29.16 Review
If the person charged wishes a review of the decision of the hearing officer, the following procedures shall be followed:
- Request for Review. Within ten days from the date of the report of the hearing officer, the person charged may submit a written request for review to the presiding officer of the appropriate Judicial Commission — the faculty Judicial Commission if a faculty member has been charged; the staff Judicial Commission if a staff member has been charged; the student Judicial Commission if a student has been charged. A copy of the request shall be sent to the Academic Officer and the hearing officer. For good cause shown, the presiding officer of the Commission may grant a ten-day extension of the ten-day time limit. If he or she does so, the presiding officer shall inform the Academic Officer of the decision and the reasons for it. In the request for review, the person charged should specify whether the request is for a review of the conclusions, or of the recommended sanctions, or both.
- Review Panels. The Faculty Senate, Student Senate, and Staff Council each shall create Judicial Commissions, from among whose members Panels shall be selected to hear requests for review of a hearing officer's decision. Such Panels shall consist of five members, with three persons constituting a quorum; shall be standing committees; and shall have standby members to sit if a member of the Panel is disqualified or unable to sit. The order in which standby members will be called on to serve shall be fixed at the time the Panels are constituted. A Panel member may be disqualified for cause, but no peremptory challenges shall be allowed. Challenges for cause shall be ruled on by the Chairman of the appropriate Judicial Commission. The Panel shall reach a decision within twenty-five days of a case being referred to it. If the Panel fails to reach a decision within the twenty-five-day period, the President will make a final decision on the basis of the hearing officer's recommendation.
- Basis for Accepting Requests for Review. Whenever a suspension, dismissal, or expulsion has been recommended by the hearing officer, the request for review by the person charged shall automatically be granted. In other cases, the person charged shall in his or her request for review set forth the grounds for believing the findings to be erroneous or the sanction unfair, or both. Such request shall be granted if two or more members of the Panel vote to accept the request.
- Additional Evidence. The Panel will review the case on the basis of the record of the hearing before the hearing officer. If the Panel deems the record of the proceedings before the hearing officer insufficient to permit it to review the case intelligently, the Panel may remand the case to the hearing officer for further proceedings. The remand order shall state specifically what additional evidence should be taken. A case may be remanded only twice and the rehearing by the hearing officer shall take place as soon as reasonably possible after the remand.
- Record of Hearing. The taped record or transcript of the hearing before the hearing officer shall be made available to the parties and to the Panel.
- Disposition. The Panel generally will hear oral arguments in cases on review, but may elect to decide the case on the basis of the taped record or transcript of the hearing before the hearing officer and written briefs. The Panel will be bound by the findings of fact made by the hearing officer, but not by the conclusions drawn from the facts or the sanctions recommended by the hearing officer. The presiding officer of the Panel will notify counsel and the parties of the date and place of the Panel hearing at least two days in advance of such hearings. The Panel may request written briefs, either before or after a hearing.
- Decision. The Panel shall render a written decision as soon as possible after the hearing, but at least within the twenty-five-day period mentioned above. The Panel's decision shall be in the form of a recommendation to the President.