Hearing Procedures

Facilitated Informal Conferences:

Staff members from Student Conduct hold facilitated informal conferences, also known as informal hearings. Facilitated informal conferences are one-on-one meetings with a staff member and the student(s) involved in a complaint. Meetings are designed to be educational and to provide the first steps of due process as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct. The student conduct officer opens a dialogue with the student by asking questions. Questions are used to learn more about the student, the incident and the student's account of what occurred. Community standards and university policies are also discussed. When sufficient information is available, a charge letter is issued to the alleged who is now referred to as a charged party. Charged students will receive an administrative resolution letter with applicable policies and sanction(s). Charged students will have five working days to either accept responsibility and agree to complete sanctions by the given deadlines, or to have their case referred to the Student Conduct Committee for a hearing.

Conduct Committee Hearing:

A hearing constitutes presenting pertinent information to a Student Conduct Committee Hearing Panel, which evaluates and weighs the information presented. The hearing panel decides if the charged party is responsible based on information presented at the hearing using the preponderance of the information standard.

In cases in which a student or student organization is found responsible for the violation(s) of the Code of Student Conduct, outcomes are assigned by the hearing panel.