Student Conduct Authority

A.  Authority 

The Office of Student Conduct is responsible for coordination of the University’s honor system. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Promoting awareness of the Elon honor code and related policies;
• Maintaining official University records for all violations (social and academic) of the Code of Conduct;
• Providing a prompt, fair and impartial process (from preliminary inquiry through final resolution);
• Notifying parents/guardians when students are found responsible for certain violations (See Section 8 – SANCTIONS – for further information);
• Training and advising members of the University’s Honor Board and appeal boards;
• Training and supervision of administrative hearing officers;
• Conducting periodic meetings with campus and local law enforcement agencies; and
• Periodic review and update of Elon’s honor system and violations of community standards.

Note: The Title IX Coordinator is responsible for addressing allegations of sexual misconduct or other Title IX-related prohibited behaviors. See the Sexual Misconduct and Interpersonal Violence Policy for more information.

B.  Gatekeeping

No complaint will be forwarded for a hearing unless there is reasonable cause to believe a policy has been violated. The director of student conduct (or designee) will assume responsibility for the preliminary investigation of an allegation of misconduct to determine whether charges related Code of Conduct violations shall be applied on a case by case basis.

University action does not preclude the possibility of civil or criminal charges being placed against an individual nor does the filing of civil or criminal charges preclude action by the university.

C.  Educational Conversation or Informal Resolutions

While an incident may involve behaviors that do not reflect the values of the honor code, they may not necessarily violate the Code of Conduct.  In those cases, the dean of students, the assistant dean of students, or the director of student conduct have the discretion to refer a complaint/report for an educational conversation or another appropriate resolution method.

D.  Board Hearings

The director of student conduct (or designee) will be responsible for assembling the board hearing panels according to the guidelines listed below. (Except for alleged violations of the Sexual Misconduct and Interpersonal Violence Policy.) For each complaint, a panel will be chosen from the available pool.  The assistant provost for communications and operations and assistant dean of students, or their designee are non-voting members of the boards, act as conveners for the hearings, and assure that University procedures are followed throughout the hearing.  A non-voting chair of the panel will be appointed to lead the hearing.  (When necessary or appropriate, the convener may also serve as the chair.)  Due to the number of individuals involved in the process, the timeline for scheduling a board hearing may be longer than for an administrative hearing, but will typically be completed within 60 days from notice of the complaint.                

Honor Board:  The Honor Board hears all academic policy violation cases for which the student denies responsibility. It may also hear social policy cases referred by the Office of Student Conduct or cases where suspension may be a potential sanction. 

The full Honor Board consists of a minimum of twelve students (elected by the student body or administratively appointed by the SGA President), seven faculty (three appointed by the Academic Council and four appointed by the provost/vice president for academic affairs), and seven Student Life administrators (appointed by the vice president of Student Life).  These members are trained annually by the assistant dean of students and/or the director of student conduct. 

A hearing panel consists of three students, one faculty member and one Student Life administrator. A quorum of at least one faculty member, one Student Life administrator and one student must be convened in order to proceed with a hearing.

Organizational Honor Board:  For cases involving registered student organizations, student members of the Honor Board serve on a three-person hearing panel and make recommendations related to responsibility and sanctions (when appropriate) to the assistant dean of students or designee, who makes the final decision. 

Appeal Boards (See Section 7.H for information on appeals and appeal boards.)

E.  Administrative Hearing Officers

Administrative hearing officers include the assistant dean of students, the director and assistant director of Student Conduct, and additional university staff members recommended by the assistant dean of students and appointed by the vice president for Student Life. They are typically drawn from the assistant directors in the residential neighborhoods, trained on an annual basis, and meet regularly throughout the academic year for continuing education. Other staff members may be trained and may serve as hearing officers at the discretion of the Vice President for Student Life. 

F.  Contacts

For questions or concerns related to academic integrity policies: 

 Dr.  Paul Miller, Assistant Provost for Communications and Operations, millerp@elon.edu

For questions or concerns related to social policies or general questions regarding the honor system:

Jenni Spangenberg, Director of Student Conduct; jspangenberg2@elon.edu

Whitney Gregory, Assistant Dean of Students; wgregory@elon.edu

For questions or concerns related to gender-based violence, including sexual misconduct, harassment, discrimination, stalking, or relationship violence:

Mike Neiduski, Title IX Coordinator; mneiduski@elon.edu