Judicial Board
Fall 2010 Training
Sponsored by:
The Office of Community &
Ethical Standards
and
CUSG Attorney General
Welcome!
• Thank you for serving Clemson!
• The important role of J-boards
 91% said the board did really well in helping them to understand the purpose of the
judicial process and the regulation they were charged with.
 90% said the board offered them an opportunity to tell their side of the story.
 66% agreed that the board was responsive to their concerns and helped them to
realize their responsibilities as a Clemson student.
• Last year, by the numbers
– Total OCES cases = 1497
– J-boards heard 80 of these = 5.3% of OCES caseload
– Down from 21% in 2008-2009
Introductions
• CUSG Office of Attorney General
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Emily Becraft, Attorney General
Geoff Gottbrecht, Asst. Attorney General
Justin Walker, Asst. Attorney General
Wes Lambert, Asst. Attorney General
Bryson Smith, Asst. Attorney General
• OCES Staff
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Alesia Smith, Director
Justin Carter, Senior Associate Director
Jonathan Wylie, Associate Director
Kevin Kozee, Graduate Assistant
Graduate Interns: Melissa Noble, Natalie Parker, Jason Allen, Jay
Hinner, Mike Brown
The J-Board Process
• Several things happen before a case is heard by
a J-board:
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Incident occurs and is documented
Incident report comes to OCES- specifically Justin
Justin reviews incident report and assigns charges
Justin then decides where to route- decision: J-board
At this point, a specific J-board routing process
ensues…
History, Philosophy of OCES
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History of OCES: From “judicial”, to “student conduct”, to “OCES”
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Mission of OCES
– “…to promote an environment which encourages students to uphold Clemson
University core values and standards. OCES provides programs which educate
students regarding the consequences of their behavior and empower students to
become responsible members of our community.”
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Guiding Principles
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“Pursue educational and developmental outcomes…”
“Promote self evaluation and awareness”
“Encourage…personal responsibility…”
“Educate…how individual behaviors can affect the larger community…”
“…maintain an environment conducive to health and wellness…”
“Instill a sense of pride in a community which rejects prejudice and intolerance”
“Foster respect for the rights of others…”
“Promote lifelong personal discovery, leadership, and service.”
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• The document from which we derive our authority
– “The Board of Trustees reserves for the
administration the right to retain any case from the
jurisdiction of the student body in which:”
• Alleged violation resulting in damage/destruction of University
property
• Alleged violation that may threaten safety of any University
community member or University property
• Alleged violation that disrupts (a) education process and/or (b)
orderly operation of University
• Alleged violation where a federal, state, or local law may have been
violated
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• Regarding J-Boards, specifically:
– “The Board of Trustees delegates the following
powers regard Community and Ethical Standards to
the student body of Clemson University:
• To create student peer review boards to try cases, not
retained by the administration, of alleged violations of student
regulations by Clemson University students and to interpret
student regulations.”
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• Jurisdiction:
– “Sanctions may be imposed against a student or student
organization for the violation of any student regulations that
occur on campus. Sanctions also may be imposed against a
student or student organization for violation of any regulations
that occur off campus when the alleged conduct would, if true,
impair, interfere with, or obstruct the missions, processes, or
functions of the University, or when the alleged conduct would, if
true, endanger the health, safety, or welfare of the student or
others, or would endanger any University property.”
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• Referrals:
– Have to be in writing
• Standard of Proof
– “…cases will be decided on the burden of proof
standard of a preponderance of the evidence. In other
words, the determination shall be made on the basis
of whether it is more likely than not that the referred
student violated the Student Code of Conduct.”
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• General Student Regulations:
– “This section establishes the rules and regulations for all
students and student organizations of Clemson University.
…these regulations are intended to protect the educational
purposes of Clemson University. …These regulations are not
designed to define prohibited conduct in exhaustive terms and,
therefore, should be interpreted broadly. Also, since Clemson
University cannot foresee each and every circumstance that may
arise, all may not be included herein. As such, a student may be
subject to disciplinary action when such behavior is deemed
detrimental to the mission, purposes, and/or goals of the
University, and may not be provided for herein.”
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• General Student Regulations – A quick glance:
– 30 different regulations
– Broad range: from Housing Contract to Fed./State/Local law
• Overview of the Regulations
• Regulations that J-boards hear a lot:
– Alcohol
– Disorderly Conduct
– Computer Misuse
Overview of the Student Code of Conduct
• Sanctions
– Broad spectrum: from Admonition up to Expulsion
– Admonition and Censure are two common sanction in every
case where the student is found responsible
– *We practice creative, educational sanctioning that is individually
tailored to each referred student (more on this later!)
