VII. Review Procedures

The purpose of a Review Meeting is to determine whether a student has failed to follow the standards governing student conduct at Pacific Lutheran University.  As educators and as peers, the Conduct Body's responsibilities include: (a) reviewing Incident Reports and determining whether, or to what extent, students were involved in the reported misconduct; (b) assisting students toward responsible conduct; and (c) determining appropriate sanctions when necessary.

Review Meetings are neither formal court trials nor formal administrative hearings.  Rather, they are structured educational discussions that focus on the student's conduct in association with the university community.  Review Meetings provide an opportunity to identify concerns, to explore and discuss the area of misconduct, to challenge the student's commitment to membership in PLU's educational community, and to make recommendations for change.  The following is an overview of Review Meeting guidelines and procedures:

A.  Notice of Meeting
The Student Conduct Coordinator notifies Conduct Body members and students named on an Incident Report of the date, time, and place for the Review Meeting.  (See Section IV(A) for detailed information on notification procedures and attendance requirements.)

B.  Order of Review Proceedings

1. The Conduct Body reviews the written material prior to the meeting and determines appropriate questions.
2. The Conduct Body gathers information in the following ways:
   a.  The Conduct Body hears from all persons involved in an incident to determine the facts. 
   b.  The Conduct Body may ask questions to determine what occurred, why it occurred, how others may perceive it, and whether the behavior fits within the university standards.
   c.  The Conduct Body reviews all written information submitted with regard to the incident.
3. All Review Meetings are audio recorded.

C.  Witnesses

1. Witnesses may be requested by the Conduct Body and/or students who are named in the Incident Report.  The Conduct Body reserves the right to determine the relevancy of witnesses and excuse them if the information shared is deemed to be unproductive or irrelevant.  Conduct Body members may limit witness testimony to the facts of the situation.
2. Witnesses may attend Review Meetings only to hear procedures and to present information.  They are excused as soon as their testimony is completed.
3. Conduct Bodies may invite as witnesses, persons who submitted Incident Reports or other persons who may have firsthand information about the incident. 
4. As a general rule, students alleged to have violated the Student Code of Conduct may be present during the Review Meeting when the board or Hearing Officer is receiving information from witnesses.  Certain exceptions to this general rule may occur, however, when in the discretion of the Student Conduct Coordinator, circumstances warrant.  Examples, without limitation, are as follows: 
   
   
   • Alleged victims or witnesses may be permitted to attend the Review Meeting via electronic means, or may be separated from the alleged perpetrator by a screen or other appropriate means.
   • Students alleged to have violated the Student Code of Conduct who are alleged to present a threat to the community may be required to attend via alternative means. 
   • Students who create excessive disruption may be required to attend by alternative means.
   • When more than one student alleged to have violated the Student Code of Conduct is involved in the same incident, the Conduct Body may consider each student's involvement separately and exclude the other students from the meeting. 
   
   Under any such circumstance, each student shall be given the opportunity to hear or review and respond to all information considered at the Review Meeting concerning her/his misconduct. 
5. While discussing an incident with one student, the Conduct Body may receive information that may affect another student.  In this event, the Conduct Body shall inform the other student and provide the other student with the opportunity to respond before the Conduct Body deliberates.  If the information received is of a type that could result in sanctions under the Conduct Procedures, the Conduct Body or any member of it may in their discretion complete an Incident Report based on the new information, thus beginning the process for the student who is not the subject to the original meeting.
6. During the Review Meeting, the Conduct Body may receive information which may result in further violations to be considered for a student(s) involved in the incident.  Further, additional Incident Reports may result from information received during the Review Meeting.
7. After all witnesses have spoken the student alleged to have violated the Student Code of Conduct may make a summary statement.  The Conduct Body may limit the summary as to time and content and may terminate it if the Conduct Body believes the summary is not relevant.
8. Any member of a Conduct Body may question the student or the witnesses.  All questions must be pertinent to the report and the purposes of the meeting.

D.  Lawyers / Legal Counsel
Students alleged to have violated the Student Code of Conduct are not permitted to be represented by a lawyer or legal counsel at Review Meetings or in any disciplinary related meetings.  The university expects that community members possess the skills and resources to manage conduct issues.

E.  Alleged victims of Sexual Misconduct and/or Physical Assault will be offered the opportunity to be present at all Review Meeting proceedings.  If the alleged victim and/or the alleged violators in such incidents choose not to be present at all proceedings, then both shall be given the opportunity to hear and/or read all information presented during the process.  If a student chooses to participate but not attend, arrangements must be made at least 24 hours prior to the Review Meeting time.  Alleged victims of other incidents (i.e. harassment, vandalism, etc.) may be involved in review proceedings at the discretion of the Conduct Body.

G.  Deliberation and Decision Making

1. The Conduct Body deliberates privately.  The advisor may be called upon to advise on procedural matters.
2. Deliberations generally take the following form:
   a.    Review of information obtained during Review Meeting.
   b.    Decision reached by majority vote.
   c.    Students who are found responsible for a violation are sanctioned according to the nature of the misconduct and review of their conduct history.

H.  Notification of Decision
If the Conduct Body reaches a decision in deliberations immediately after the meeting, the Conduct Body recalls the student(s) and announces the decision accompanied by a brief rationale.  A decision becomes official when confirmed in writing to the students.

Those students who do not attend a Review Meeting only receive notification of the decision through the mail.

If the Conduct Body cannot reach a decision during the meeting, it will generally render a decision within 72-hours, excluding weekends and holidays, of the conclusion of the meeting.  In the event that additional time for review, further investigation and/or deliberation is necessary, the student will be notified in writing or via email of the revised timeline.

I.  Disqualification of Board Members or Hearing Officers

1. After reviewing the documents related to an incident, any Conduct Body member who has knowledge of the situation must share this knowledge with the other members.  The members shall discuss the matter and decide by majority vote whether that member should be involved in the meeting.  When a member knowledgeable of the situation is not excluded from the meeting, that member must provide the student(s) with all information shared with the Conduct Body.
2. Hearing Officers who have prior knowledge of an assigned case must report that knowledge to the Student Conduct Coordinator.  If that officer hears the case, s/he must inform the student(s) of the prior knowledge.
3. A student appearing before a Community Review Board (CRB) or University Review Board (URB) may, before the meeting begins, request the disqualification of any member he/she believes to be biased.  The burden of substantiating the charge of bias rests with the student.  The final determination is made by a majority vote of the board.
4. If disqualification results in the loss of a quorum, the CRB or URB shall postpone the meeting until a quorum can be reconstituted, unless the student agrees to proceed with the Review Meeting.

J.  Reconstituting a Quorum
When, because of board member disqualification, less than a quorum remains, the Review Meeting may continue if the student is willing to proceed.  If agreement to continue is not reached, the Review Meeting shall be postponed and the Student Conduct Coordinator shall reschedule the meeting.