Article V: Administrative Process for Alleged Policy Violations

Article V: Administrative Process for Alleged Policy Violations 

Throughout the conduct process, the respondent maintains the following rights: 

• The option of having another member of the Pomona College community present as an advisor during any meeting. 

• Being assigned to an advisor who can support them throughout the judicial process. 

• The option to reject responsibility for some or all alleged policy violations and select a Full Hearing.  

• Access to the Pomona College Student Code. (The Code is publicly available online.) 

• Being informed of these rights. 

1. A member of the college community may bring a complaint against any student for misconduct. This may take the form of an RA or Campus Safety report. 

2. A Student Code Administrator will be assigned to the complaint based on availability. Within one school day of being assigned, the Student Code Administrator shall send the respondent an email containing the respondent’s rights, a time to meet, and an incident report if one has been issued. 

3. For most alleged first, second, or third violations of the Alcohol and Drug Policies, the respondent shall meet with a Student Code Administrator to have an educational conversation. During this conversation, the respondent shall accept or reject responsibility for the alleged violations. After discussing the alleged violations with the respondent, the Student Code Administrator shall determine the respondent’s responsibility and impose sanctions, if appropriate. Typical sanctions assigned in these cases are discussed in Article VII. No Judicial Council hearing will be convened, but decisions on responsibility and sanctions may be appealed as outlined in Article VIII. 

4. A Judicial Council chair or advisor who shall not have a role in the hearing will offer an optional meeting with the respondent to discuss the conduct process. No information from this meeting may be used as evidence. 

5. The Student Code Administrator shall attempt to elicit all facts related to the complaint to determine if its alleged violations have merit. To do so, they shall request a meeting with the respondent and may meet with other members of the college community. The Student Code Administrator shall cite this section of the Code as the reason behind any meetings. Any person who meets with a Student Code Administrator for an investigatory meeting must be clearly informed as to the purpose of the meeting prior to the meeting itself. 

6. The Student Code Administrator shall present a written report of any meetings to Student Affairs within 15 school days of being formally assigned to the occurrence of the alleged violation. After that time, the judicial bodies shall not consider a violation of the Student Code, unless there are exigent circumstances specified by the Dean of Students or their delegate. Cases may be delayed at the request of the respondent if they are dealing with a concurrent external legal case that is relevant to the conduct issue. If the respondent is on a leave of absence, the case shall be put on hold until they return to campus. 

7. In conference with other advisors and chairs of the Judicial Council, the head advisor shall determine which, if any, alleged policy violations are viable. 

8. If the conduct appears to violate the Student Code, Student Affairs shall formulate and present a Statement of Alleged Policy Violation (SAPV) to the respondent within 5 days of receiving the report from the SCA. The SAPV shall detail any relevant policy that has been allegedly violated and the specific behavior or sequence of behaviors alleged to have violated that policy. 

9. When presented with the SAPV, the respondent has the following options: 

• Accept responsibility for all alleged policy violations listed, agreeing to having violated the Student Code and with the description of the incident(s) in question; or 
• Reject responsibility for some or all of the alleged policy violations listed, disagreeing with having violated the Student Code or with the description of the incident(s) in question.  

If the respondent chooses the former, a Penalty Board shall be held. If the respondent chooses the latter, a Full Hearing shall be held. If the respondent fails to sign the SAPV within 3 school days, the College shall assume that the respondent does not agree with the alleged policy violations and a Full Hearing shall be held. 

10. The Student Code Administrator may meet separately with the complainant(s) and the alleged victim(s) to notify each of them of their rights and to provide each with a copy of the Student Code. 

11. When the SAPV is received from Student Affairs, the chair of the presiding judicial body shall fix the time and place of the hearing. If there are multiple respondents to the same incident, the Judicial Council Chair shall review the statements of alleged policy violation and any other pertinent information, and shall determine whether the respondents shall appear before the same hearing panel. 

12. The chair shall notify the respondent of the date and time of the hearing at least 72 hours in advance of the hearing. The chair shall inform the respondent of their rights and provide them a list of one or more advisors to choose from.

13. The chair shall coordinate with Judicial Council advisors to ensure a Representative of the College can attend the hearing at the specified date and time.

14. The chair shall email Judicial Council members with the date and time of the hearing to request four panelists and one alternate panelist for the hearing. The goal of the chair is to convene a panel of students with multiple perspectives and levels of experience with the judicial process.

15. All case-related materials including the Incident Report, the SAPV, and evidence if necessary, shall be sent to panelists more than 24 hours before the hearing.

16. The hearing shall be held in a room that protects the proceedings from public view.