Policies and Legislation - Residence Judiciary Guidelines

I. PHILOSOPHY

Wellesley College views the educational process as incorporating the entire environment in which students develop concurrently as individuals, social beings, and scholars. Residence hall living is an integral part of the total educational process. The Residence Judiciary provides a structure through which the Honor Code, as it extends into residence hall living, may be safeguarded. The basis of Wellesley's Honor Code rests on the assumption that individual integrity is of fundamental value to each member of the community. Within the residence hall system of government, the personal honor and responsibility of each individual are of central importance as the student approaches both the regulated and nonregulated areas of residence life.

The Residence Judiciary is not designed to and should not be expected to function as a court of law. The procedures below are designed to treat all cases as individually and informally as possible, to assure fairness and due process in all considerations, and to specify and safeguard the rights of all parties involved.

II. JURISDICTION OF THE RESIDENCE JUDICIARY

A. The Residence Judiciary Board, operating under a code of procedures and penalties to be reviewed periodically by House Presidents' Council, shall deal with violations of residence hall policies or procedures, and other offenses against the residence hall community. A partial list of possible violations includes:

1)mental or physical harassment;

2)failure to cooperate with house work assignments;

3)malicious destruction, damage, or misuse of college property;

4)theft;

5)failure to comply with health and safety standards;

6)excessive noise;

7)illegal guests;

8)improper use of bathrooms by guests.

B. The Residence Judiciary shall determine an appropriate penalty, taking into account the needs of the residence hall community and the needs of the individual defendant. A partial list of the possible penalties includes:

1)recommendation to the General Judiciary or to the Director of Residence of exclusion or suspension from the residence hall, residence system, or the College;

2)residence probation (warning before dismissal from the residence hall);

3)restriction of privilege;

4)verbal/written reprimand;

5)counseling contract (a written agreement to see a counselor for a designated period of time);

6)additional residence hall work assignments;

7)fines (e.g., damages).

C. The Residence Judiciary has a twofold relationship with the General Judiciary: referral and appeal.

1) The Residence Judiciary may refer cases to the General Judiciary upon consultation with, and approval of the Chief Justice, with the exception of the following which shall automatically be referred to the General Judiciary:

a. any recommendation of exclusion or suspension from the residence hall, the residence system, or the College;

b. any complaint that a student has failed to comply with a mandate from the Residence Judiciary;

c. cases in which the event took place in areas other than a residence hall.

2) Cases may be appealed to the General Judiciary as outlined in the appeal section of the Residence Judiciary Guidelines.

III. ETHICAL STANDARDS OF THE RESIDENCE JUDICIARY

To insure fair and unbiased proceedings, all members of the Residence Judiciary shall adhere to the following ethical standards:

A. The Residence Judiciary Chair shall:

1) be a standing member of House Presidents' Council;

2) be selected in the spring for the next full year, from the opening of the College through Commencement, including Wintersession;

3) report abstracts of cases no less than once a semester to the House Presidents' Council;

4) be replaced by the Clerk in the event that she cannot be an unbiased participant.

B. The Poll shall:

1) be available to hear cases for one full year (same as Chair);

2) consist of Vice Presidents of Administration from the fifteen main residence halls (at the time that the pool is called together in the spring, Homestead and Simpson shall have the option of sending a representative to the pool selected according to their own discretion);

3) participate in a mandatory training program which covers:

a. the ethics and etiquette of Judiciary hearings;

b. the specifics of the Residence Judiciary and General Judiciary procedures.

C. The Clerk shall:

1) be a volunteer from the pool of Vice Presidents of Administration;

2) serve for a full year (same as Chair);

3) participate in the training program.

D. The Hearing Panel shall consist of:

1)the Residence Judiciary Chair;

2)the Clerk (non-voting);

3)four members of the pool;

4)the Assistant Director of Residence or an appointee (non-voting).

