The Residence Hall Judicial Process

Violations of rules and regulations occurring in or on the premises of Virginia Commonwealth University residence halls will be handled through the residence hall disciplinary procedures.

Disciplinary action generally is initiated by a Resident Assistant, Community Assistant, Security Guard, Resident Director or another student. In such cases, an incident report is completed detailing the incident, including a description of the pertinent events, the policy that was violated and the person(s) involved. After a review of the incident report, the respective Area Coordinator determines the appropriate route for resolving the incident. The following guidelines apply to assignment of disposition of a case:

• Warning/Probation level violations will be handled administratively within the residential community typically in an educational conference with the Resident Director.
• Typically, violations that lead to relocation and/or banning will be heard in an administrative process with the area CRE, unless exceptional conditions are present.
• If the area CRE believes the sanction may be cancellation of the housing contract, the case must be resolved through a hearing conducted by the Residence Hall Judicial Board or a Coordinator from another area in an Administrative Hearing. The charged resident may request, however, a Summary Judgment from his/her area CRE.
• If more than one person is charged in connection with an incident, both parties must have their case heard by the same judicial body.
• In this case, the more formal judicial process will be utilized, unless exceptional conditions are present.
  

The Residence Hall Judicial Board (RHJB) is composed of student representatives who live in the residence halls, faculty members, and staff. A hearing board is typically composed of two students and one faculty/administrative staff member at each hearing.

An Administrative Hearing is conducted by a hearing officer, who is a Coordinator from a residential area other than the student’s. A hearing team composed of a faculty/staff member and student member of RHJB along with a Coordinator may be impaneled in certain cases. Specific procedures for the RHJB and Administrative Hearings will be provided to the charged student prior to the hearing.

Sanction decisions will be made when the following sequence of procedures is completed:

• documentation of the violation is presented by a Housing/Residence Education staff member,
• review by the resident,
• determination of responsibility.
  

Responsibility may be determined by applying the standard of evidence that establishes the student’s responsibility as clear and convincing. Once a determination of responsibility has been established in an educational conference, administrative process or hearing, information concerning the resident student’s previous violations and cumulative documentation by hall staff, as well as the impact of a particular student on the residential environment, will be reviewed and taken into consideration before the sanction decision is made.

Sanction decisions are made with the goal of achieving the following objectives are as follows:

• ensuring as much as possible that the process is a learning experience for the student
• preventing future violations
• demonstrating the University’s position regarding the behavior
• providing an opportunity for the student to make restitution
• where appropriate, providing an opportunity for other students to learn from the incident

Sanctions
Sanctions for violation of any contractual agreement, residence hall policy and/or university policy or regulation may include the following:

Conditions
Limitations upon a student's behavior for an identified period of time or an active obligation to complete a specified activity. This may include:

Loss of Visitation Privileges
This may be defined as the charged student being restricted from visiting another resident or residence area, or the charged student from having others visit him/her. The time period for this could include the remainder of the academic year.

Attendance at a Workshop
The charged student may benefit from an educational workshop which could include topics such as Alcohol Assessment, Anger Management, or Fire Safety. Topics are typically related to the violation.

Community Service
Violations may result in a negative impact on the community. This sanction allows for students to have a positive impact on the community. Activities could include sponsoring an educational/social program, creating a bulletin board display or flyer, or volunteer hours at a campus/community organization.

No Contact Restriction
This sanction would restrict the student from contacting an individual or person(s), typically those related to the incident.

Written Warning
An official reprimand and notice that Housing and Residence Education and the University will not tolerate the type of behavior exhibited by the student.

Probation
Notice that further misconduct may result in cancellation of a resident's housing contract. Probation is for a specified period of time, usually given in semester-long increments.

Banning
Often used in conjunction with another sanction. The student loses access to a residence hall(s) or floor unit(s) based upon the inappropriate behavior displayed in the incident.

Restitution
A requirement that the resident make restitution for whatever harm he or she may have caused. This may take form of monetary reimbursement for damages, or actions designed to "make good" for a loss of trust, feeling of security or other detrimental consequences to an individual or community.

Administrative Relocation
Transfer to another room or building in the residence system.

Contract Cancellation
Cancellation of the resident's housing contract requires the resident to vacate his/her room within 48 hours. The contract cancellation applies to all residence hall facilities and is for a specified period of time, usually one year. A corollary sanction restricting access to and visitation (Banning) within the residence halls may also be applied.

Removal from Housing and Residence Education is applied if it is judged that a resident's continued presence in the residence halls would prove detrimental to either the residential community and/or the resident.

Housing and Residence Education reserves the right to cancel contracts with residents who do not abide by the University policies and regulations and/or Housing and Residence Education policies. Residents are not entitled to refunds if removed for the above reasons.

Referral
In addition to, or in place of Housing and Residence Education judicial action, a case may be referred to University Rules and Procedures or other law enforcement agencies for adjudication.

Deadline for Administrative Relocations/Removals
The resident generally will be given 48 hours to vacate their room after the decision to relocate or terminate their contract. In certain cases, however, when an individual's continued presence represents an immediate, real, or perceived threat to another individual or the community, or there are continued violations of policy after the decision, the resident may be expected to vacate his/her room in less than 48 hours.

