Misconduct for which the campuses may impose sanctions
includes, but is not limited to, any of the following:
(1) Discriminatory conduct. Discriminatory
conduct which harms or adversely affects any member of the college community
because of their race; color; national origin; sensory, mental or physical
disability; use of a service animal; gender, including pregnancy; marital
status, religion; creed; genetic information; sexual orientation; age; gender
identity; gender expression; veteran's status; or any other legally protected
classification.
(2) Sexual
misconduct. Sexual misconduct includes sexual harassment, sexual intimidation,
sexual violence, domestic violence, and dating violence. Sexual misconduct may
also include acts of sexual harassment prohibited under Title IX. See WAC
132F-121-280.
(a) Sexual harassment is a form of sexual
discrimination consisting of unwelcome, gender-based, verbal, written,
electronic and/or physical conduct. Sexual harassment does not need to be
sexual in nature and can include offensive remarks about a person's gender.
There are two types of sexual harassment:
(i)
Hostile environment sexual harassment occurs when the conduct is sufficiently
severe and/or pervasive and so objectively offensive that it has the effect of
altering the terms or conditions of employment or substantially limiting the
ability of a student to participate in or benefit from the college's
educational and/or social programs and/or student housing.
(ii) Quid pro quo harassment occurs when an
individual, in a position of real or perceived authority, conditions the
receipt of a benefit upon granting of sexual favors.
(b) Sexual exploitation. Taking nonconsensual
or abusive sexual advantage of another for the respondent's own advantage or
benefit, or to benefit or take advantage of anyone other than the one being
exploited, when the behavior does not otherwise constitute one of the other
sexual misconduct offenses described herein. Examples of sexual exploitation
may include, but are not limited to:
(i)
Invading another person's sexual privacy;
(ii) Prostituting another person;
(iii) Nonconsensual photography and digital
or video recording of nudity or sexual activity, or nonconsensual audio
recording of sexual activity;
(iv)
Unauthorized sharing or distribution of photographs or digital or video
recording of nudity or sexual activity, or audio recording of sexual activity,
unless otherwise protected by law;
(v) Engaging in voyeurism. A person commits
voyeurism if they knowingly view, photograph, record, or film another person,
without that person's knowledge and consent, while the person being viewed,
photographed, recorded, or filmed is in a place where the person has a
reasonable expectation of privacy;
(vi) Knowingly or recklessly exposing another
person to a significant risk of sexually transmitted disease or infection;
or
(vii) Causing the nonconsensual
indecent exposure of another person, as defined by subsection (21) of this
section.
(c) Sexual
violence. Sexual violence is a type of sexual discrimination and harassment.
Nonconsensual sexual intercourse, nonconsensual sexual contact, domestic
violence, dating violence, and stalking are all types of sexual violence.
(i) Nonconsensual sexual intercourse (anal,
oral, or vaginal), however slight, with any object, by a person upon another
person, that is without consent and/or by force. Sexual intercourse includes
anal or vaginal penetration by a penis, tongue, finger, or object, or oral
copulation by mouth to genital contact or genital to mouth contact.
(ii) Nonconsensual sexual contact is any
intentional sexual touching, however slight, with any object or body part, by a
person upon another person that is without consent and/or by force. Sexual
touching includes any bodily contact with the breasts, groin, mouth, or other
bodily orifice of another individual, or any other bodily contact in a sexual
manner.
(d) Consent:
Knowing, voluntary, and clear permission by word or action, to engage in
mutually agreed upon sexual activity. Each party has the responsibility to make
certain that the other has consented before engaging in the activity. For
consent to be valid, there must be at the time of the act of sexual intercourse
or sexual contact actual words or conduct indicating freely given agreement to
have sexual intercourse or sexual contact. A person cannot consent if they are
unable to understand what is happening or is disoriented, helpless, asleep or
unconscious for any reason, including due to alcohol or other drugs. An
individual who engages in sexual activity when the individual knows, or should
know, that the other person is physically or mentally incapacitated has engaged
in nonconsensual conduct. Intoxication is not a defense against allegations
that an individual has engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct.
