When incidents occur that involve more than one accused student, the Dean of Students representative or designee, in his or her discretion, may permit the hearing concerning each student to be conducted jointly or separately. Whenever a hearing is to be held regarding an alleged incident of non-academic prohibited conduct, the accused student and the person reporting the alleged misconduct ("complainant"), if any, will be given five (5) days written notice of the charges alleged against the accused student and of the date, time and place of the hearing. In the case that the person reporting the alleged misconduct is not serving as the complainant, then a university official will serve as the complainant.

A representative from the Dean of Students’ office or designee will serve as the Hearing Official and preside over the hearing. The hearing shall be informal; strict rules of evidence will not apply. The hearing will be closed to everyone except the hearing official(s), appropriate Dean of Students Office staff, the accused student, the complainant, advisors to the accused student and the complainant, and witnesses during the actual time of their participation. Concerns for personal safety, well-being and or fears of confrontation of the complainant, accused student, and/or other witness during the hearing may be accommodated by providing a visual screen; by permitting participation by phone, videophone; or, by other means where and as determined in the sole judgment of the Hearing Official. All procedural questions are subject to the final decision of the Hearing Official.


The accused student and the complainant, if any, have the right to:


Be present at the hearing. However, if either or both the accused student or the complainant fail to appear at the hearing, the hearing may be held in either or both of their absences. Present information by witnesses or by written statement from a witness sent to the Dean of Students’ Office staff, if a witness is unable to attend the hearing. It is requested that witness statements be submitted two days prior to the hearing. The hearing official will review statements for incident information. It is within the discretion of the hearing officer to determine whether the statements are appropriate for inclusion in the hearing. It is the responsibility of the accused student and the complainant to notify their witnesses of the date, time, and place of the hearing. If witnesses fail to appear, the hearing will be held in their absence. No character witnesses nor information regarding behavior not relevant to the incident in question will be considered in a hearing.

Bring one advisor to the hearing. The advisor, however, may not participate in examination of witnesses or presentation of materials or information to the hearing official(s), unless specifically asked to do so by the hearing official. The advisor may confer and give advice to the student in a quiet, confidential and non-disruptive manner.

Question their own witness(es).

Question the other parities’ witness(s) either through the hearing official or directly as deemed appropriate by the Hearing Official.


Request a pre-hearing conference prior to the conduct hearing to review policies and procedures and ask questions regarding the process in order for the student(s) to better prepare for the hearing.