Rights and Responsibilities

Standards of Student Conduct

To maintain a positive learning environment, it is essential that you conduct yourself according to certain standards of behavior set by the College.

It is your right in attending Del Mar College to retain your individualism, personal freedom, autonomy, and dignity, while respecting, at the same time, the rights of others. All students are individuals and display different abilities, skills, interests, appreciations, attitudes, beliefs, and values.

You also have a responsibility to yourself, to your fellow students, to your instructors, to College personnel, to the policies of the College, and to the law of the land.

These rights and responsibilities include the following:

1. Your Rights
   1. The right to expect an education of the highest quality.
   2. The right to develop potential to the best of your abilities.
   3. The right to inquire about and to recommend improvements in policies, regulations, and procedures affecting the welfare of students. The right is best exercised through the Office of Student Leadership and Campus Life or other campus organizations.
   4. The right to counsel, a fair hearing, and an appeal when a disciplinary action is applied to you as an individual or as a group member.
2. Your Obligations and Responsibilities
   1. The obligation to be fully acquainted with published rules, regulations, and policies of the College and to comply with them in the interest of an orderly and productive college community.
   2. The obligation to follow the tenets of common decency and acceptable behavior commensurate with the aspiration implied by a college education.
   3. The obligation to respect the rights and property of others.

A full description of the Student Standards of Conduct is available from the Dean of Student Engagement and Retention in Room 204 of the Harvin Student Center, which is located at Del Mar College Heritage Campus. Alternatively, it can be viewed on the annual Manual of Policies and Procedures section of the Del Mar College website (https://www.delmar.edu/policymanual), Chapter 7, Policy B7.13. By enrolling at Del Mar College, students agree to abide by the College’s Standards of Student Conduct.

Discipline

1. Breaches of Conduct

   The College regards the following as types of misconduct which, if established, will result in appropriate disciplinary action:

   • Academic cheating and plagiarism of any kind (see Chapter 7, B7.13.7 of the Standards of Student Conduct Policy).
   • Furnishing false information to the College or filing or making known false charges against the College.
   • Destruction, damage, unauthorized possession, or misuse of College property, including library and laboratory materials and equipment, or of private property on the campus.
   • Forgery, alteration, unauthorized possession, or misuse of College documents, records, or identification cards.
   • Physical or verbal abuse of another person in the College community. Any verbal threat or abuse or physical action against any College employee and/or student is considered sufficient grounds for immediate suspension from the College, subject to a disciplinary hearing.
   • Participation in hazing, in contravention of the Texas Education Code, Section 4.51 to 1.58, inclusive.
   • Use, distribution, or possession of alcoholic beverages, dangerous drugs, or controlled substances while on College property or at any authorized activity sponsored by or for any College-related organization, whether on or off the campus.
   • Disorderly conduct that inhibits or interferes with the educational responsibility of the College community or that disrupts the administrative or service functions of the College to include social-educational activities.
   • Actions that violate state or federal law or city or county ordinances.
   • Misconduct or misuse of elected or appointed office in a student organization, or endangering its members or the welfare of the College community.
   • Incorrigible or persistently irresponsible behavior.
   • Gambling on campus or on College property.
   • Conduct that disrupts teaching with detrimental effects upon other students.
   • Any disruption of ongoing educational activities of the College which warrants disciplinary action.
2. Disciplinary Action

   Any one or more of the following disciplinary actions may be imposed by the College:

   • Admonition and warning.
   • Loss of privileges.
   • Removal from elective or appointive office.
   • Loss of such other privileges, which may be consistent with the offense committed, and the rehabilitation of the student.
   • Disciplinary probation with or without loss of designated privileges for a specified period of time. The violation of the terms of disciplinary probation or the infraction of any College rule during the disciplinary action will result in automatic suspension.
   • Suspension from the College for a definite period of time.
   • Expulsion from the College.

Suspension or expulsion from the College will require that the student be afforded a hearing to present their side of the incident or action prior to the administrative suspension or expulsion decision. A student may be suspended or expelled prior to a hearing when there is imminent danger to the student or another individual on campus.

Student Complaints

Procedures for student complaints against the College have been set forth in writing and are included in the Board of Regents Policy Manual. The Dean of Student Engagement and Retention is responsible for coordinating the processing of student complaints.

The Student Complaint Policy is based on the belief that such complaints are best resolved at the level closest to the issue that led to the complaint. Resolutions to such complaints must be reached through the participation of all parties involved in the issue that led to the complaint. All procedures developed in relation to this policy will be applied in an equitable and nondiscriminatory manner and will protect the rights of all parties.

• Non-Academic Complaint - The Non-Academic Complaint is a complaint by a student which does not involve grades or any academic issues.
• General Academic (Non-Grade) Complaint - The General Academic Non-Grade Complaint is a complaint by a student who has any academic disagreement not directly related to the assignment of a grade(s).
• Grade Appeals - The evaluation of academic work is the prerogative of the instructor and the rules for determining final course grade should be established by the instructor and provided to the students in an electronic or printed course syllabus at the beginning of the semester. A student who believes grounds exist for the appeal of a final grade must first consult with the instructor. If the appeal cannot be resolved, a student may proceed to the grade appeal process.

A student with a complaint against another student should consult with the Dean of Student Engagement and Retention on the proper procedure to follow.

Responsibility and Liability Insurance

It is your responsibility to carry personal health and/or minor medical insurance. The Office of the Dean of Student Engagement and Retention has several companies’ brochures available; however, the College does not promote one company’s product over another.

Activities in occupational classes and programs may expose you to more than the usual degree of responsibility and liability. Del Mar College is not liable for injuries sustained on campus, according to state statute. Health sciences, cosmetology, criminal justice, law enforcement, fire science, emergency medical services, and occupational safety and health students may be required to carry professional liability insurance in addition to personal medical insurance.