1 STANDING RULES OF THE PANHELLENIC COUNCIL THE UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE ARTICLE I JUDICIAL PROCESS Section 1. Organization The Judicial Board shall consist of the Vice President of Internal Affairs and one representative from each chapter. The Vice President of Internal Affairs shall serve as an ex-officio member. Any active, initiated member of a Panhellenic Council member sorority is eligible for nomination to the Judicial Board provided she has at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA. No members of the Panhellenic Executive Board shall serve as Judicial Board members. No sorority shall have more than one representative on Judicial Board each year. A. Chapter members will go through an application process to join the Judicial Board. B. Should a position become vacant, there will be another application process to fill it. C. The term of Judicial Board members will be one year. Selection will be made during Spring Semester, following the election of Panhellenic Executive Board. D. All appointees must go through judicial training. Section 2. Jurisdiction A. The Jurisdiction of the Panhellenic Judicial Board shall extend to all group cases involving the violation of the following: 1. Panhellenic Constitution and Bylaws. 2. Panhellenic building and Sorority Village Association policies. 3. Any other official regulation of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Council, including the Unanimous Agreements of the NPC. 4. Public Property, as in damage incurred at any fraternity or sorority group function. B. A member of a sorority may petition Panhellenic Judicial Board for interpretation of Panhellenic policies. During periods when school is not in regular session, the Panhellenic Judicial Board Chairperson, Panhellenic President, or Panhellenic Advisor may rule on petitions. C. The Panhellenic Judicial Board shall interpret the Panhellenic Constitution and Bylaws and be the final authority. D. The jurisdiction of the Panhellenic Judicial Board shall also involve settlement of conflicts between sororities where neither is in violation of Section 2, part A. When hearing cases of this type, the board will function as a Board of Arbitration and hand down recommendations. E. The Panhellenic Judicial Board shall also have jurisdiction in cases involving groups not in violation of any of the above paragraphs, but who are conducting themselves in a manner detrimental to the Greek community. When functioning in this capacity, the Board will act again as a Board of Arbitration and hand down recommendations. F. Cases arising under the aforementioned conditions may be referred to the Panhellenic Judicial Board.
2 1. Referral from the Panhellenic Advisor, Dean of Students or Director/ Assistant Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards. 2. Referral from the Panhellenic Executive Board. 3. Referral from a member organization. 4. Referral from an individual chapter member. Section 3. Rights A. Procedure prior to Judicial Hearing: 1. If an infraction is believed to have occurred, a written report signed by the accusing party must be submitted to the Panhellenic President within 24 hours after the incident is known, but not more than 30 days after it occurred, except during summer break. A copy of the charge will then be given to the accused party and the Panhellenic Advisor. 2. Following NPC Judicial policies mediation will be held between parties involved. 3. The chairperson or her designated Board member will prepare the Notice of Charge and Hearing. All hearings will be arranged in the Judicial Affairs office or other designated space on campus. i. Written and/or email notification will be sent to the charged organization of hearing, hearing times, hearing date, and specific charges. Email notifications must be sent to the chapter president s university email address. 4. Any challenges of Board members must be for a good cause and must be presented to the chairperson prior to the hearing. 5. All challenges will be ruled on by the chairperson or her designated Board member. 6. The person filing the charges must be present at the hearing unless excused by the Board or found to be unnecessary or can be anonymous. 7. Any Board member who cannot hear the evidence fairly and objectively for any reason is obliged to dismiss herself from the case. 8. A quorum of nine out of thirteen Board members must be present at the hearing. 9. The President can call a chapter in as well. B. Procedure at the Judicial Board Hearing 1. Hearing of alleged violation a) Introductions b) Student rights c) Charge(s) and summary d) Plea of guilty and/or not guilty e) Adverse Witness f) Student questions Adverse Witness g) Board questions Adverse Witness h) Witness excused i) Student statement j) Student Witness k) Board questions Student s Witness
3 l) Excuse Witness m) Questions by Board to Student n) Final statements by Student o) Excuse Student from room p) Penalty q) Notify Student of finding and/or penalty 2. Petition Hearing a) Introduction b) Student s rights c) Reading of specific rule in questions d) Reading of petitions e) Student statement f) Board questions Student g) Final statement by Student h) Student excused 3. Arbitration Hearing a) Introduction b) Student s rights c) Reading of reason of hearing d) Group(s) statements e) Board questions f) Final statement by group(s) g) Group(s) excused h) Discussion by Board i) Notice of recommendations C. Procedure after the Judicial Board Hearing 1. Failure to comply with the Board s decision, unless there is an appeal, will result in more penalties before the Board unless exceptional circumstances exist. 2. In the case where the Board hands down a recommendation and the problem is not resolved in a reasonable length of time as determined by the Judicial Board at the time of the hearing, the board will take more stringent measures, and penalties may result. 3. The penalty is not effective until all appeals have been exhausted. D. Duties and Rights of Board Members and Chairwoman 1. Prior to a hearing, the chairperson may discuss the nature of the case with those involved in the incident. 2. The chairperson or acting chairperson shall rule or challenge evidence or questions and hold them improper or inadmissible if she finds them irrelevant or immaterial, or if she finds that their admission or presentation will prejudice the rights of the accused to a fair hearing. 3. The Board s deliberation shall not be recorded, nor shall minutes be taken. All records should be kept on an Official University Judicial Form, and that will be sufficient. The Board may use tape recorders or notes only during the deliberations of a hearing. Such should not be retained following the hearing.
