Students found responsible for a violation of the Statement of Student Responsibilities may submit an appeal. An appeal must be based on an error in the disciplinary process that substantially impacted the outcome. If there is sufficient reason to believe that one or more of the grounds articulated in the student’s appeal letter has merit, an appeal hearing will be scheduled.
Appeals of relocation, contract suspension, or contract termination will be considered only if presented before the onset of the sanction. Appeals of lesser sanctions are to be filed within five (5) calendar days (excluding weekends and holidays) of notification of the decision, or in accordance with the appeal deadline indicated in the “notice of sanction” letter. Appeals must be in writing and include your name, address, telephone number in room or cell phone number, specific ground(s) of your appeal, and a detailed explanation of the particular ground(s) and argumentation in support of the appeal. The following will be allowed as grounds for appeal:
Grounds for appeal do not include the stress, expense, and inconvenience of relocation, contract termination or suspension; disruption to studies; cost of educational sanctions such as e-CHUG or CHOICES; separation from friends; lack of familiarity with rules; good character; or a personal commitment to behaving better in the future. Sanctions are intended to have significant impact in order to effectively deter students from engaging in future misconduct.
Appeal letters will be reviewed upon receipt and the appeal officer will determine whether an appeal hearing will be scheduled based on the reasons cited in the letter and the quality of the materials submitted. For cases involving sanctions of relocation, contract suspension or contract termination, an appeal hearing is a student right if grounds for an appeal are met and the appeal is received by the deadline indicated in the outcome letter. Possible appeal outcomes include: 1) upholding the previous decision; 2) change or decrease the sanction; 3) change or increase the sanction; 4) refer the case back to the original hearing officer for a new hearing.
When the outcome of a Residential Life conduct hearing includes the sanction of contract termination, students found responsible for violating the Statement of Student Responsibilities may submit an appeal to the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs after appeal processes within the Department of Residential Life have been exhausted. For sanctions other than contract termination, the decision of the Residential Life appeal officer is final.
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