An SJB case can be initiated by any member of the Bard community be it students, faculty, administration, or staff. If you are the subject of a complaint brought to the SJB you will be informed by either the Dean of Students or the chair of your rights and responsibilities regarding the case, as well as the nature of your alleged violation. Alleged violations are typically drawn from either the Residence Hall Agreement that all on-campus students sign, or from the Community Standards of Behavior to which all students are expected to adhere. Both of these guidelines are available for review in the Student Handbook.

You will be asked to submit a statement summarizing the incident in question. In addition you may solicit statements from other community members if you feel that their accounts will be helpful to your case. Once the SJB has collected both your statements and those of the other witnesses involved with the case the entire Board will review the available evidence. The Board will first determine if the alleged violation falls within its jurisdiction, and if such an incident would warrant sanctions. If these conditions are met a hearing is typically arranged. Both you and the witnesses you desire to be present will be informed of the date and time of the hearing within 72 hours of the SJB’s preliminary meeting.

All members of the Board will be present at the hearing. Prior to the hearing you or additional witnesses may choose to submit revised or supplementary statements to aide in the Board’s decision. Such statements must be submitted, in writing, 48 hours prior to the specified hearing date. Furthermore, you may ask community members to submit character statements although such witnesses my not appear at the hearing. At the hearing you may elect to bring an individual with you for emotional support. This individual may be present throughout the entire hearing but must remain silent, and have no first hand knowledge of the case. No form of legal counsel may attend an SJB hearing.

Over the course of a hearing the SJB chair will address you after first addressing questions to the plaintiff. Witnesses will then be brought in individually. In all cases you will have the opportunity to address questions to witnesses. Such questions must be submitted in writing during the course of the hearing to the chair. Only the SJB chair will address questions to witnesses during hearings. When the questioning of witnesses concludes both the plaintiff and defendant will have the right to make a brief closing statement to the Board.

Following the hearing the SJB will review all the evidence it has collected over the course of the case. The SJB will first make a determination of what, if any, violations appear to have occurred. The SJB is not a legal body and its verdicts are reached through a preponderance of the available evidence and proof beyond a reasonable doubt need not exist. Rather, given the available evidence the Board considers what the most likely course of events appears to have been. Based upon this judgment the Board will outline the College regulations that appear to have been violated. The Board may then elect to render sanctions. These sanctions may take a variety or forms such as: community service projects reflective of the nature of the violation, social probation, revocation of on-campus housing privileges, suspension, or expulsion. It is the desire of the SJB that sanctions take a constructive rather than a punitive form. As such, decisions for suspension or expulsion are rare, although they are within the authority of the SJB.

You will be notified in writing within 72 hours of the Board’s decision. Typically, if sanctions are mandated you will be asked to meet with the Dean of Students to review these sanctions. If you wish to appeal the Board’s judgment you may direct your appeal to the President of the College within 48 hours of receiving the SJB’s verdict. In cases of suspension or expulsion the first order of appeal is through the Grievance Committee.