V. PROCEDURE FOR THE RESIDENCE JUDICIARY HEARING

A. Bringing of Charges

1) Any member of the College community may report an apparent infraction of the residence policies and procedures.

2) The person bringing the charges shall consult with a House President before submitting a formal written complaint. (Only information necessary to determine the appropriateness of the complaint shall be disclosed upon consultation.)

3) A formal written complaint which includes the names of the persons involved, the time, the date, the place, and the nature of the violations must be submitted to the Clerk of the Residence Judiciary.

4) Once a formal charge has been filed, the complaint may not be withdrawn. There are two options for dealing with the apparent violation at this point:

a. a hearing by the Residence Judiciary Panel; or

b. a mediation.

B. Mediation

1) Mediation is a type of structured dispute resolution which in its most basic form is characterized by: a) the involvement of two neutral third parties (mediators); b) voluntary participation; and c) agreements which are designed by the parties themselves. It differs from more traditional methods of dispute resolution (adjudication and arbitration) in that there is an agreement between parties rather than a finding in favor of one party or the other. Central to the entire process is the creative involvement of the disputants together with the mediators. Because it is a joint problem solving process rather than an adversarial one, two positive results are always anticipated. They are a) improved communication between parties and b) the identification of a solution, in the form of an agreement, which is viewed as mutually beneficial.

2) If the Chair considers mediation a possibility, she must contact the complainant first to ascertain whether or not the complainant is willing to have the case mediated. If the complainant is willing, the Chair will contact the defendant with the same question. A case will only be mediated if the mediators and the Chair agree that mediation is an appropriate process and if both parties enter into mediation willingly.

3) Either the complainant or the defendant may suggest to the Chair that a case be mediated. The Chair will then proceed to contact the parties mentioned above to obtain their consent.

4) Cases will be mediated by two people from the available pool of trained mediators. Both parties must feel comfortable with the mediators.

5) The mediators, the defendant, the complainant will be present during mediation. Any other individual(s) may only attend by the mutual agreement of the defendant, the complainant, and the mediators.

6) A case shall revert to the Residence Judiciary if:

a. a date for the first meeting is not set within one week of the filing of charges;

b. the first meeting is not held within two weeks of the filing of charges;

c. either party ceases to cooperate in the mediation process;

d. the mediation does not end in a mutually acceptable signed document ("the agreement");

e. either party fails to uphold the agreement.

7) A copy of the mediation agreement must be filed with the Clerk of the Residence Judiciary Panel. In mediation there is no finding of guilt or innocence; therefore, a record of mediation would not be presented as past history were either party to come before the Residence Judiciary at some time in the future.

C. Activation of the Residence Judiciary

1) The Clerk shall notify the Residence Judiciary Chair of the complaint and confer on a time for the hearing. The hearings will be held every two weeks at a regularly scheduled time.

2) The Clerk shall notify the Assistant Director of Residence of the complaint and confirm the time for the hearing; she will be notified as to who shall be sitting on the hearing panel as the designated advisor.

3) The panel members previously self-selected (in the beginning of the fall semester) will be notified of the name of the complainant and the accused. Those members chosen shall disqualify themselves if they are involved or prejudiced toward the case. In the event of a disqualification, another member of the pool shall be chosen.

4) The Clerk shall notify the defendant that a charge has been registered against her and inform both the complainant and the defendant of their rights and the procedures of mediation and of Residence Judiciary and of those persons serving on the Hearing Panel at least 48 hours prior to the hearing.

D. Rights

1) The rights of the defendant include:

a. the right to appear or not to appear at the hearing;

b. the right to a formal presentation of the charges with the understanding that the defendant will be judged only on the basis of those charges;

c. the right to know the possible penalties;

d. the right to be tried only on evidence presented in the hearing (all confessions not made before the Residence Judiciary are considered invalid).

