WAC 172-121-130   Appeals.  (1) Basis: Appeals may be filed by either the accused or the complainant for one or more of the following reasons:

     (a) To determine whether the hearing was conducted according to established procedures. A hearing may have deviated from established procedures if:

     (i) The hearing was not conducted fairly in light of the charges and information presented;

     (ii) The complainant was not given a reasonable opportunity to prepare and to present information as provided by the student conduct code;

     (iii) The accused was not given a reasonable opportunity to prepare and to present a response as provided by the student conduct code.

     (b) To determine whether the decision reached by the hearing authority was based on the information presented and that that information was sufficient to reasonably establish that a violation of the conduct code did or did not occur.

     (c) To determine whether the sanction(s) imposed were reasonable and appropriate for the associated conduct code violation(s).

     (d) To consider new information or other relevant facts not previously presented because such information and/or facts were not known to the appellant at the time of the original hearing. In such cases, if the information was reasonably available at the time of the original hearing but the appellant did not make a good faith effort to discover the information, there is no basis for appeal. It is important for the parties to make a good faith effort to gather all relevant facts before the hearing. The university is not obligated to hold an appeal when the parties did not take reasonable efforts to prepare their case for the initial hearing.

     (2) Filing: Following a conduct review hearing, if the accused or the complainant believes there is basis to support an appeal, they may file such an appeal, subject to the following provisions:

     (a) The appeal must be submitted to the director of the office of student rights and responsibilities within five business days of receipt of the decision;

     (b) The appeal shall be in writing and shall include:

     (i) The appellant's name;

     (ii) The nature of the decision and sanctions reached by the hearing official;

     (iii) The basis, as described in subsection (1) of this section, for the appeal; and

     (iv) What remedy the appellant is seeking.

     (3) Appeal authorities:

     (a) For summary hearings heard by the conduct review officer, the appeal authority is the student disciplinary council.

     (b) For council hearings heard by the student disciplinary council, the appeal authority is the dean of students.

     (4) Forwarding of appeals: The director of the office of student rights and responsibilities shall, within five business days of receipt of an appeal, forward the appeal to the appropriate appeal authority. The submitted appeal will include, at a minimum, the appellant's written appeal and the written report of the case. The director of OSRR may also forward any other written records related to the case.

     (5) Review of appeals:

     (a) Before rendering a decision, the appeal authority may request additional information or explanation from any of the parties to the proceedings.

     (b) Except as required to explain the basis of new information, an appeal shall be limited to a review of the verbatim record of the conduct review hearing and supporting documents.

     (c) In making its decision, the appeal authority will only consider the written record before it, the appellant's notice of appeal and other information and/or explanation it has requested from the parties to the proceedings.

     (6) Decisions: After reviewing the appeal, the appeal authority may affirm, reverse, or remand the decision(s) of the hearing authority.

     (7) Remanded cases: In cases where the appeal authority remands the decision or sanction(s) of the hearing authority, the case will be returned to the hearing authority for reconsideration or other action as specified by the appeal authority. Following such reconsideration, the hearing authority will return the case to the appeal authority for further review/action. The appeal authority will then complete the appeal process or remand the case again. No appeal may, however, be remanded more than two times. After a case has been remanded twice, the appeal authority must affirm or reverse the decision and affirm, reverse, or modify the sanctions.

     (8) Sanctions: The appeal authority may affirm, reverse, remand, or modify the sanctions assigned to the accused. When determining sanctions, the appeal authority may consider the complete record of the accused's prior conduct and academic performance in addition to all other information associated with the case

     (9) Further proceedings. After an appeal authority has completed an appeal action, no further appeals may be made under this chapter.

     (10) Appeals standards:

     (a) Appeal authorities must weigh all pertinent information presented to them in determining whether reasonable evidence exists to support reversal or modification of decisions or sanctions.

     (b) For appeals based on a deviation from established procedures, such deviations will not be a basis for sustaining an appeal unless the alleged deviation resulted in a material change in the outcome of the case or the sanctions imposed.

     (11) Records: Records of appeal proceedings shall be maintained as described in WAC 172-121-080.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 28B.35.120(12). 09-12-001, § 172-121-130, filed 5/20/09, effective 6/20/09.]