Administrative Hearings

In some sexual misconduct cases, the associate dean meets individually with those involved rather than submitting the case for a hearing before the Student Disciplinary Committee. This is most often true when the violation is of a less serious nature and discipline would not result in suspension or dismissal. If an administrative hearing is to take place, the involved parties will receive a written notice prior to the hearing date that will include a description of the behavior that allegedly violates the Sexual Misconduct Policy, the investigative materials, and any other information the associate dean deems necessary to provide to the parties. The notice and related materials will be sent to the involved students' pepperdine.edu email accounts. The notice will also include the date and time of the administrative hearing.

The administrative hearing officer (normally the associate dean) will meet with the complainant first to discuss the incident. After the meeting with the complainant, the administrative hearing officer will meet with the respondent to discuss the incident. The meeting will be followed by an email from the administrative hearing officer summarizing the discussions and imposing a sanction if a violation of the Sexual Misconduct Policy is found.

Sanctions imposed as a result of an administrative hearing cannot be appealed. Student disciplinary committee sanctions may be appealed; therefore, students who are required to attend an administrative hearing may request instead to have the matter heard by the Student Disciplinary Committee if they would like to reserve their right to an appeal..