Washington Administrative Code › Title 132K - Pierce College › Chapter 132K-135 - Pierce College-Student conduct code › Section 132K-135-150 - 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.
(2) The student conduct committee chair shall
			 serve all parties with written notice of the hearing not less than seven
			 business days in advance of the hearing date. The chair may shorten this notice
			 period if both parties agree, and also may continue the hearing to a later time
			 for good cause shown.
(3) The
			 committee chair is authorized to conduct prehearing 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
			 business days before the hearing by any party or at the direction of the
			 committee chair, the parties shall exchange, no later than the third business
			 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 the 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 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) Each party may be accompanied at the
			 hearing by a nonattorney assistant of the party's choice. A respondent, or
			 complainant in a case involving allegations of sexual misconduct, 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 or
			 the complainant is represented by an attorney, the student conduct officer may
			 also be represented by a second, appropriately screened assistant attorney
			 general.