Definitions

Community Standards Hearing and Appeals Panel - A panel consisting of Community Standards Justices who have been trained to consider the Community Standards hearing process and appeals filed by students who wish to contest the outcome of a Community Standards Hearing. The Community Standards Hearing and Appeals Panel serves as a safeguard to assure due process for students. Members of the panel can participate in a Community Standards Hearing or Appeal, Gender and Sex-based Discrimination, Harassment and Sexual Misconduct Hearing or Appeal if they are professionally trained for sexual and gender-based cases.
Clery Crimes and Definitions
- Part 1 – Primary Crimes
  - Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter - The willful (non-negligent) killing of one human being by another.
  - Negligent Manslaughter - The killing of another person through gross negligence.
  - Aggravated Assault - An unlawful attack by one person upon another for the purpose of inflicting severe or aggravated bodily injury. This type of assault usually is accompanied by the use of a weapon or by means likely to produce death or great bodily harm. Simple assaults are excluded.
  - Arson - Any willful or malicious burning or attempt to burn, with or without intent to defraud, a dwelling house, public building, motor vehicle or aircraft, personal property of another, etc.
    - Note that only fires determined through investigation to have been willfully or maliciously set are classified as arsons. Arson is therefore the only Clery Act offense that must be investigated before it can be disclosed. If other Clery Act offenses were committed during the arson incident, the most serious is counted in addition to the arson.
  - Burglary - The unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft. Attempted forcible entry is included.
  - Robbery - The taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.
  - Motor Vehicle Theft - The theft or attempted theft of a motor vehicle. A motor vehicle is self-propelled and runs on the surface and not on rails. Motorboats, construction equipment, airplanes, and farming equipment are specifically excluded from this category.
  - Sex Offenses - The Clery Act has four defined sex offenses for which crime statistics must be collected on Clery geography. They are: rape, fondling, incest and statutory rape.
    - Rape - The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
    - Fondling - The touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of his/her age and/or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
    - Incest - Non forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
    - Statutory Rape - Non forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
- Part 2 – Alcohol, drug and weapon violations - The Clery Act requires institutions collect statistics for violations of state law and or ordinances for drug, alcohol and weapons violations.
  - Liquor Law Violations - The violation of laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor; maintaining unlawful drinking places; bootlegging; operating a still; furnishing liquor to a minor or intemperate person; using a vehicle for illegal transportation of liquor; drinking on a train or public conveyance; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned. (Drunkenness and driving under the influence are not included in this definition.)
  - Weapons Possession - The violation of laws or ordinances dealing with weapon offenses, regulatory in nature, such as: manufacture, sale, or possession of deadly weapons; carrying deadly weapons, concealed or openly; furnishing deadly weapons to minors; aliens possessing deadly weapons; and all attempts to commit any of the aforementioned.
  - ▪Drug Abuse Violations - Violations of State and local laws relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing, and making of narcotic drugs. The relevant substances include: Opium or Cocaine and their derivatives (Morphine, Heroin, Codeine); Marijuana; synthetic narcotics (Demerol, Methadone); and dangerous non-narcotic drugs (Barbiturates, Benzedrine).
- Part 3 – Hate Crimes - The Clery Act requires institutions collect crime statistics for hates crime associated with either the commission of a primary crime or the lesser offenses of larceny-theft, simple assault, intimidation, destruction of or vandalism of a buildings or property.
  - Hate Crimes - A Hate Crime is a criminal offense that manifests evidence that the victim was intentionally selected because of the perpetrator’s bias against the victim.
    - Under the Clery Act, Hate Crimes include any of the following offenses motivated by bias: Murder and Non-Negligent Manslaughter, Sexual Assault, Robbery, Aggravated Assault, Burglary, Motor Vehicle Theft, Arson, Larceny-Theft, Simple Assault, Intimidation, Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property. Larceny-Theft, Simple Assault, Intimidation, and Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property are included in your Clery Act statistics only if they are Hate Crimes
    - Larceny-theft - The unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
    - Simple Assault - An unlawful physical attack by one person on another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.
    - Intimidation - To unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual attack. Includes cyber-intimidation if victim is threatened on Clery geography.
    - Destruction, damage or vandalism of property - To willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of the property.
- Part 4: Violence Against Women Act (2013) Crimes
  - Domestic Violence - A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim; by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred; or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
  - Dating Violence - Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
  - Stalking - Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to (1) fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or (2) suffer substantial emotional distress.
    - Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about, a person, or interferes with a person’s property.
    - Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
    - Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.
Community Standards Administrator - A professional staff member of the College who has been trained in the Student Code of Community Standards. This administrator will serve in the role of adjudicating the Community Standards Hearing.
Community Standards Appeal - A written request by a student found responsible of the Student Code of Community Standards for the review of the outcome of responsible or the sanction(s) by the Community Standards Hearing and Appeals Panel. This formal meeting of the Community Standards Hearing and Appeals Panel reviews the merits of the submitted appeal first and then determines, if applicable, the outcome and sanction(s) of the submitted appeal.
Community Standards Hearing - An individual meeting with a Community Standards Administrator during which a respondent has access to any resources or written reports containing information used for the disciplinary action. Depending on the preponderance of evidence, the Community Standards Hearing may result in an outcome of responsible or not responsible. If the respondent is found responsible, appropriate sanctions will be assigned.
Community Standards Justice - A College faculty member, staff member, or student who has been trained in the Student Code of Community Standards. This justice will serve in the role of adjudicating a Community Standards Hearing or Appeal.
No Contact Order (NCO) - A formal directive issued by the College requiring parties in any interpersonal conflict to have no direct or indirect interaction. Restrictions on access to specific locations outlined in the directive may apply. An NCO remains in effect until it is officially removed in writing by the College.
Outcome - The finding of responsible or not responsible through a Community Standards Hearing or Appeal.
Preponderance of Evidence - The standard of proof that is used in making determinations of responsibility for alleged violations and behavior (i.e. what is more probable than not). If the evidence presented meets this standard, the respondent should be found responsible.
Privacy - Information contained in a student’s educational record is protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA). In general, FERPA guarantees privacy of records for all students. FERPA assures that only individuals at any college who have a “legitimate educational need to know” may access a student’s record.
Procedural Error - An error or omission that occurred during the Community Standards Hearing that significantly impacted the outcome of the hearing.
Respondent - Any student who is alleged to have violated the Student Code of Community Standards.
Sanction - The requirement or status assigned to a student who admits responsibility for or is found responsible for violations of the Student Code of Community Standards.
Student Rights and Responsibilities: Can be found under “Institutional Policies” in the Student Handbook.

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