Appeals

Appeals of Student Conduct Decisions

Requests for appeals of decisions by any student conduct body may be made by the accused student(s) or the complainant(s). Requests are directed to the Dean of Students, or designee. Requests for appeals shall be made in writing within five (5) business days of the written decision. 

It shall be the responsibility of the student pursuing appeal to provide evidence of one or more of the following grounds for appeal:

• the original hearing was not conducted in conformity with prescribed hearing procedures;
• the facts in the report were not sufficient to establish that a violation occurred and/or not supported by a preponderance of evidence (the violation was more likely than not to have occurred); 
• the sanction imposed was not appropriate for the violation for which the student was found to be responsible;
• the existence of new relevant facts which were not reasonably available at the time of the original hearing.

Upon receipt of the appeal, the Dean of Students, or designee, will proceed by doing one of the following:

• accept to hear the case at their discretion;
• refuse to hear the case for lack of sufficient reason for appeal;
• request another hearing through an alternate means of resolution;
• investigate the case and amend the decision and/or replace the sanction with another which may be more severe, less severe, or otherwise different. 

If the Dean of Students or designee finds no merit to the appeal, the decision of the conference/hearing shall stand and the case will be considered closed unless otherwise determined by the Dean of Students, or designee.

During the appeal process the Dean of Students, or designee, may impose limitations or conditions on the appealing student’s sanctions until the conclusion of the appeals process.

Failure to Appear

The student conduct processes outlined above are intended to provide the student an opportunity to respond to allegations of violations of the Student Code of Conduct, thereby enabling the conduct body/officer to make an informed decision about responsibility and appropriate sanctions. However, if a student fails to appear for a scheduled conference/hearing, a decision based upon available information may be rendered in the student’s absence. Failure to appear may forfeit the student’s right to appeal; however, no student may be found to have violated the Student Code of Conduct solely because the student failed to appear.