Resident Rights and Responsibilities

Overview & Purpose

The Office of Residential Life is committed to fostering a safe, restorative, and inclusive residential community. Our conduct process is designed to educate students, encourage accountability, and support personal growth through restorative practices.

The Community Standards team is dedicated to promoting student safety while helping residents learn from their experiences and contribute positively to the residential community. Our goal is to ensure that the residence halls remain safe, welcoming, and conducive to learning for all students.

The Community Standards team oversees a variety of areas, including:

Residential Conduct: Case management, hearings, sanctions, and appeals.
Health & Safety Inspections: Routine room inspections and follow-up on safety concerns.
Title IX & Sexual Misconduct: Coordination and response to reports involving sexual misconduct within Residential Life to report to the Title IX Investigator.
Clery Reporting: Residential compliance with Clery Act reporting and campus safety requirements.
Residential Policies: Development, implementation, and enforcement of residential policies, including but not limited to the Resident Handbook and Code of Conduct

How the conduct process works

Incident Occurs: A possible violation of the Residence Hall Policies or Community Standards is reported to Residential Life.
Incident Report Reviewed: The report is reviewed, and the case is assigned to the appropriate staff member.
Conduct Meeting Notice: You'll receive an email with information about your conduct meeting, including the date, time, and alleged policy violation(s). Please note you are allowed to reschedule up to 1 time, for an academic reasoning based on the discretion of your conduct facilitator.
Conduct Meeting: Meet with a Residential Education staff member to discuss the incident, share your perspective, and ask any questions you may have.
Decision & Outcome: After reviewing all available information within a 10 business day span unless communicated otherwise, a decision will be made. If you are found responsible for violating a policy, any assigned sanctions will be explained.
Complete Sanctions (if applicable): If sanctions are assigned, you'll receive instructions and deadlines for completing them.
Appeal (if eligible): If you believe there are grounds for an appeal, you may submit one within the designated timeframe outlined in your decision letter.

Sanctions

The conduct process is educational and designed to help students learn from their actions, take accountability, and make positive choices that support the residential community.

Possible sanctions include:

Educational Conversation
Written Warning
Reflection Assignment
Community Service
Educational Workshop
Restitution
Loss of Visitation Privileges
Residence Hall Probation
Relocation
Housing Dismissal
Referral to Counseling

Sanctions are assigned based on the nature and severity of the violation, the circumstances of the incident, and, when applicable, a student's prior conduct history. Please note all the sanctions are not listed and can be created at any time. We discourage the usage of Ai for our educational sanctions needing to be completed. If sanctions are not completed properly, your conduct facilitator can increase the educational sanction at their discretion.

Appeal Process

Students who have been found responsible for a policy violation may be eligible to appeal their outcome with the exception of only receiving a written warning sanction. You must attend the appeal meeting if you are granted. If you miss it, the meeting will be rescheduled once. Missing the rescheduled meeting means the board will decide without you. Appeals must be submitted within the 3 business day timeframe outlined in your decision letter and must be based on one or more of the approved grounds for appeal, such as:

New information that was not reasonably available during the original meeting.
A procedural error that may have affected the outcome.
The sanction assigned was significantly disproportionate to the violation.
To submit an appeal, complete the Residential Education Appeal Form and provide a written explanation supporting your request; this link is found on the bottom of your conduct letter. Once submitted, your appeal will be reviewed by the appointed appellate officer and/or student appeals committee.

Note: Just disagreeing with the decision or omitting information originally is not enough to appeal. You will receive a written decision once the review has been completed. Please note appeals within the residential life office are final.

Student rights & responsibilities

As a resident, you have certain rights during the student conduct process. Here's what you can expect:

Attend a Conduct Meeting: You have the right to be present at your conduct meeting.
Fair Conduct Meeting: You have the right to a fair process.
Know the Allegations: You have the right to know what violations you will be speaking about prior to the meeting.
Review Reports: You can request the redacted report only in the physical meeting before the hearing and sanction letter about your case during business hours by contacting the Coordinator of Community Standards.
Right to Appeal: You can appeal the decision if you meet certain criteria. Check the specific criteria for eligibility to appeal.

These rights ensure you have a clear understanding of the process and support throughout.

Support Person

Support Person: You can have a support person with you during the conduct meeting. This person:

Can be anyone except a member of the Residential Life staff.
Is there to support and advise you, not to speak for you or represent you.
Residential Life team members do not need to speak to individual support staff.
Cannot have a conflict of interest with the incident.
Conduct facilitator can re-schedule if you do not notify ahead of time you will be bringing support person
Must fill out the FERPA Waiver