New York Codes, Rules and Regulations › Title 8 - EDUCATION DEPARTMENT › Chapter V - State University of New York › Subchapter C - Administration and Operation of State-operated Institutions of State University of New York › Article 2 - Maintenance of Public Order › Part 535 - Rules Of The Board Of Trustees › Section 535.9 - Notice, hearing and determination of charges against students

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 28, July 10, 2024
Applies to charges for violation of the rules prescribed
						by or referred to in this Part heretofore served which have not been finally
						determined within 60 days after the adoption hereof, which charges shall be
						referred to the committee constituted pursuant to said section 535.9  for
						determination in accordance therewith, and said section shall apply to all
						charges for violation of such rules hereafter made, whether for violations
						heretofore or hereafter committed. [Education Law, §355(2)(b) ]Education Law,
						§355(2)(b)
(a) The term chief
					 administrative officer, as used in these rules, shall be deemed to mean and
					 include any person authorized to exercise the powers of that office during a
					 vacancy therein or during the absence or disability of the incumbent and for
					 purposes of this section shall also include any designee appointed by said
					 officer.
(b) Whenever a complaint
					 is made to the chief administrative officer of any State-operated institution
					 of the university of a violation by a student or students of the rules
					 prescribed in this Part (or of any rules adopted by an individual institution
					 supplementing or implementing such rules) or whenever he has knowledge that
					 such a violation may have occurred, he shall cause an investigation to be made
					 and the statements of the complainants, if any, and of other persons having
					 knowledge of the facts reduced to writing. If he is satisfied from such
					 investigation and statements that there is reasonable ground to believe that
					 there has been such a violation, he shall prepare or cause to be prepared
					 charges against the student or students alleged to have committed such
					 violation which shall state the provision prescribing the offense and shall
					 specify the ultimate facts alleged to constitute such offense.
(c) Such charges shall be in writing and
					 shall be served on the student or students named therein by delivering the same
					 to him or them personally, if possible, or, if not, by mailing a copy of such
					 charges by registered mail to such student or students at his or their usual
					 place or places of abode while attending college and also to his or their home
					 address or addresses, if different.
(d) The notice of charges so served shall fix
					 a date for hearing thereon not less than 10 or more than 15 days from the date
					 of service which shall be the date of mailing where necessary to effect service
					 by mail. Failure to appear in response to the charges on the date fixed for
					 hearing, unless there has been a continuance for good cause shown, shall be
					 deemed to be an admission of the facts stated in such charges and shall warrant
					 such action as may then be appropriate thereon. Before taking such action the
					 hearing committee, hereinafter referred to, shall give notice to any student,
					 who has failed to appear, in the manner prescribed in subdivision (c), of its
					 proposed findings and recommendations to be submitted to the chief
					 administrative officer and shall so submit such findings and recommendations 10
					 days thereafter unless the student has meanwhile shown good cause for his
					 failure to appear, in which case a date for hearing shall be fixed.
(e) Upon demand at any time before or at the
					 hearing, the student charged or his representative, duly designated, shall be
					 furnished a copy of the statements taken by the chief administrative officer in
					 relation to such charges and with the names of any other witnesses who will be
					 produced at the hearing in support of the charges; provided, however, that this
					 shall not preclude the testimony of witnesses who were unknown at the time of
					 such demand.
(f) The chief
					 administrative officer may, upon the service of charges, suspend the student
					 named therein, from all or any part of the institution's premises or
					 facilities, pending the hearing and determination thereof, whenever, in his
					 judgment, the continued presence of such student would constitute a clear
					 danger to himself or to the safety of persons or property on the premises of
					 the institution or would pose an immediate threat of disruptive interference
					 with the normal conduct of the institution's activities and functions;
					 provided, however, that the chief administrative officer shall grant an
					 immediate hearing on request of any student so suspended with respect to the
					 basis for such suspension.
(g)
					 There shall be constituted at each State-operated institution a hearing
					 committee to hear charges against students of violation of the rules for
					 maintenance of public order prescribed by or referred to in this Part. Such
					 committee shall consist of three members of the administrative staff and three
					 members of the faculty, designated by the chief administrative officer, and
					 three students who shall be designated by the members named by the chief
					 administrative officer. Each such member shall serve until his successor or
					 replacement has been designated. No member of the committee shall serve in any
					 case where he is witness or is or has been directly involved in the events upon
					 which the charges are based. In order to provide for cases where there may be
					 such a disqualification and for cases of absence or disability, the chief
					 administrative officer shall designate an alternate member of the
					 administrative staff and an alternate member of the faculty, and his principal
					 designees shall designate an alternate student member, to serve in such cases.
					 Any five members of the committee may conduct hearings and make findings and
					 recommendations as hereinafter provided. At any institution where the chief
					 administrative officer determines that the number of hearings which will be
					 required to be held is, or may be, so great that they cannot otherwise be
					 disposed of with reasonable speed, he may determine that the hearing committee
					 shall consist of six members of the administrative staff and six members of the
					 faculty to be designated by him and of six students who shall be designated by
					 the members so designated by him. In such event the chief administrative
					 officer shall designate one of such members as chairman who may divide the
					 membership of the committee into three divisions each to consist of two members
					 of the administrative staff, two faculty members and two students and may
					 assign charges among such divisions for hearing. Any four members of each such
					 division may conduct hearings and make recommendations as hereinafter
					 provided.
(h) The hearing committee
					 shall not be bound by the technical rules of evidence but may hear or receive
					 any testimony or evidence which is relevant and material to the issues
					 presented by the charges and which will contribute to a full and fair
					 consideration thereof and determination thereon. A student against whom the
					 charges are made may appear by and with representatives of his choice. He may
					 confront and examine witnesses against him and may produce witnesses and
					 documentary evidence in his own behalf. There may be present at the hearing:
					 the student charged and his representatives and witnesses; other witnesses;
					 representatives of the institutional administration; and, unless the student
					 shall request a closed hearing, such other members of the institutional
					 community or other persons, or both, as may be admitted by the hearing
					 committee. A transcript of the proceedings shall be made.
(i) Within 20 days after the close of a
					 hearing, the hearing committee shall submit a report of its findings of fact
					 and recommendations for disposition of the charges to the chief administrative
					 officer, together with a transcript of the proceedings, and shall at the same
					 time transmit a copy of its report to the student concerned or his
					 representative. Within 10 days thereafter the chief administrative officer
					 shall make his determination thereon. Final authority to dismiss the charges or
					 to determine the guilt of those against whom they are made and to expel,
					 suspend or otherwise discipline them shall be vested in the chief
					 administrative officer. If he shall reject the findings of the hearing
					 committee in whole or in part, he shall make new findings which must be based
					 on substantial evidence in the record and shall include them in the notice of
					 his final determination which shall be served upon the student or students with
					 respect to whom it is made.
[FN*] Applies to charges for violation of the rules
						prescribed by or referred to in this Part heretofore served which have not been
						finally determined within 60 days after the adoption hereof, which charges
						shall be referred to the committee constituted pursuant to said section 535.9 
						for determination in accordance therewith, and said section shall apply to all
						charges for violation of such rules hereafter made, whether for violations
						heretofore or hereafter committed.