Level 1 Case Outline
After an incident occurs, an official report is filed with the Office of Student Conduct and a case is opened. Cases in which possible sanctions include conduct warning and up to four semesters of disciplinary probation are designated as Level 1 cases.
In a Level 1 case, the process is as follows:
- The student may either receive notice to complete an educational intervention (Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drugs Program, Decision-Making Workshop, Fire Safety Module, etc.) or receive correspondence to meet with a Student Conduct Administrator to discuss the incident and learn next steps of the conduct process.
- If the Office of Student Conduct determines that the case will not be resolved with an educational intervention, a Student Conduct Administrator begins the student conduct process with an investigation.
- If sufficient information is not identified during the investigation, there will be no charges and the case will be closed. The student will be notified.
- If sufficient information is identified, the student will be charged. The student will have two options to resolve the case, accept responsibility via an Administrative Agreement or proceed with a student conduct hearing. Please note that the term "Administrative Agreement" means that the respondent acknowledges responsibility for violating the code of conduct and resolves the case with Student Conduct Administrator by agreeing to an appropriate disciplinary sanction and signing the agreement to resolve the case. Administrative Agreements are negotiable until they are signed.
- If the student accepts responsibility, they will sign an Administrative Agreement. The case will be closed and the student will be notified.
- If the student does not accept responsibility via an Administrative Agreement, they
will receive a charge letter and a student conduct hearing will be held with the student
and a Level 1 Student Conduct Board.
- If the student is found not responsible after the hearing, they will be notified and the case will be closed.
- If the student is found responsible after the hearing, they will receive a letter that provides the outcome, the hearing board's rationale and the sanctions.
- If the student is found responsible after the hearing and chooses to appeal the case based on a procedural error, they will be notified of the outcome and next steps.
Level 1 Hearing Outline
Prior to the start of the hearing, the Student Conduct Board reviews all written materials submitted for the hearing.
Hearings generally include:
- Introduction
- Review of rules
- Opportunity for student to object to any board members
- Reading of allegations
- Review of documents
- Statement from student (optional)
- Questions by the hearing board
- Witness participation (if applicable)
- Final statement from the student (optional)
At the conclusion of the hearing, the board goes into a closed session to review all information before them and ultimately determine responsibility. Decisions regarding responsibility are made based on the Preponderance of the Evidence standard. If the board finds the student responsible, the board members then determine the appropriate sanction(s) based on consideration of the University's sanctioning guidelines, consideration of mitigating and aggravating factors and the student's prior conduct record.
Students are electronically notified of the board's decision and next steps.
