5.7. Title IX Conduct Process
5.7.1 The Respondent and Complainant shall be allowed to attend the entire portion of the Title IX Conduct Panel hearing at which information is received, excluding Panel deliberations.
5.7.2 In Title IX Conduct Panel hearings involving more than one Respondent, hearings will be conducted separately for each Respondent, even when the reported misconduct arises from the same facts or circumstances or involves multiple Title IX Conduct Panel hearings involving more than one Respondent may be consolidated into one hearing at the discretion of the assigned Student Conduct Administrator, OIE, and/or the Title IX Coordinator, or their designee, as appropriate, to ensure procedural fairness and prevent undue delay.
5.7.3 During the formal Title IX Conduct Panel hearing, the Respondent and Complainant(s):
a. May speak on their own behalf and answer questions posed by their own advisor, the other party’s advisor, or conduct panel members;
b. If the credibility of information presented to the panel is in question or dispute, will be given a meaningful opportunity to probe the credibility of the information (including documents, statements, or other information presented by a party or witness), as guided by the Title IX Conduct Panel chair;
c. Will be notified of witnesses to be called no less than five (5) days prior to the scheduled hearing; and
d. Are required to maintain and ensure the privacy of any information disclosed, determined, exposed, communicated or otherwise revealed in the course and scope of their involvement in the Title IX panel hearing process.
5.7.4 The University will simultaneously notify the Complainant, Respondent, and their respective advisors no less than ten (10) days prior to the hearing of the date, time, and location of a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing.
5.7.5 University notification of the names and University positions of all panelists for the Title IX Conduct Panel hearing will be given to the Complainant, Respondent, and their respective advisors no less than sixteen (16) days prior to the hearing. Any objections to the designated panelists, including the rationale for each objection, must be provided to the assigned Student Conduct Administrator in writing no less than twelve (12) days prior to the scheduled Title IX Conduct Panel hearing for consideration. The Dean of Students has discretion to determine the merit of any objection to a designated panelist.
5.7.6 At the close of the investigation by OIE, upon completion of the Final Investigative Report, the Office of the Dean of Students shall provide the Complainant, Respondent, and their respective advisors, if any, electronic access to the Final Investigative Report, together with all information gathered or submitted by the parties throughout the course of the investigation. The Dean of Students shall provide such access no less than sixteen (16) days prior to the scheduled Title IX Conduct Panel hearing. The parties may submit written final responses to the Dean of Students no less than six (6) days prior to a scheduled hearing. The Dean of Students will provide the Complainant, Respondent, and their respective advisors, if any, electronic access to the other party’s written final responses no less than five (5) days prior to the scheduled hearing. The timeline for the resolution of Title IX Complaints by a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing, as outlined in this section, may be shortened under exigent circumstances, but not less than ten (10) days, at the discretion of the assigned Student Conduct Administrator, OIE, and/or the Title IX Coordinator, or their designee, as appropriate.
5.7.7 To ensure the orderly administration of the Title IX Conduct Panel hearing process, any witness who will attend the hearing must notify the assigned Student Conduct Administrator no less than six (6) days prior to the scheduled hearing in order to participate.
5.7.8 The Title IX Conduct Panel may accommodate concerns for the personal safety, well-being, and/or fears of confrontation of the Complainant, Respondent, and/or other witnesses during the hearing by providing hearing participation while in separate facilities or locations through videophone, video conferencing, or other digital means, as determined to be appropriate in the judgment of a University Conduct Officer or their designee. However, if provided, these accommodations must ensure that both parties are able to hear and see one another to facilitate direct and cross-examination in real time.
5.7.9 Both the Complainant and the Respondent must have an advisor. If a party does not have an advisor on any day of a scheduled hearing, the University will pause the hearing and provide a trained advisor at no expense to the party before resuming the hearing process.
5.7.10 All evidence gathered and obtained during a Title IX investigation OIE must be made available at the hearing to give each party an equal opportunity to refer to such evidence during the hearing, including for purposes of cross-examination.