(e) Domestic violence includes asserted
violent misdemeanor and felony offenses committed by the victim's current or
former spouse, current or former cohabitant, person similarly situated under
domestic or family violence law, or anyone else protected under domestic or
family violence law, and, includes conduct that causes emotional,
psychological, physical, and sexual trauma.
(f) Dating violence means violence by a
person who has been in a romantic or intimate relationship with the victim, and
includes conduct that causes emotional, psychological, physical, and sexual
trauma. Whether there was such relationship will be gauged by its length, type,
and frequency of interaction.
(g)
Stalking is intentional and repeated following of another person, which places
that person in reasonable fear that the perpetrator intends to injure,
intimidate, or harass that person. Stalking also includes instances where the
perpetrator knows or reasonably should know that person is frightened,
intimidated, or harassed, even if the perpetrator lacks such an
intent.
(3) Harassment.
Unwelcome and offensive conduct, including verbal, nonverbal, or physical
conduct not otherwise protected by law, that is directed at a person because of
their membership in a protected class and that is sufficiently serious as to
deny or limit, and that does deny or limit, the ability of a student to
participate in or benefit from the college's educational program or that
creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive environment for other campus
community members. Protected status includes a person's race; color; national
origin; sensory, mental or physical disability; use of a service animal;
gender, including pregnancy; marital status; age; religion; creed; genetic
information; sexual orientation; gender identity; gender expression; veteran's
status; or any other legally protected classification, and includes sexual
harassment. Harassing conduct may include, but is not limited to, physical
conduct, verbal, written, social media and electronic forms of communication
not otherwise protected by law.
(4)
Academic dishonesty. Any act of course-related dishonesty including, but not
limited to, cheating or plagiarism.
(a)
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, using, or attempting to use, any
material, assistance, or source which has not been authorized by the instructor
to satisfy any expectation or requirement in an instructional course, or
obtaining, without authorization, test questions or answers or other academic
material that belong to another.
(b) Plagiarism includes, but is not limited
to, using another person's ideas, words, or other work in an instructional
course without properly crediting that person.
(c) Academic dishonesty also includes, but is
not limited to, submitting in an instructional course either information that
is known to be false (while concealing that falsity) or work that is
substantially the same as that previously submitted in another course (without
the current instructor's approval).
(5) Other dishonesty. Any other act of
dishonesty related to district operations. Such acts include, but are not
limited to:
(a) Forgery, alteration, or misuse
of any district document, record, or instrument of identification;
(b) Tampering with an election conducted by
or for district students; or
(c)
Furnishing false information, or failing to furnish correct information, in
response to the request or requirement of a district officer or
employee.
(6) Obstruction
or disruption of (a) any instruction, research, administration, disciplinary
proceeding, or other district activity, whether occurring on or off district
property, or (b) any other activity that is authorized to occur on district
property, whether or not actually conducted by the district.
(7) Assault, physical abuse, verbal abuse,
threat(s), intimidation, harassment, or other conduct which harms, threatens,
or is reasonably perceived as threatening the health or safety of another
person or another person's property.
(8) Bullying is unwelcome conduct, whether
verbal, physical or otherwise, including "cyber" bullying that is objectively
offensive and sufficiently severe, or persistent, and/or pervasive, that it has
the effect of substantially limiting the ability of an individual to
participate in or benefit from the colleges' educational and/or social
programs, and/or student housing. Bullying behavior is conduct that is not
otherwise protected by law. Bullying may be top-down, perpetuated by someone
with greater positional power towards another with lesser positional power;
bottom-up, perpetuated by someone with lesser positional power towards someone
with greater positional power; or peer-to-peer. Petty slights, annoyances,
offensive utterances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious)
typically do not qualify as bullying.
