General disciplinary breaches by students may involve breach of the College Regulations and/or breaches of the accommodation contract for students living in College premises. The procedure to be followed is set out in the Ordinance on Discipline (Appendix 1 to the College Regulations).
The standard of proof applied, as in investigations conducted by the University, is the balance of probabilities.
Criminal Offences
Reports may disclose behaviour amounting to a criminal offence. In such cases, where a reporting student prefers to report the matter to the Police, or the Police become involved directly, the College would not usually take action until the Police matter is resolved. Where reports are not made to the Police, the matter shall be dealt with under the normal disciplinary processes, taking account, in particular, of the definition of misconduct in the College Regulations (which makes reference to criminal offences).
Reporting a Concern
An incident can be reported by completing a concern form. If preferred, a student may in the first instance report their concern by sending an email to the Dean.
Summary of Procedure
On receiving a report of concern, the Dean will:
- Perform an investigation to establish whether the facts disclose a relevant offence;
- Make a determination as to whether any offence is a ‘minor’ or a ‘major’ offence under the College Regulations;
- Where a minor offence is found, proceed to determine sanction.
Where the offence constitutes a major offence, the Dean will refer the matter to the Convenor of the Disciplinary Committee for the formation of a Disciplinary Tribunal. The operation of the Tribunal is explained in the Ordinance on Discipline. Where the offence constitutes a minor offence, the Dean will impose a sanction according to their discretion. The Dean is able to impose a fine or alternative sanction or institute a further disciplinary process, which can result in sanctions including the temporary or permanent removal of a College member.
The full procedure is set out in the Ordinance on Discipline (Appendix 1 to the College Regulations).