Part 11 - Appeals

11.1

A student has 48 hours from receipt of the letter to appeal the decision to the appeal officer in writing. Appeals must be submitted by the student, not a parent/guardian, friend, family member, or legal counsel/attorney. The following are grounds for an appeal:

1. The conduct process was not in accord with the rules and regulations governing the College’s conduct process, and this deprivation materially affected the decision or
2. The finding(s) of the violation(s) is contradicted by new evidence that was not available at the time of the conduct meeting.

11.2

A student has 48 hours from receipt of the letter to appeal the decision to the appropriate appeal officer below in writing.

• the Dean of Students, for those conduct cases heard by Office of Residence Life staff,

• the Vice President for Student Affairs for cases heard by the Dean of Students or the Associate Dean of Graduate MSB
• the SOE Academic Standards Committee for actions taken by the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs
• the Dean of the School of Education for actions taken by the SOE Academic Standards Committee.

Once an appeal is submitted the appeals officer will determine if a face to face meeting is warranted. Appellate decisions are final and not appealable and will be rendered after receiving the appeal.

Failure to schedule and/or attend the hearing without prior consent from the Conduct Officer will result in:

1. The forfeiture of the student ability to present information on his/her behalf.
2. Sanctions being issued to the student without the benefit of his/her input.

11.3

On appeal, sanctions can be increased or decreased. If an appeal is heard, the following actions may be taken:

1. Possible modification of the sanction, including increasing the penalty.
2. Ordering a reconsideration by the original conduct officer or designee based on:
   • Alleged new evidence – only if the new evidence is of such a nature as to be reasonably likely to change the outcome of the original investigation and was unavailable at the time of the original investigation.
   • Alleged defect in procedure – only if the defect in the original investigation is sufficiently substantial to be reasonably likely to change the outcome.
3. Ordering dismissal of the case where false evidence was presented.