Washington Administrative Code › Title 132M - Lower Columbia College › Chapter 132M-126 - Code of student conduct › Section 132M-126-075 - Appeal-Student conduct committee

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1) Proceedings of the student conduct
			 committee shall be governed by the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05
			 RCW and by the model rules of procedure, chapter 10-08 WAC. To the extent there
			 is a conflict between these rules and chapter 10-08 WAC, these rules shall
			 control.
(2) The student conduct
			 committee chair shall serve all parties with written notice of the hearing not
			 less than seven days in advance of the hearing date. The chair may shorten this
			 notice period if both parties agree, and also may continue the hearing at 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)
			 Upon request filed at least five days before the hearing by any party or at the
			 direction of the committee chair, the parties shall exchange, no later than the
			 third day prior to the hearing, lists of potential witnesses and copies of
			 potential exhibits that they reasonably expect to present to the committee.
			 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 hearing copies of (a) the conduct officer's
			 notification of imposition of discipline (or referral to the committee) and (b)
			 the notice of appeal (or any response to referral) by the respondent. If doing
			 so, however, the chair should remind the members that these "pleadings" are not
			 evidence of any facts they may allege.
(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 and complainant
			 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) In cases heard by the committee, each
			 party may be accompanied at the hearing by a nonattorney assistant of their
			 choice. The respondent in all appeals before the committee, or a complainant in
			 an appeal involving allegations of sexual misconduct before the committee, 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
			 and/or complainant is represented by an attorney, the student conduct officer
			 may also be represented by a second, appropriately screened assistant attorney
			 general.