5.7.11 The panel chair will determine whether any information gathered or submitted, or question proposed or posed is admissible and may be considered by the conduct panel. For any information or question the panel chair determines is not admissible, the panel chair must provide an oral or written justification for that determination. Either party may challenge the panel chair’s determination by timely noting the challenge in the digital recording of the Title IX Conduct Panel hearing. Any challenge timely noted may be considered on appeal, if any. Any challenge not timely noted is waived.
a. Only relevant and credible evidence will be admitted during a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing. Relevant evidence includes evidence that is probative of a material fact. Evidence which confuses the issues in the case, misleads the conduct panel, or is presented to cause undue delay will be excluded as irrelevant. Relevancy determinations will be made on the basis of logic and common sense, and lie within the discretion of the panel chair.
b. The following information or evidence will not be admitted for consideration at the hearing: 1) information that is protected by a legally recognized privilege; or 2) medical records unless offered with the voluntary, expressed consent of the subject of the medical records. All medical records of the subject offered with voluntary, expressed consent will be included with admitted evidence in a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing; the subject may only withdraw expressed consent for all submitted medical records in their entirety, not select portions of the records.
c. Questions and evidence about the Complainant’s sexual predisposition or prior sexual behavior are generally irrelevant to a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing. Questions or evidence about the Complainant’s sexual predisposition or prior sexual behavior may be admissible, however, when offered: 1) to prove that someone other than the Respondent committed the alleged misconduct; or 2) to prove the Complainant’s consent through questions or evidence concerning specific incidents of the Complainant’s sexual behavior with respect to or toward the Respondent.
d. During the course of the hearing, the panel chair may rule on the admissibility of questions posed by panel members, the parties, or the parties’ advisors. The chair may exclude or disallow a question, or require a party to rephrase a question, if the question is not relevant, if it has been asked and answered, or if it is argumentative, abusive, or harassing. The panel chair will not rule on the relevancy of a proposed question or line of questions before the hearing.
e. Before the hearing, the panel chair will determine the admissibility of any material or information gathered by or submitted to OIE during the investigation, as provided in Policy 1.009, or submitted by the parties to the Dean of Students. Admissibility determinations by the panel chair will be shared with the parties and their advisors by the Dean of Students no less than two (2) days before the hearing.
f. Ordinarily, the hearing panel will only consider written materials and information (other tangible evidence, documents, images, or recordings) gathered by or submitted to OIE during the investigation (before the completion of the Final Investigative Report). In extraordinary circumstances, the panel chair may admit new information submitted by the parties after the close of the investigation, if the information was not available to the offering party at the time of the investigation or for other good cause.
g. Panelists may not consider inadmissible evidence when determining if the Respondent is in violation of this Code; however, such evidence may inform questions asked by the panel of both parties and witnesses during the hearing.
5.7.12 The Title IX Conduct Panel chair has the authority and discretion to maintain the decorum of the hearing to ensure it is respectful and not abusive or intimidating. This may include terminating or excluding a line of questioning that harasses a party or witness or that the panel chair deems to be repetitious or duplicative. The panel chair may also remove a party, witness, or advisor who fails to alter their behavior after receiving a warning from the panel chair from the hearing.
5.7.13 If the credibility of any evidence presented by any party or otherwise considered by the panel is at issue, the Title IX Panel chair will ensure the panel and the parties are afforded a meaningful opportunity to probe the credibility of such information.
5.7.14 The Title IX Conduct Panel must refrain from drawing an inference regarding a determination of in violation of this Code based solely on the absence of, or refusal to answer questions by, a party or witness, regardless of the reason for the absence or refusal. The faulty memory of a party or witness, or their inability to recount each specific detail of an incident in sequence, does not automatically imply that they are lying or making intentionally false statements. The Respondent is presumed not to have violated this Code until a determination is made by the Title IX Conduct Panel through the hearing
5.7.15 Title IX Conduct Panel members may ask questions of both parties and witnesses during the hearing.
5.7.16 Advisors are not permitted to testify or provide answers to the parties they advise during a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing. Advisors must reserve their role to asking direct questions of, and providing support to the party they advise, and to examining the other party and any witnesses. A Title IX Conduct Panel hearing is not a judicial or legal process; instead, it is an educational, disciplinary process. The panel chair has the authority and discretion to admonish an advisor on the record who violates the requirements of this section. If the advisor fails to alter their behavior after being warned, the panel chair may remove the advisor from the hearing.