If an appeal is in progress, sanctions of Relocation and Removal are not implemented until after the appeal decision is made. The Director of Residence Education will notify the student and area CRE when there is a stay of sanction implementation due to an appeal. However, in certain circumstances, a resident may be required to vacate his or her room while an appeal is in progress.

Students charged with violations that may result in the cancellation of their housing contracts have the option of resolving the case in an Administrative Hearing (a hearing before a CRE of another area), a Summary Judgment (CRE accepts a plea of responsibility and sanctions the accused student with no option of appeal), or a Residence Hall Judicial Board hearing. The Coordinator then forwards the case to the appropriate hearing body within two (2) working days of meeting with the student(s).

At the beginning of the year and the end of each term, it is not possible to convene a residence hall judicial board hearing. In such cases, the accused student will have the option of either summary judgment or an administrative hearing.

In such cases, a written charge is sent to the student(s) involved. The charge requests the student(s) to appear at a hearing in order to hear the evidence against them and to offer explanatory and clarifying information as is considered appropriate. The Hearing Officer or Board then will render a prompt decision, including the action taken, in cases where violations have been found to occur.

1. Notice. The appropriate hearing officer notifies, in writing, the student suspected of violating residence hall policies of the specific charges, the nature of the evidence on which the charges are based, the possible sanctions and the identification of the hearing officer for the proceedings.

2. Scheduling. The student will be notified in writing of the hearing date, time and location by the Administrative Hearing Officer or the Judicial Board Advisor. Once a hearing date and time is scheduled, the student(s) must appear unless he/she notifies the appropriate hearing officer within 48 hours of the time of the hearing. Only valid and extenuating circumstances will be considered in rescheduling a hearing.

Should the student believe that the hearing officer in an Administrative Hearing has a possible prejudicial interest that would prevent him/her from rendering a fair finding in the proceedings, the student, rather than contacting the Hearing Officer, shall so inform the Director of Residence Education in writing, stating the reasons for such a belief. The Director will review the student’s claim, and, if warranted in his/her opinion, may designate another hearing officer. Only one such change of hearing officer will be permitted. Should a new Hearing Officer be appointed, the new Hearing Officer will set time, date and location and notify student.

In the case of the Residence Hall Judicial Board, if the student believes a member of the board may have a possible prejudicial interest, the student would notify the Judicial Board Advisor in writing, again stating reasons for such a belief. The Advisor would review the student’s claim, and if warranted, substitute another member of the board. Typically, no rescheduling of the hearing would result from this substitution.

3. Hearing. The hearing shall take place at the time and place established by the hearing officer/board and the student shall be given an opportunity to present his/her position, explanations and evidence concerning the charges.

The student may request the attendance of witnesses by informing the hearing officer at the time of scheduling the proceedings that he/she will be bringing witnesses and submitting a list of their names. In general, the University has no power to compel the attendance of witnesses.

All hearings shall be closed. A record shall be kept of all hearings and shall be preserved until all appeals are completed.

The student may be assisted at the hearing by an advisor (which excludes an attorney). The advisor’s role will be restricted to advising the student and shall not include presenting statements, arguments, or questioning witnesses during the proceedings.

The student may request the assistance of a Student Advisor who is a member of the Residence Hall Judicial Board and is knowledgeable in matters of residence hall judicial procedure. The student advisor is appointed by the advisor of the Residence Hall Judicial Board. The student advisor is responsible for reviewing the students rights, explaining the judicial procedures and hearing process to the accused student, and attending the hearing.

No disciplinary action will be taken on grounds that are not supported by evidence which establishes the student’s responsibility as clear and convincing.

The hearing is composed of two distinct components. The first component is the presentation of evidence and determination of responsibility. Should a student plead responsible or the student is determined to be responsible, the hearing officer/board would immediately proceed to the sanctioning component of the hearing wherein the student will have an opportunity to offer any mitigating circumstances that may impact the severity of the sanction. The hearing officer/board will then consider this information and any information concerning the student's previous violations and impact of such on the residential community in determining a sanction.

Within three (3) working days following the hearing, the hearing officer shall issue a letter to the accused student stating a finding of facts and decisions, imposing sanctions, if warranted. This will be copied to the student’s CRE. One copy of these documents will be entered into the student’s disciplinary file.

Appeals of Administrative Process decisions by the area Coordinator or decisions from an Administrative or Judicial Board Hearing may be made to the Director of Residence Education.

A resident student must base the appeal on one of the following grounds:

1. degree of sanction in relation to the violation,
2. there has been a procedural error that resulted in prejudice to the student; or
3. new evidence that significantly alters the facts of the case.

To initiate an appeal, a written request stating the reasons for the appeal must be submitted to the Director of Residence Education within three (3) working days of the date of issuance of the final sanction letter by the hearing officer.

Within three (3) working days of receiving the letter of appeal, the Director of Residence Education or designee will review the case findings, decision of the hearing officer and the appeal.

The Director may, but need not, meet with the student to discuss the appeal. The Director or designee will issue his/her decision in writing, sustaining, modifying or dismissing the charges against the student.