Article IV: Charges

1. The Office of Student Affairs must decide to initiate a charge before any case comes before the Judicial Council, the Penalty Board or the Student Affairs Committee. The Office of Student Affairs shall formulate the charge, which shall be a written statement giving the relevant regulation or policy that has been allegedly violated and the specific behavior or sequence of behaviors alleged to have violated that regulation or policy. An individual may be charged both as a member of an organization (or group), and as an individual (or member of a collection of individuals) for alleged code violations stemming from the same event (see Article I: Definition of Terms ). Each individual charged shall receive a separate charge sheet.
2. All charges shall be brought within one year of the occurrence of the alleged violation. After that time the judiciary bodies shall not consider a violation of the Student Code. (For some offenses the state statute of limitations may be longer than one year and students may pursue claims in criminal or civil courts.)
3. A member of the college community may press a charge against any student for misconduct. Charges shall be discussed with a dean in the Office of Student Affairs.
4. The dean receiving a complaint shall conduct an investigation to determine if the alleged violation(s) has merit and refers to regulations over which the judicial bodies have jurisdiction. If the conduct complained of appears to violate the Student Code, the dean shall deliver written charges to the respondent alleged to have violated the code. When the dean deals with the violation administratively, written charges are also required.
5. The respondent shall be invited to the dean’s office to review the statement of violations. In this initial interview the respondent has the following rights and the dean shall inform the respondent of these rights prior to or during the interview. The respondent’s rights include:
   1. The option of having another member of the Pomona College community present as an advisor when conferring with the dean. (The respondent shall be informed prior to the initial meeting.)
   2. Being informed that the respondent’s rights are outlined in the Pomona College Student Code. (The respondent shall be informed prior to the initial meeting.)
   3. Being informed that the respondent is not obliged to accept responsibility for the charge but can instead ask for a full judicial board hearing. (The respondent shall be informed during the initial meeting.)
   4. Being provided with a copy of the Pomona College Student Code. (The respondent shall be provided with a copy during the initial meeting.)
   5. Being informed that having an advisor in the hearing is strongly encouraged. If the student does not have an advisor or know who to ask, the dean can provide a list of advisors. (The respondent shall be informed during the initial meeting.)
6. A written statement of charges shall be presented to the respondent by the Office of Student Affairs as soon as possible, normally within 30 school days of the report of the alleged violation. When presented with the charge sheet the respondent has two options: He or she may sign the charge sheet agreeing to having violated the Student Code and agreeing to the description of the incident(s) in question; or she or he may sign the charge sheet not agreeing to having violated the Student Code or the description of the incident(s) in question. If the respondent chooses the former, a penalty board hearing shall be held. If the respondent chooses the latter, a judicial board hearing shall be held. If the respondent cannot be contacted or is unwilling to meet with the dean to review the charges, the charges shall be delivered to the respondent’s residence hall room. If the respondent is unwilling to meet with the dean, or declines to sign the charge sheet the dean shall assume that the respondent does not agree with the charges and a full judicial hearing shall be held.
7. The dean may meet separately with the complainant(s) and the alleged victim(s) to notify each of his or her rights and to provide each with a copy of the Student Code.
8. After meeting with the respondent to review the charges, the dean shall provide a copy of the charges to the chair of the Judicial Council or the chair of the Student Affairs Committee.
9. The Judicial Chair shall inform the respondent that she or he is strongly encouraged to have an advisor when appearing before a judicial panel.
10. When judicial charges are received from the Office of Student Affairs, the chair of the Judicial Council (or the chair of the Student Affairs Committee) shall fix the time and place of the hearing.
11. If the respondent asks for a full judicial hearing, the chair shall communicate to the respondent, at least 72 hours in advance of the hearing, the date and time of the hearing. The respondent or witnesses may prepare a written statement giving her or his version of the facts of the alleged violation.
12. The Community Representative shall make available to the respondent and the complainant(s), at least 2 days prior to the hearing, written documents that will be introduced in the hearing. The hearing panel may request documents not distributed in advance for the hearing.
13. The Office of Student Affairs may recommend a sanction, provide information on the resolution of similar cases in the past, provide background information on a respondent’s past misconduct or offer information relating to the effect of the respondent’s actions on the community. These items may be addressed in a confidential memorandum to the Chair. This memorandum shall be made available to the hearing panel only if the respondent is found to have violated the Student Code.