4 4. A Board member shall not discuss cases prior to or after the hearing. The information received by members and/or students during a case is considered strictly confidential. 5. When considering a case, a Board member should always bear in mind that she is deciding whether a particular rule has been violated and not whether in point of view a social harm has been committed by the accused. A Board member should, however, consider social harms when deciding on the discipline to be imposed upon a guilty defendant. Section 4. Penalties A. If a penalty is to be assessed against an organization, the Judicial Board may hand down penalties such as the following or as the Board finds applicable: 1. A monetary fine from ten to two hundred dollars. 2. A loss of privilege ruling-such as loss of social privilege. However, this would not pertain to any aspect of Recruitment or to special national chapter observances, i.e., Founder s Day. 3. Official reprimand read to the local chapter and sent to the NPC Delegate and the National President. 4. Any combination of the above penalties. B. If a penalty is to be assessed in a case where the violation was committed by only a few individuals of the group, the Board may hand down more individualistic penalties, such as workshops with Panhellenic Council Executive Officers or recommendations for action by the group s internal judicial process. Section 5. Appeals A. Appeals from decisions in cases shall be made to the Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards within the time limit specified in the current copy of Hilltopics. B. While at the same time appealing to the Student Tribunal, the group may also have the option of appealing to the NPC or NPHC except in cases involving a violation of the rules of the University of Tennessee. C. Only the defendant shall have the right to appeal to the Student Tribunal. Either party may appeal to the NPC or NPHC following the procedure in the current NPC-NPHC manuals. ARTICLE II PHILANTHROPY EVENTS The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Council encourages participation in philanthropic events that are conducive to the Panhellenic Core Ideology and follow the core values of our Panhellenic Council member groups. We, the members of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Council, establish the following guidelines for National Panhellenic Conference chapters philanthropic events for the purpose of promoting a positive image for the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Community and its involvement in philanthropic events: A. The major focus of any philanthropy events should be the pursuit of philanthropic goals.
