Fall 2020 Code Revisions - Section 21: Appeal of a Hearing Panel Decision
Both the Complainant and the Respondent may appeal a decision of the Hearing Panel to a three (3) member Review Panel that is chaired by the nonvoting Review Panel Chair. No person who served on the Hearing Panel will sit on the Review Panel in the same case. A member of the Review Panel may be asked to withdraw for good cause upon request of either party, which determination shall be made in the Review Panel Chair’s sole discretion. If the Review Panel Chair is reasonably challenged by a party, the Director shall appoint another member. In the event that a member withdraws or is excused, an alternate member shall be randomly selected pursuant to the standard procedure for selecting Review Panel members. Appeals will be based solely upon the hearing record. If the Review Panel reverses a finding of not responsible, the record on appeal will be supplemented with the parties’ Impact/Mitigation Statements. Findings of fact will not be set aside unless clearly erroneous. Harmless error will be ignored. Appeals may be brought only upon one or more of the following grounds:
**Please submit comments on the main Fall 2020 Proposed Amendments to the Campus Code of Conduct page.**
- A University official or officials, including the Hearing Panel, assigned responsibility for performing specific functions by these Procedures, committed an error in interpreting or applying the Code of Conduct or these Procedures, and such error had a prejudicial effect upon the outcome.
- The Hearing Panel rendered a decision that is clearly erroneous.
- New evidence was discovered after the decision that could not have reasonably been discovered before the decision and that would, with high probability, have changed the outcome.
- The sanctions or remedies are substantially disproportionate to the severity of the injury/violation or are otherwise manifestly unjust.
- the determination(s) being appealed,
- the specific ground(s) for the appeal, and
- the facts supporting the grounds.
- reverse a finding;
- change a sanction or remedy;
- remand a case to the original Hearing Panel for clarification or reconsideration consistent with the Review Panel’s decision, if doing so would assist with the timely, practicable, and efficient resolution of the case;
- remand a case for a new hearing to either the original Hearing Panel or a newly composed Hearing Panel; or
- remand a case for a new or additional investigation, followed by an adjudication consistent with these Procedures, to either the original investigator or to a new investigator.
**Please submit comments on the main Fall 2020 Proposed Amendments to the Campus Code of Conduct page.**