Basic Rights

The primary purpose of establishing conduct proceedings in the university setting is to protect the university community and to establish clear standards for interactions among community members. The university’s goal, through the standards set forth in the Code of Student Conduct, is to help students experience engaged citizenship with its obligations and responsibilities.

Basic rights for respondents in a student conduct proceeding under the Code of Student Conduct:

• Notice of charges and date of student conduct proceeding at least 3 days before the proceeding;
• Notice with enough specificity to reasonably prepare a response;
• The right to respond to information that will be used to make a decision in the case; 
• The right to produce witnesses on one's own behalf, to present evidence, to know the contents of any written statements that may be introduced against them and to respond to them;
• The right to request that SRR call additional witnesses that are available and will provide relevant information to the case;
• The right to a decision based on evidence determined by principles of fundamental fairness, rather than formal rules of evidence, as in a court of law;
• The right not to be sanctioned unless the hearing body finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the respondent is in violation;
• The right to be accompanied by a support person as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct; 
• The right to appeal decisions as specified in the "Appeals" section of the Code of Student Conduct;
• The right to have cases processed in a time frame that balances expediency with thoroughness;
• Reasonable access to the case file at least 3 days prior to and during the proceeding, as laid out in the Code of Student Conduct.