5.7.17 After a Title IX Conduct Panel hearing has been completed and all pertinent information has been received, the Title IX Conduct Panel, in closed session, will deliberate and determine, by majority vote, if the preponderance of the evidence shows that the Respondent has violated section 3.2.16 and/or any other section of this Code in which an allegation is made against the student. The Title IX Conduct Panel chair serves as a non-voting member of the conduct panel and will not participate in the vote to determine whether the Respondent is in violation of this Code, however, they will participate in reviewing the information and in case deliberations. The assigned Student Conduct Administrator will be available as a resource during all deliberations of the Title IX Conduct Panel. The Student Conduct Administrator has no decision-making authority in a Title IX Conduct Panel.
5.7.18 The existence of past and/or current Code violations and/or outcomes will not be shared with the Title IX Conduct Panel until after a finding that the Respondent is in violation of the Code has been made. After such a finding is made by the Title IX Conduct Panel, the assigned Student Conduct Administrator will provide the Title IX Conduct Panel with information regarding past and/or current Code violations and/or outcomes for consideration. The voting panelists will then deliberate and determine, by majority vote, an appropriate educational, conduct outcome(s) to be imposed against the Respondent and if remedies must be provided to restore or preserve the Complainant’s educational access.
5.7.19 At the conclusion of all Title IX Conduct Panel hearings, a written deliberation report will be prepared, including:
a. Identification of the allegations against the Respondent;
b. A description of the procedural steps taken from receipt of the reported misconduct through the determination, including any notifications to the parties, interviews with parties and witnesses, site visits, methods used to gather other evidence, and hearings held;
c. Conclusions made by the panel regarding the applicability of this Code to the facts;
d. A statement of, and rationale for, the result as to each allegation, including a determination whether the Respondent is in violation of the Code;
e. Any disciplinary outcome determination to be imposed on the Respondent;
f. A statement of whether remedies to restore or preserve the Complainant’s educational access must be provided. Specific remedies shall not be included in the written deliberation report, unless a remedy will directly affect the Respondent. Any such remedies shall be determined through a post-hearing remedies determination by the University Title IX Coordinator in collaboration with the Complainant;
g. Evidentiary findings of fact supporting the determination of responsibility and all conclusions made by the panel;
h. Any information the panel excluded from its consideration and why; and
I. The procedures and permissible bases for the Complainant and Respondent to appeal
All members of the Title IX Conduct Panel will have the opportunity to review and revise the deliberation report for accuracy and completeness, as appropriate, before written notification of the hearing outcome is provided to the Complainant and Respondent. The deliberation report shall be the property of the University and maintained as part of the University’s disciplinary records.
5.7.20 The University shall audiotape and/or digitally record all Title IX Conduct Panel hearings; however, panel deliberations will not be recorded. No other recordings of the Title IX Conduct Panel hearing will be permitted. The tape and/or digital recording shall be the property of the University and maintained as part of the University’s disciplinary records. The Complainant or Respondent may obtain access to review the audiotape and/or digital recording by submitting a written request to the assigned Student Conduct Administrator.
5.7.21 The assigned Student Conduct Administrator will simultaneously notify the Complainant and Respondent, and the TCU Title IX Coordinator in writing of the outcome of a formal Title IX Conduct Panel hearing, including a copy of the deliberation report, within five (5) days following the conclusion of the hearing. The assigned Student Conduct Administrator may meet individually with either party to discuss the deliberation report and/or the appeal process.
5.7.22 The Complainant, Respondent, or their respective advisors, if any, are prohibited from directly contacting any Title IX Conduct Panel member, including the panel chair, for any reason either prior to or after the resolution of any Title IX Conduct Panel hearing.