Conduct Officer:
Conduct Officer means any person including, but not limited to the Vice President for Student Affairs, Dean of Students, SOE Associate Dean of Graduate Programs or the Dean of Graduate MSB, and Residence Life staff, authorized by the College to determine whether a student has violated the Code of Conduct and to recommend imposition of sanctions.
Responsibilities and Ethical Standards of the Conduct Process
The disciplinary record of a student or group, the nature or status of any disciplinary situation shall not be discussed or disclosed. An objective attitude must be maintained throughout the proceedings. Members of any proceedings have an obligation to disqualify themselves from an investigation when they feel that they cannot be impartial in reaching a decision.
Conduct Proceedings:
It is the philosophy of the Manhattanville College Conduct Process that most violations of College policy are best handled in a way that informs and guides students toward the development of personal responsibility and conscientiousness and toward mature moral and ethical standards. The Conduct Process has two main objectives: to hold students accountable for inappropriate behavior, unprofessional behavior and dispositions, and to modify those behaviors deemed inappropriate or unprofessional in order to maintain a positive living-learning environment within the College community and to achieve the mission and objectives of the College and of its Schools.
The Code of Conduct is outlined in this Handbook. Students are responsible for being aware of these standards of conduct. A plea of ignorance is not an acceptable excuse for violating College policy. Students are encouraged to familiarize themselves with these policies.
When an alleged violation of the Code of Conduct occurs, the incident should be reported as soon as possible to a staff member in the area in which the violation occurred, Campus Safety, Dean of Students, Residence Life and if applicable, the Manhattanville School of Education or Manhattanville School of Business administration or staff.
Conduct Procedures:
The conduct process includes fact-finding (when needed), discussion, complaint resolution and any assignment of sanctions. The following process is the same for a student, group or club. For brevity, in this conduct section, the use of the word student refers to a student, group, or club. A student accused of violating the Code of Conduct meets with a Conduct Officer to review the violation or complaint and to explore potential avenues of resolution.
For undergraduates, the processes will be conducted and overseen by the Dean of Students, the Office of Residence Life Staff or Campus Safety and other offices if necessary.
For graduate students, the process will be conducted by the Associate Dean/Dean of the relevant School, with input from the Office of Residence Life, Campus Safety and other offices if necessary.
The following summarizes the process:
Fact Finding:
Official College reports (Residence Life Incident Report and/or Campus Safety Incident Report) are submitted to the relevant conduct officer that outline the incident in question. The Conduct Officer will then review with a student all of the pertinent information regarding the incident. The Conduct Officer may discuss the incident with others including members of the staff, students or guests who were involved or witnessed the incident. Students may also be interviewed by a Campus Safety official. Any member of the Manhattanville community may file a written complaint against a student or other with Campus Safety or Conduct Officer.
Discussion:
The Conduct Officer will initially meet with the student to discuss the incident and allegations. Acknowledging that the Code of Conduct requires all students to be honest and forthcoming in all investigations, the student may first be asked to sign an Honesty Statement. The Conduct Officer will continue to discuss with the student information received during the fact-finding phase. Although a student does not receive copies of official College reports, the Conduct Officer may read to the student relevant information pertaining to the incident. The student may also read the reports at the meeting. The student will be given ample opportunity to clarify any information that the student feels is not accurate. This meeting is a time for the student to ask any questions and seek clarification as to what the official reports document.
The student can present his/her response to the allegations and offer any other pertinent information in that meeting or subsequently. The student may submit (or be asked to submit) a written statement detailing what occurred and the circumstances surrounding the alleged violation, including the names of additional witnesses. If the written and oral information provided by the student indicates further investigation is necessary, the Conduct Officer will continue the fact-finding phase. The student will also be given the opportunity to accept responsibility for what occurred. The Conduct Officer will also review the conduct process with the student during this meeting. The investigation and decision will be conducted as quickly as possible. The student will be given adequate time to respond to the allegations. In general, it is unusual that the entire process will exceed a week from the time of the initial incident. If a student fails to contact the Conduct Officer in a timely fashion (48 business hours) or attend their conduct meeting, they may be judicially sanctioned without a meeting and lose their ability to appeal their sanction.
Complaint Resolution/Sanctioning:
Upon completion of the investigation, the Conduct Officer will weigh the evidence, based upon a preponderance of evidence standard, and draw a conclusion based on that evidence. The Conduct Officer will discuss the supporting evidence for his/her decision as well as the sanction being issued for the violation. An official letter documenting the sanction will be given to the student within 24 hours of this meeting.
Before a final resolution occurs, the Office of Residence Life staff, Dean of Students, SOE Associate Dean of Graduate, Dean of Graduate MSB or Vice President for Student Affairs may take any action necessary to ensure the safety of the campus community. Such actions may include but are not restricted to removing the student from a residence hall, reassigning a student to another room, removing a student from student or supervised teaching, expelling or suspending a student. Please note that from time to time procedures may be amended due to circumstances. Every effort will be made to notify a student when this will occur.
Notifying Parents:
For undergraduates, the Conduct Officer may notify parents or guardians via letter, phone call, or email depending on the severity of the violation. If a deferred suspension, suspension or dismissal is the given sanction, parents or guardians will be notified prior to the Appeals Process.
Rights of the Accused:
The following apply to all conduct proceedings:
- To the presumption of innocence in all cases where the charge(s) against the accused is contested, and to have all alleged violations proved by a preponderance of evidence.
- To be given oral or written notice of the nature of the charges.
- To be informed of the process.
The accused may consult a family member or student, but this person will not be eligible to participate in the hearing, although he or she may be present as a “silent” observer.