2) The rights of the defendant and the complainant include:

a. the right to disqualify a member of the Hearing Panel no later than 24 hours before the hearing because of an acquaintance with the student; this excludes the Chair, the Clerk, and the Assistant Director of Residence or his/her appointee;

b. the right to bring in an advocate (someone from the College community to speak on their behalf);

c. the right to call witnesses one at a time;

d. the right to examine, in the presence of the Residence Judiciary Chair and the Clerk, all written evidence submitted to the Residence Judiciary;

e. the right to rebuttal prior to the conclusion of the hearing;

f. the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses;

g. the right to be notified of the verdict of the hearing, in writing, within three days of the hearing;

h. the right to appeal the case to the General Judiciary within one week after the Residence Judiciary has presented its verdict in writing.

E. The Hearing

1) The Clerk shall keep an accurate account of the proceedings.

2) All hearings will be private and confidential; only the parties involved and their advocates may attend. Any witness called by either party will be permitted in the hearing room only to testify, and may remain only by the mutual agreement of the Hearing Panel members.

3) The Chair shall open the hearing by introducing the members of the panel, the individual making the charge, the student being charged, and, if present, the advocate.

4) The Chair shall read the charge.

5) The presentation of evidence, the testimony of witnesses, and the cross- examination of witnesses shall be conducted as informally as possible. The complainant, upon whom rests the burden of proof, will present evidence and call witnesses to substantiate the charges. The defendant will then have the opportunity to refute the charges by offering evidence or presenting witnesses. Questions may be raised by any member of the Residence Judiciary Hearing Panel or by either the complainant or the defendant during these presentations.

F. The Deliberations

1) Immediately after the hearing the Residence Judiciary shall review the charge and the evidence presented to determine whether a violation as specified in the charge did occur. A majority vote will carry, with the Chair voting only in the case of a tie.

2) An individual's previous record of violation may not be discussed during the hearing or when determining guilt or innocence. Should there be a finding of guilt, the Chair will present the student's past residence hall disciplinary record to the panel, which will take any such record into consideration when determining the appropriate penalty.

3) The Residence Judiciary shall attempt to assess the defendant's intentions. This assessment should be incorporated in the determination of an appropriate penalty.

4) The Hearing Panel shall initial the record of the proceedings.

G. Reporting the Decision

1) The Residence Judiciary Chair shall immediately inform the defendant and the complainant of the decision. At this time the Residence Judiciary Chair shall inform the defendant and the complainant that they may appeal the case to the General Judiciary.

2) The Clerk shall turn over a complete record of the proceeding to the Residence Judiciary Chair who shall keep the records for one week. If the case is not appealed to General Judiciary, then the Residence Judiciary Chair shall abstract the record to exclude names and include student I.D. numbers, the charge, the verdict, and the penalty (if appropriate) and shall file the abstract in a case book filed in the College Government Office. The original record will be destroyed.

H. The Appeal

1) If the defendant or the complainant thinks the Residence Judiciary was arbitrary in reaching a decision about the guilt or innocence of the defendant or in determining the penalty, the defendant or the complainant may appeal within one week after receiving written notification to the General Judiciary to review the case.

2) The appellant and the appellee may request permission to see the record of the proceeding in the presence of the Chair and the Clerk.

3) During the preparation of the appeal to the General Judiciary, the Residence Judiciary decision shall be suspended.

I. General Judiciary Appeal Guidelines

1) The function of the General Judiciary shall be to review the records of the Residence Judiciary proceedings, to decide if the hearing was conducted in a just manner, and to determine if the verdict was warranted by the facts.

2) The appellant, the appellee, and the Residence Judiciary Chair shall be present at the General Judiciary review. Written remarks will be accepted if oral presentation are not desired or possible.

3) The General Judiciary has the following options in the case of a Residence Judiciary appeal:

a. to uphold the decision of the Residence Judiciary;

b. in cases where the hearing was improperly held, to rehear the case;

c. to make adjustments in the Residence Judiciary decision, in the finding, or in the penalty.

4) The General Judiciary must consider the appeal within one week after the appeal has been filed, during a period in which academic appointments are scheduled.

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