Washington Administrative Code
Title 132U - Whatcom Community College
Chapter 132U-126 - Student rights and responsibilities policy
Section 132U-126-075 - Appeal-Student conduct committee

(1) Proceedings of the student conduct committee shall be governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW.

(2) The student conduct committee chair shall serve all parties with written notice of the hearing not less than seven business days in advance of the hearing date. The chair may shorten this notice period if both parties agree, and may continue the hearing to a later time for good cause shown.

(3) The committee chair is authorized to conduct pre-hearing conferences and/or to make prehearing decisions concerning the extent and form of any discovery, issuance of protective decisions, and similar procedural matters.

(4) Any involved party, including the committee chair, may submit a request to submit and exchange lists of potential witnesses and copies of potential exhibits that reasonably expect to be presented to the committee. This request must be submitted to the committee chair at least five business days prior to the hearing. The parties shall exchange the items no later than the third business day prior to the hearing. Failure to participate in good faith in such a requested exchange may be cause for exclusion from the hearing of any witness or exhibit not disclosed, absent a showing of good cause for such failure.

(5) The committee chair may provide to the committee members in advance of the hearings copies of:

(6) The parties may agree before the hearing to designate specific exhibits as admissible without objection and, if they do so, whether the committee chair may provide copies of these admissible exhibits to the committee members before the hearing.

(7) The student conduct officer, upon request, shall provide reasonable assistance to the respondent in obtaining relevant and admissible evidence that is within the college's control.

(8) Communications between committee members and other hearing participants regarding any issue in the proceeding, other than procedural communications that are necessary to maintain an orderly process, are generally prohibited without notice and opportunity for all parties to participate, and any improper "ex parte" communication shall be placed on the record, as further provided in RCW 34.05.455.

(9) Each party may be accompanied at the hearing by a nonattorney assistant of their choice. A respondent, or complainant in a case involving allegations of sexual misconduct, may elect to be represented by an attorney at their own cost, but will be deemed to have waived that right unless, at least four business days before the hearing, written notice of the attorney's identity and participation is filed with the committee chair with a copy to the student conduct officer. The committee will ordinarily be advised by an assistant attorney general. If the respondent or complainant is represented by an attorney, the student conduct officer may also be represented by a second, appropriately screened assistant attorney general.

(10) At the option of the college president, the college may appoint an administrative law judge to serve as a hearing officer responsible for handling procedural matters otherwise assigned to the chair and to conduct the hearing on behalf of the student conduct committee.