IFC Judicial Board Governance Policies

In an effort to reinvigorate the fraternity community with a sense of accountability and reinforce the notion of self-governance, the IFC has worked to create a judicial board that will begin hearing cases related to social event violations and assigning sanctions to responsible chapters. The process by which this board will operate is outlined below.

Notification

  1. College Life staff receives DPS reports on Monday afternoon at weekly conduct meeting. Following the meeting the IFC Advisor will determine the cases that will go before the IFC Judicial Board.
  1. The IFC Advisor will send charge letters to all accused fraternities by midnight on Monday and redacted reports pertinent to the case within a reasonable time of receiving them.
  1. Before noon on Tuesday the Chief Justice and the IFC Advisor will review a summary of all the judicial incidents from the previous week and the full reports of all cases involving fraternities.

Board Composition and Operating Standards

  1. Board Composition:The board shall be comprised of 15 members. Voting members of the board shall consist of one representative of each fraternity. The IFC Chief Justice shall act as the chair of the hearings and will only have a vote in the case of a tie. The IFC Secretary shall serve as an ex-officio officer with no vote and will record the minutes of every hearing. The IFC President shall serve as an ex-officio member of the board with no vote. In the event that the Chief Justice’s fraternity is being charged, the IFC President shall act as the chair of the hearing board. If the IFC Chief Justice and IFC President are members of the same fraternity, the IFC Executive Board will appoint one executive to the position of acting chair. All other IFC Executive Board members may serve as ex-officio officers without a vote at their pleasure.
  1. Meeting Date and Time:The IFC Judicial Board will meet every Wednesday at a time determined by the board each semester to discuss any incidents and meet with representatives from chapters being charge with policy violations
  1. Quorum: In order to have quorum the board must have a majority of members with voting power.
  1. Advising:The IFC Advisor will be present for the IFC Judicial Board meetings and shall act as the Board’s advisor.
  1. Board Member Expectations:In accordance with the Gettysburg College Honor Code, the students understand it is their responsibility to keep the conversations in the room private and conduct their proceedings in a manner that is fair to all parties involved.

General Policies

  1. If an IFC Executive Board member’s fraternity is being charged, they may not be in the room during the deliberation. If the executive in question is the IFC Secretary, he will appoint a judicial board member or ex-officio officer to take minutes.
  2. Judicial board members who are also members of the fraternity being charged will have no vote during the hearing and may not be present for deliberation of responsibility or sanctions.
  3. The order of cases being heard will be determined based on the severity of potential sanctions. This determination shall be made by the IFC Chief Justice.
  4. Chapters may only bring witnesses who are members of the chapter and have relevant information to the hearing.
  5. The IFC Judicial Board will use a preponderance of evidence as the standard of proof. (51% sure that the policy was violated)
  6. An organization has the ability to request the recusal of a board member if they perceive a bias. The chair has the ability to decide whether to grant the request.

IFC Judicial Board Hearing Procedure

  1. The IFC Chief Justice will read the charges against a chapter and the DPS report.
  2. The IFC Chief Justice will ask the chapter if they plead responsible or not responsible
  3. If chapter representatives plead not responsible theypresent their version of the events and field questions based on the report.
  4. Chapter representatives, including their Judicial Board delegate, will be dismissed from the room.
  5. Board will conduct their deliberations, reserving the right to call the chapter in for follow-up questions during the deliberations.
  6. Board members will vote to determine whether or not a chapter is responsible for the charges.
  7. The Board will determine and vote on the appropriate sanctions for the chapter.
  8. The chapter will return to the room and the Chief Justice will brief them on the outcome and, if applicable, their assigned sanctions
  9. The IFC Advisor will send electronic notification to the chapter of the board’s decision and any sanctions

Appeals

  1. A chapter may appeal a decision in a case for the following reasons:
  2. Unreasonable Sanction: To determine whether the magnitude of the sanction(s) imposed was unreasonable for the violation of policy for which the student was found responsible;
  3. Procedural Error: To determine procedural error or absence of conformity with prescribed procedures during the investigative stage or any stage of the process (including an error during the hearing) preventing either the Complainant or Respondent a reasonable opportunity to prepare and present information to the investigator;
  4. New Information: To determine new information discovered which was not available at the time of the investigative process and could have affected the outcome of the case.
  5. To file an appeal the chapter must submit a letter of appeal to the IFC Advisor before 3:00PM on the Friday immediately following their hearing.
  6. The appeal will be reviewed by the Director of Student Activities & Greek Life or the Director of Student Rights and Responsibilities. The reviewer will decide if the appeal will be granted or denied.
  7. If the appeal is granted the chapter will work with the individual who granted their appeal to set up a time for a new judicial hearing.
  8. If a chapter files an appeal, any sanctions assigned as a result of the decision they are appealing will be suspended until such time that the appeal is decided. If the appeal is denied the previous sanctions will go into effect with dates modified to fit the delay caused by the appeal process.