph
(E)(1)(vi).
(j) At an
administrative hearing the same procedures apply with the hearing officer
determining whether a violation of the code of student conduct occurred and the
sanction to be imposed.
(2) University appeal board.
(a) The accused student and the complainant
have a "right to file a written appeal within three days (seventy-two hours)
after notification of sanction imposed by the university judiciaries to the
university appeal board on the grounds of (i) new evidence, (ii) a defect in judicial procedures, or
(iii) inappropriate sanction. Appeal
board members cannot be persons who served on the original hearing board. The
appeal board shall, within a reasonable time, in closed session after the
opinions have been filed, and by majority vote either grant an appeal hearing
or deny the appeal. If the hearing is granted, the appeal may be
denied upholding the sanction;
granted, and a new hearing ordered; or
granted, and the sanction changed. The
board will be limited to ordering a new hearing to the extent that in their
judgment a defect in the original hearing is found which was sufficiently
substantial to have changed the outcome in a significant manner. In considering
the evidence presented at the hearing, it will order a new hearing on the
merits only if a reasonable person could not have found as the hearing board,
or the hearing officer, if an administrative hearing, did find on factual
matters; and in considering the change of the sanction by reducing or
increasing it, it will do so only in the clear abuse of discretion by the
hearing officer, not as a matter of substituting the appeal board's judgment
for that of the hearing officer.
(b) If an appeal is granted by the appeal
board, the procedures for the appeal shall be as follows:
(i) Once the written appeal has been granted,
an appeal hearing will be held within a reasonable time, not to exceed seven
days, convenient to the student, the complainant, and the appeal
board.
(ii) An official record of
the appeal hearing shall be kept by the university judiciaries.
(iii) The accused student may be represented
by his or her parents, a member of the university community, or by legal
counsel.
(iv) The appellant may
present all reasonable new evidence or arguments to show the merits of the
appeal. The appellee may present evidence in rebuttal. Evidence by the
appellant shall not be considered as requiring a new hearing below unless the
evidence shows that the members of the hearing board or the hearing officer
were apparently unreasonable in judgment as to procedural fairness or sanction
imposed. To the extent the evidence meets the standards in paragraph (B)(2)(a)
above, the university appeal board can grant a new hearing below.
(v) The chairperson shall determine the
procedures of the appeal hearing and preserve its orderly operation and request
the director of university judiciaries to provide all pertinent
information.
(vi) The appeal board
shall make the final determination by majority vote as to whether the appeal of
the original decision will be(a) denied,
upholding the sanction; (b) granted and a
new hearing ordered; or (c) granted, and
the sanction changed.
(vii) Once
the appeal board has made the determination, the student and the director of
university judiciaries shall be notified in writing of the decision by the
chairperson within three days (seventy-two hours) from the conclusion of the
appeal hearing.
(viii) Normally the
decision of the appeal board is final. However, written. appeals under
extremely unusual circumstances may be made to the office of the
president.
(3) Administrative judiciaries.
(a) The student appearing before the
administrative judiciaries shall be notified in writing of the hearing at least
three days (seventy-two hours) in advance; except in the case of a violation of
code C which requires twenty-four hour notice. This
notification shall include (i) a
statement of the rule or regulation the student allegedly violated,
(ii) a specific statement of the
operative facts constituting the alleged violation, (iii) the time and place of the hearing, and
(iv) a statement of the policies and
procedures to be followed at the hearing. A student may waive the three-day
notice and a formal hearing at the administrative judiciary level. If the
student fails to appear at a scheduled heaving, without being excused, the
hearing may proceed without him or her.
(b) The hearing officer of the administrative
judiciaries shall assure an orderly hearing process so that the policies
protecting the student are upheld. The general operating procedure of a hearing
is as follows:
The hearing officer shall insure the student understands the policies and procedures of the hearing. The complainant and the student in that order shall present their evidence as to the alleged violation. The student and the complainant have the opportunity to examine all "written evidence and question all witnesses. The hearing officer may examine all written evidence and question all witnesses.
(c) The hearing officer shall have the
responsibility to insure the proper development of the evidence. He or she
shall rule on all procedural questions raised during the hearing and on the
admissibility of all evidence to be presented.
(d) After the evidence has been presented,
the complainant and the student, in that order, shall summarize their
positions. The hearing officer shall determine whether from the preponderance
of the evidence there was a violation of university regulations, and if so,
what sanction should be imposed,
(e) If a violation of university regulations
is found, the hearing officer shall then, after his or her study, impose an
appropriate sanction as determined by him or her from
(i). the evidence presented at the
hearing,(ii) the prior disciplinary
record of the student,(iii) disciplinary
precedent, and (iv) the guidelines
specified in the code of student conduct, codes B or
C.
(f)
The hearing officer shall forward a written report of his or her decision to
the student and to the 'director of university judiciaries for placement in the
student's official disciplinary file. Decisions of the hearing officer are
subject to review according to the appeal procedure.
(4) Residence judiciaries.
(a) A student referred to the residence
judiciaries shall have the case heard by the appropriate green coordinator, who
shall have jurisdiction over violations of code C offenses,
provided these occurred in or affected the residence hall system specifically
on the green for which the coordinator is responsible. The coordinator has the
right to transfer jurisdiction in a case to the administrative judiciaries with
permission of the director of university judiciaries.
(b) Once a green coordinator has received a
referral, he or she shall serve written or verbal notice within twenty-four
hours to the student to appear at at specified time and place. Once a meeting
is scheduled the case may proceed without the student should he or she fail to
appear without being excused.
(c)
The green coordinator shall be responsible for assuring that the student has a
change to present his or her position. Following persentation of the evidence
that there was a violation of university regulations, the student shall be
entitled to present testimony or evidence in his or her own behalf.
(d) The green coordinator shall determine
whether from the preponderance of the evidence there was a violation of
university regulations, and if so, impose a sanction in accordance with
guidelines specified in the code of student conduct, code
C
(e)
The green coordinator shall forward a written report of his or her decision to
the student and to the director of university judiciaries for placement in the
student's official university file. Decisions of the coordinator are subject to
review by the director according to the appeal procedure.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Ohio may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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