(9) Cyber misconduct. Cyberstalking,
cyberbullying, or online harassment. Use of electronic communications
including, but not limited to, electronic mail, instant messaging, electronic
bulletin boards, and social media sites, to harass, abuse, bully or engage in
other conduct which harms, threatens, or is reasonably perceived as threatening
the health or safety of another person. Prohibited activities include, but are
not limited to, unauthorized monitoring of another's email communications
directly or through spyware, sending threatening emails, disrupting electronic
communications with spam or by sending a computer virus, sending false messages
to third parties using another's email identity, nonconsensual recording,
including images or videos of a sexual nature, and nonconsensual distribution
of such material.
(10) Stalking.
Stalking is intentional and repeated following of another person, which places
that person in reasonable fear that the perpetrator intends to injure,
intimidate, or harass that person. Stalking also includes instances where the
perpetrator knows or reasonably should know that person is frightened,
intimidated, or harassed, even if the perpetrator lacks such an
intent.
(11) Attempted or actual
damage to, or theft or misuse of, real or personal property or money of (a) the
district or state, (b) any student or district officer, employee, or
organization, or (c) any other person or organization lawfully present on
district property, or possession of such property or money after it has been
stolen.
(12) Failure to comply with
the direction of a district officer or employee who is acting in the legitimate
performance of their duties, or failure to properly identify oneself to such a
person when requested to do so.
(13) Participation in any activity which
unreasonably disrupts the operations of the district or infringes on the rights
of another member of the district community, or leads or incites another person
to engage in such an activity.
(14)
Weapons. Carrying, holding, wearing, exhibiting, displaying or drawing of any
firearm, dagger, sword, knife or other cutting or stabbing instrument, club,
explosive device, or any other weapon apparently capable of producing bodily
harm is prohibited on the college campus, subject to the following exceptions:
(a) Commissioned law enforcement personnel or
legally authorized military personnel while in performance of their
duties;
(b) A student with a valid
concealed weapons permit may store a firearm in their vehicle parked on campus
in accordance with
RCW
9.41.050, provided the vehicle is locked and
the weapon is concealed from view; or
(c) The president or the president's designee
may authorize possession of a weapon on campus upon a showing that the weapon
is reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical purpose. Such permission
shall be in writing and shall be subject to such terms or conditions
incorporated therein.
(d) This
prohibition does not apply to the possession and/or use of disabling chemical
sprays when possessed and/or used for self-defense.
(15) Hazing. Hazing includes any act
committed as part of a person's recruitment, initiation, pledging, admission
into, or affiliation with a student organization, athletic team, or living
group, or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to such an
organization, athletic team, or living group that causes, or is likely to
cause, bodily danger or physical harm, or serious psychological or emotional
harm, to any student or other person attending a public or private institution
of higher education or other postsecondary educational institution in this
state, including causing, directing, coercing, or forcing a person to consume
any food, liquid, alcohol, drug, or other substance which subjects the person
to risk of such harm, regardless of the person's willingness to participate.
"Hazing" does not include customary athletic events or other similar contests
or competitions. Hazing includes, but is not limited to, any initiation into a
student organization or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to
such an organization that causes, or is likely to cause, bodily danger or
physical harm, or serious mental or emotional harm, to any student.
(16) Alcohol. The use, possession, delivery,
or sale of any alcoholic beverage, except as permitted by law, applicable
college policies, or authorized by chancellor or a college president, or being
observably under the influence of alcohol.
(17) Drugs.
(a) Marijuana. The use, possession, delivery,
or sale of marijuana or the psychoactive compounds found in marijuana and
intended for human consumption, regardless of form. While state law permits the
recreational use of marijuana, federal law prohibits such use on college
premises or in connection with college activities.
(b) Other drugs. The use, possession,
delivery, sale or being under the influence of any legend drug, including
anabolic steroids, androgens, or human growth hormones as defined in chapter
69.41 RCW, or any other controlled substance under chapter 69.50 RCW, except as
prescribed for a student's use by a licensed practitioner.
(18) Obstruction of the free flow of
pedestrian or vehicular movement on district property or at a district
activity.
