Student Judicial Affairs

Student Judicial Affairs (SJA) is where they send students that are suspected of doing bad things at UC Davis. This includes Academic Dishonesty, trespassing, public drunkenness, theft, and various other misdemeanors. Violations or questions should be promptly referred to the Office of Student Judicial Affairs. It was founded in 1976 and replaced the Welfare Council.

These guys don't mess around. When it comes to plagiarism, they can bust some heads. SJA also deals with off-campus parties where safety issues are a concern.

Issues in the dorms like drinking, noise, and illegal downloading can often times get referred to SJA if the Area Conduct Coordinator or Resident Advisors feels that the first meeting with said residents didn't go so well.

Furthermore, their jurisdiction reaches off campus for matters of health and safety. This jurisdiction is global in its reach, so if you're abroad and commit some act that endangers the health and saftey of others, you can be referred to SJA. SJA follows the policies established by the UC Regents.

Though they are much feared around Campus, they are fair and unbiased in their decisions. They're not going to kick you out of school for simple offenses — you'd be far worse off at Brigham Young University or Bob Jones University.

SJA works with the Campus Judicial Board to put out weekly Campus Judicial Reports in the California Aggie every Wednesday.

Who are these people? I mean, it seems like they live inside a dark cloud and throw gavels at people. Is it a board? How big is the board? Who's on it? etc. —ArlenAbraham

I'll rewrite this later. Pretty much, there are two main parts of SJA. There are the SJA officers who are employees of the university and then there is Campus Judicial Board, which is made up of students (both undergrad and grad). Most cases that are referred to SJA are resolved informally. This means that the person referred either admits wrongdoing or it becomes rather clear that the person did nothing wrong. These informal resolutions are dealt with by SJA officers. Campus Judicial Board does quite a bit of education about academic integrity and such. Also, they're the ones who step in if an informal resolution to a case cannot be made. In a formal hearing, two members of CJB and a faculty member or one member of CJB and two faculty members (depending on the type of case, I don't remember specifics ATM) hear the case. Other members of CJB help the accused mount a defense. —WilliamLewis

That's a great overall summary William. There are two times that the Campus Judicial Board will typically touch a case that has been referred to Student Judicial Affairs. The first instance would be if the student denies any wrongdoing, but the SJA officer (or the referring party) still holds suspicion that misconduct occured. The second instance would be if the student and the SJA officer come to an agreement as to whether or not a violation has occured, but there are disagreements as to what an appropriate sanction should be. In this case, a "sanction hearing" would result. Sanction hearings are fundamentally different from regular disciplinary hearings because the facts are all agreed upon ahead of time, and the only presentation given from both parties is what the feel the sanction should be. SJA recently updated its website, and it's full of cool info. —dingraham

2 years ago YONET thought one of my friends was going to UCD and dating a highschool girl, when infact he was going to DHS himself. It was very funny hearing the guys threaten him with referal to SJA, and telling him he could get kicked out for doing something like that. It was less funny cause they were armed, and had just forced entry into the apartment.

2009-07-19 22:47:17   in my experience, they aren't very unbiased at all. i've been referred to them as a third-party in an incident where there was no evidence or clear accusation of me and the lady that i talked to (short, wears glasses, graying hair) was nice to me at first, and then proceeded to pressure me into answering questions to her liking. she made many assumptions of which i had to correct her on. in the end, she did not even show me the courtesy of saying bye but instead opened her door as if indicating me to leave. i have had no charges or penalties brought against me, just a shitty attitude from a lady who treats you like a child and not a UC Davis graduate student. what a joke. —datsyuk