Washington Administrative Code
Title 495B - Bellingham Technical College
Chapter 495B-121 - Student conduct code
Section 495B-121-295 - Brief adjudicative proceedings-Initial hearing

(1) Brief adjudicative proceedings shall be conducted by a conduct review officer. The conduct review officer shall not participate in any case in which they are a complainant or witness, or in which they have direct or personal interest, prejudice, or bias, or in which they have acted previously in an advisory capacity.

(2) The parties to a brief adjudicative proceeding are the respondent, the student conduct officer, and in cases involving sexual misconduct, the complainant. Before taking action, the conduct review officer shall conduct an informal hearing and provide each party:

(3) The conduct review officer shall serve an initial decision upon the respondent and the student conduct officer within ten business days of consideration of the appeal. The initial decision shall contain a brief written statement of the reasons for the decision and information about how to seek administrative review of the initial decision. If no request for review is filed within ten business days of service of the initial decision, the initial decision shall be deemed the final decision.

(4) In cases involving allegations of sexual misconduct, the conduct review officer, on the same date as the initial decision is served on the respondent, will serve a written notice upon the complainant informing the complainant whether the allegations of sexual misconduct were found to have merit and describing any disciplinary sanctions and/or conditions imposed upon the respondent for the complainant's protection. The notice will also inform the complainant of their appeal rights.

(5) If the conduct review officer upon review determines that the respondent's conduct may warrant imposition of a disciplinary suspension of more than ten instructional days or expulsion, the matter shall be referred to the student conduct committee for a disciplinary hearing.