• Appeals
– Must be in writing and submitted within 5 calendar days
– Must address one of four grounds: (1) error and unfair process,
(2) new information, (3) arbitrary sanctioning, or (4) a decision
unsupported by evidence
– Appeals go to the Supreme Court for review
Key Terms and Why We Do What We Do
• Due Process (Dixon v. Alabama)
– Basis of fair process
– (1) notification of charges, (2) right to respond to charges,
(3) right to see evidence, (4) right to impartial hearing
– Due process reflected in everything we do!
• Dual Jurisdiction
– The ability to hear a case of alleged student misconduct
that also is a criminal/civil case
– Remember: we adjudicate based on our SCC, so we are
an exclusive process. This is not “double jeopardy”
Key Terms and Why We Do What We Do
• Case Routing
– The process by which cases are processed and
assigned to a hearing authority
– Dependent upon several factors: (1) severity of
incident, (2) prior violations, (3) relationship with
hearing officer, (4) experience of hearing authority, (5)
welfare of hearing authority
– Our process is designed to (a) be fair to the referred
student and (b) safeguard our hearing authorities
Key Terms and Why We Do What We Do
• Preponderance
– Our burden of proof in the student conduct process
– Ask yourself this question: “Is it more likely than not
the referred student violated the alleged regulation?”
– Or, “Does 51% of the evidence indicate the referred
student violated the alleged regulation?”
– Remember: We are not a court of law. We are not
sentencing people to jail time, etc. We are
adjudicating cases of alleged student misconduct and
we afford students the right to an appeal
Key Terms and Why We Do What We Do
• Brief Motivational Interviewing (BMI)
– A directive, student-centered hearing style that allows us to (1)
find the facts of the case and (2) find out more about the referred
student
– This style sets us apart from a court of law and allows us to be a
body of caring peers
• Educational Sanctioning
– OCES/J-board mandated consequence for a student’s actions
that (1) addresses the student’s behavior, (2) repairs any harm
done to the community, and (3) helps the student grow from the
experience
– Complements (and is possible because of) BMI
Key Terms and Why We Do What We Do
• Confidentiality
– A referred student’s process/outcome is a private matter
– We don’t share students’ information with anyone because it is a
confidential education record protected by the Family
Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)
• Recordkeeping
– Students’ OCES files are kept for six (6) years if there is a
violation, one (1) year if found not in violation
– This is in accordance with SC State Law which confirms
Clemson University’s record retention policy
– Intended to keep accurate documentation on file for welfare of
the community and student – record cannot be expunged
The J-Board Process
• Specific J-Board Routing Process
– Justin passes all J-board cases to Kevin.
– Using the students class schedule and schedule of
boards, Kevin determines which day the case will be
heard
– Kevin contact the student and student advisor and let
them know that they have a hearing scheduled as
well as the date and time-typically one to two weeks
in advance.
– Case is passed to board graduate advisor to create
paperwork
– Finally, case is heard!
Brief Motivational Interviewing (BMI)
• Why we use BMI
– Lower students’ resistance to the hearing process
– Find out what might be going on with the student
• What is BMI?
– A directive, student-centered hearing style designed to be
conversational in nature
– In other words, a candid discussion
• BMI allows us to:
– Find the facts
– Find the person
BMI
• Those who come before our boards may not be
ready to acknowledge their actions
– Our job is to help them think about their actions, the possible
repercussions, and challenge them to engage in self-evaluation
• People make a change only when they are
ready
– BMI is a subtle call to think
– BMI is NOT an order to change
Creative Educational Sanctioning
• Creative education sanctioning means that we have the
flexibility to create sanctions tailored to the referred
student
• Remember: all cases are not the same!
– Incident reports may look identical, but people’s backgrounds
and experiences can be very different
• The responsibility is yours to determine what sanctions
are appropriate: you have to listen to everything and be
observant during the hearing!
Creative Educational Sanctioning
• So, how do you create educational sanctions?
– The task is to take ‘personal clues’ and consider the
context of the incident – consider:
• The severity of the incident
• The impact the incident had on (a) offender and (b)
community
• The offender’s behavior during the incident and at the
hearing
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Remorseful?
Respectful?
Negative?
Acknowledgement of responsibility for own actions?
Creative Educational Sanctioning
• Below are some common sanctions that we use
• In Student Code of Conduct
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Admonition: Verbal warning
Censure: Written warning
In-Kind Restitution
Restriction of Privileges
Not in Student Code of Conduct
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UTI & ACTT
Written Reports
Educational Presentations
Make and/or Post Signs
Apology Letter