5 B. Member organizations will be required to submit a detailed event description at least 2 weeks prior to the event. C. Absolutely no alcohol shall be provided at any function where sorority participation is associated with the philanthropic event. No alcohol may be served before or during the event. D. The length of any philanthropic event shall not exceed a period of three (3) days. E. Points may not be given for the following items: a. Party b. Money Donations c. Decoration of coolers d. House Decorating e. Involvement/Posts on a Social Media page that does not pertain to the philanthropic cause of the event f. Non-event related items F. NPC members may not make monetary expenditures outside of philanthropic donations. The purchase of food, alcohol, or other non-philanthropy related good will not be allowed. G. Points may be given for the following items: a. Group dance/sport competitions or other similar events b. Banners promoting the philanthropic purpose of the event c. Costumes d. Chapter representatives (pageant participants, etc.) e. Social media promoting the philanthropic purpose of the event f. Percentage Nights g. Any event or competition promoting the philanthropic purpose of the event H. If there is a choreographed dance competition, you may not also require a banner and vice versa. I. Any set of games played (i.e. a day of field games) may count as one (1) event. J. At every event/competition, sufficient sponsoring organization members must be present to organize, coordinate, and facilitate activities. K. Point distribution must be clearly outlined to participating members before the beginning of the week. L. If points are promised by the sponsoring organization for participation in a certain activity, they must be given out before the announcement of the winner of the event. Point totals must be continually updated throughout the event and remain public knowledge to all participating groups. M. Pledge or member auctions of any kind may not be used as a fundraiser during an event, and they will not count toward point totals of any kind. N. To eliminate high financial obligations and all costs associated with the participation in philanthropy events, a registration fee cap of $250 will be placed on all events for NPC and IFC organizations. For NPHC or MGC organizations, a registration fee cap of $50 will be placed on all events. The requirement of purchasing t-shirts or other event-related paraphernalia in order to participate in the event will be prohibited. O. After the entire event is completed, the Panhellenic Executive Board and Panhellenic Chapter Presidents shall receive a statement consisting of the total amount of money
6 raised and a description of where and how the money or items received during the event were donated or distributed within one month of the event. P. Failure of a Panhellenic organization to follow Panhellenic policy will result in a Formal judicial complaint and sanctioning by the Panhellenic Judicial Board. Q. The Panhellenic Judicial Board reserves the right to call in member organizations who do not uphold ethical principles of the Panhellenic Community at philanthropic events not hosted by NPC chapters. ARTICLE III RECRUITING ACTIVITIES Section 1. Eligibility for Formal Recruitment In order to participate in formal Recruitment, a prospective new member must be a full-time student. A full-time student is defined as carrying 12 or more hours. Section 2. Recruitment Rules and Schedule Recruitment rules and the Recruitment schedule are presented to the Council and approved by the Council during spring semester and are distributed to all chapters and potential new members. Section 3. Recruitment Honor Code The following Recruiting Honor Code will be followed: Members, individual alumnae, alumnae groups, Parent s Clubs, and all other persons associated with the organizations at The University of Tennessee Knoxville will not take unfair advantage of any situation to pressure the potential new member. Section 4. Recruitment Activities Refer to current Recruitment Rules and Procedures for Summer, Spring, Fall, and Open Recruitment Activities. Section 8. Recruitment Infractions The method for handling infraction of Recruitment rules shall adhere to the National Panhellenic Conference Agreements Article IV, Section 5. The Panhellenic President shall be informed during each step of the process. ARTICLE V FUNCTION THEMES No sorority may incorporate ethnic, racial, alcoholic and/or sexist images and/or themes into anything representing their chapter and Panhellenic, i.e., t-shirt designs, social events, etc. ARTICLE VI STATEMENT OF ETHICAL CONDUCT In the interest of protecting the ideals and values of the Panhellenic Community and to promote a positive image of the Greek community as a whole, Panhellenic women will conduct themselves in a way that is in line with the Panhellenic and individual member chapter values. Actions that contradict this statement include things such as inappropriate public conduct, degrading behavior, and failing to maintain a culture of civility.
7 ARTICLE VII SCHOLARSHIP RESOLUTION Whereas, The National Panhellenic Conference stands for good scholarship among fraternity women; Whereas, Scholarship is a core value of each of the NPC member groups; Whereas, increased emphasis on academic excellence furthers the mission of women's fraternities, It is resolved that the University of Tennessee Panhellenic Council encourages all chapters to enforce a minimum cumulative grade point average for all chapter officers that is at or above the university s all women s average; discourages chapters from hosting weeknight social events; and has an expectation of a minimum cumulative grade point average of 2.5 or higher for new member classes. ARTICLE VII STATEMENT AGAINST SEXUAL ASSAULT The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Council believes in women s empowerment. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Council will work in accordance with the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Hilltopics in cases of sexual assault. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Panhellenic Council supports statements made by the National Panhellenic Council against sexual assault: NPC deplores the act of sexual assault. We support the rights of not only our members, but all women who are survivors of sexual assault. A woman s right to report and seek a fair, supportive and timely due process will remain a priority for NPC. We support the collective efforts of our sorority organizations, and those men, women, colleges and university officials who seek substantive change to prevent such conduct and eradicate violence against women. NPC commits to partnering with institutions of higher education to make our campuses safe for all who attend.