The student being charged with an alleged violation of the Standards of Student Conduct is referred to as the "Responding Party."
In some cases, the Responding Party's alleged conduct may have personally adversely affected another individual. Generally, that other individual may choose to act as the "Reporting Party" within the Student Conduct Process; as a witness only; or not be involved in the hearing in any capacity.
As Xavier administers hearings in accordance with these procedures, it reserves the right to collect and offer information and present witnesses to be considered by the Hearing Officer or Hearing Panel. The people acting on behalf of Xavier for these purposes are identified later in these procedures.
The purpose of a hearing is to determine if a Responding Party is responsible or not responsible for the alleged violation of the Standards of Student Conduct.
A Responding Party will be found responsible if responsibility for the charged violation is established by a "preponderance of the evidence." This means that the Hearing Officer or Hearing Panel has determined that it is "more likely than not" that the Responding Party violated the Standard of Student Conduct at issue.
The Responding Party, Reporting Party and Xavier may identify witnesses to be called at a hearing. Only witnesses with knowledge directly related to the pending charges will be allowed to present information at the hearing. When appropriate and if it has not already done so in conjunction with the preparation of its report, the Title IX Office may interview a witness prior to the hearing so that the Dean of Students or designee can determine if the witness has knowledge directly related to the pending charges. Witnesses may be dismissed from the hearing if statements are based on opinion or perceived character alone. A Hearing Officer or Hearing Panel may reasonably limit the scope and time devoted to each case or item of discussion during the hearing, including the number of people providing information. Specifically, corroboration provided by witnesses shall be allowed where appropriate, but repetitive statements, discussion or witness material may be limited.
Only relevant questions may be asked of a party or witness. Reasons a question may not be permitted include, but are not limited to the question posed being repetitive, harassing, unduly prejudicial, seeking to access privileged information (e.g. mental health information), and/or questions related to the sexual history of a party. For cases involving allegations of Interpersonal Violence, see exceptions below.
In cases involving Interpersonal Violence, questions and evidence about the Reporting Party’s sexual predisposition or prior sexual behavior are not relevant, unless such questions and evidence about the Reporting Party’s prior sexual behavior are offered to prove that someone other than the Responding Party committed the conduct alleged by the Reporting Party, or if the questions and evidence concern specific incidents of the Reporting Party’s prior sexual behavior with respect to the Responding Party and are offered to prove consent.
Student conduct hearings are not governed by the rules of evidence used by courts.
At the Dean of Students' discretion, multiple incidents involving the same individual(s) may be considered in one hearing or in multiple hearings, the order of which will be determined by the Dean of Students.
At the Dean of Students' discretion, charges against multiple Responding Parties charged with the same or related violations arising out of one or more related incidents may be considered in one hearing.
Generally, a Reporting Party or witness does not have a right to learn the outcome of the hearing. However, when the alleged violation is a crime of violence or a non-forcible sex offense (including, but not limited to, conduct under Xavier’s Interpersonal Violence and Title IX Harassment policies) the Reporting Party or other victim will be provided written notification of the outcome of the hearing with respect to that alleged violation. For more information, see Section 3.6.3.2 ("Required Disclosures").
All Hearing Panel Members and Hearing Officers receive annual training, appropriate for the types of cases they are likely to hear.
At the discretion of the Dean of Students, or designee, technology may be used to facilitate hearing participation for involved parties who are not able to be physically present for the hearing. Examples include but are not limited to video conferencing and audio conferencing, etc.