The way sanctioning is handled in Title IX campus sex offense cases will depend on the particular college or university involved. Although there are pending changes to Title IX law, as things stand, if a student is found responsible, say during the course or through the course of an investigation at schools that use an investigative process, or if a student is found responsible at a hearing, schools will often move on to a sanctioning phase. Sanctioning as to who does it specifically at that given school, it will vary depending on the school involved.
For example, at a hearing, the person who makes the decision regarding the finding responsibility, or lack thereof, at a hearing at some schools will also handle the sanctioning. At other schools the sanctioning phase is handled by a different party altogether.
At schools that use an investigative model, the same could be true. The investigator, him or herself, could make the sanctioning decision or it could be handled by another party. Sanctioning encompasses various elements -- the student's prior disciplinary record, if any, the nature of the offense, which could be victim impact statements, there's many considerations that go into when a student is sanctioned.
An experienced attorney advisor should be involved from the start of the process to navigate the process to make certain that a student's rights are protected and, especially, to try to avoid a finding responsibility and potential sanctioning.
