BCA Guidance: The OCS Director's Initial Decisions

Section IV.A.1 of the Stanford Student Conduct Charter of 2023 provides that, within five days of receiving a concern, the Director of OCS or their designee (the “Director”) is to determine (a) whether the allegations in the concern justify initiating formal processes and, (b) if so, which level of review is appropriate. There has been some uncertainty about whether the Director must make those decisions based purely on the contents of the written Concern that was filed, even if the Director concludes that some additional information is needed to make the two necessary determinations.

With this Guidance, BCA confirms that, in deciding whether a concern should go forward and, if so, under what level of review, the Director is entitled to make reasonable inquiries to secure an adequate understanding of the basic allegations into the “nature of the concern.” The Charter defines “nature of the concern” to include “the apparent severity and pattern of the alleged activity and its impact on other community members.” The BCA cautions that the Director’s role in this regard is not to conduct a full investigation into the weight of evidence supporting or undermining the allegations of the concern.