(19) Conduct which is
disorderly, lewd, or obscene.
(20)
Breach of the peace, or aiding, abetting, or procuring a breach of the
peace.
(21) Indecent exposure. The
intentional or knowing exposure of a person's genitals or other private body
parts when done in a place or manner in which such exposure is likely to cause
affront or alarm. Breastfeeding or expressing breast milk is not indecent
exposure.
(22) The use of tobacco,
electronic cigarettes, and related products is prohibited in any building
owned, leased or operated by the college, including 25 feet from entrances,
exits, windows that open, and ventilation intakes of such buildings, and where
otherwise prohibited. "Related products" include, but are not limited to,
cigarettes, pipes, bidi, clove cigarettes, water pipes, hookahs, chewing
tobacco, and snuff.
(23) Theft or
other misuse of computer time or other electronic information resources of the
district. Such misuse includes but is not limited to:
(a) Unauthorized use of such resources or
opening of a file, message, or other item;
(b) Unauthorized duplication, transfer, or
distribution of a computer program, file, message, or other item;
(c) Unauthorized use or distribution of
someone else's password or other identification;
(d) Use of such time or resources to
interfere with someone else's work;
(e) Use of such time or resources to send,
display, or print an obscene or abusive message, text, or image;
(f) Use of such time or resources to
interfere with normal operation of the district's computing system or other
electronic information resources;
(g) Use of such time or resources in
violation of applicable copyright or other law;
(h) Adding to or otherwise altering the
infrastructure of the district's electronic information resources without
authorization; or
(i) Failure to
comply with the district's electronic use policy.
(24) Unauthorized possession, duplication, or
other use of a key, keycard, or other restricted means of access to district
property, or unauthorized entry onto or into district property.
(25) Abuse or misuse of any of the procedures
relating to student complaints or misconduct including, but not limited to:
(a) Failure to obey a subpoena;
(b) Falsification or misrepresentation of
information;
(c) Disruption, or
interference with the orderly conduct, of a proceeding;
(d) Interfering with someone else's proper
participation in a proceeding;
(e)
Destroying or altering potential evidence, or attempting to intimidate or
otherwise improperly pressure a witness or potential witness;
(f) Attempting to influence the impartiality
of, or harassing or intimidating, a student conduct committee member;
or
(g) Failure to comply with any
disciplinary sanction(s) imposed under this student conduct code.
(26) Safety violations. The
operation of any motor vehicle on district property in an unsafe manner or in a
manner which is reasonably perceived as threatening the health or safety of
another person. Safety violation includes any nonaccidental conduct that
interferes with or otherwise compromises any college policy, equipment, or
procedure relating to the safety and security of the campus community,
including tampering with fire safety equipment and triggering false alarms or
other emergency response systems.
(27) Violation of any other district rule,
requirement, or procedure including, but not limited to, any that is posted in
electronic form, the district's traffic and parking rules, or the requirements
for carpool parking.
(28) Violation
of any federal, state, or local law, rule, or regulation, including any hate
crime.
(29) Ethical violation. The
breach of any generally recognized and published code of ethics or standards of
professional practice that governs the conduct of a particular profession for
which the student is taking a course or is pursuing as an educational goal or
major.
In addition to initiating discipline proceeding for violation
of the student conduct code, the college may refer any violations of federal,
state or local laws to civil and criminal authorities for disposition. The
college shall proceed with student disciplinary proceedings regardless of
whether the underlying conduct is subject to civil or criminal
prosecution.
(30) Attempting
to commit any of the foregoing acts of misconduct or aiding, abetting,
inciting, encouraging, or assisting another person to commit any of the
foregoing acts of misconduct.
(31)
Retaliation. Retaliation against any individual for reporting, providing
information, exercising one's rights or responsibilities, or otherwise being
involved in the process of responding to, investigating, or addressing
allegations or violations of federal, state or local law, or college policies
including, but not limited to, student conduct code provisions prohibiting
discrimination and harassment.