Disciplinary Process

After gathering available information, the office of student conduct will contact the student who will be asked to comment on the information brought against him or her. The director of student conduct will then determine the seriousness of the incident and will decide if the case requires a formal hearing.

If the case requires a formal hearing, the student may elect one of the following options:

1. The case may be heard by the Judicial Affairs Committee.
2. The case may be heard by the vice president for student life. If the student requests the second option, under certain circumstances the vice president may decline to hear the case. In this situation, the Judicial Affairs Committee will conduct the hearing.

If the case does not require a formal hearing, it will be adjudicated by the office of student conduct, who will then determine whether the student will be held responsible or not responsible for the alleged violation. 

The student has the right to appeal to the Judicial Appeals Committee or the dean of students. The appeal must be sent to the Office of Student Conduct within five class days of when the decision was rendered.

Judicial Affairs Committee

The Judicial Affairs Committee hears cases of students who are accused of serious offenses.

• The committee is made up of five members: two students selected by SGA, one administrator, and two faculty members chosen by the faculty and approved by the president.
• Members shall be selected with particular regard for their objectivity, judicial temperament and maturity of judgment.
• Members may be disqualified from participation in cases in which they may have an interest or bias incompatible with objective judgment.
• There must be at least one administrator, one faculty member, and one student in order for the hearing to occur.
• In matters concerning civil rights and Title IX cases, the students will not be on the committee. In these cases, the Title IX judicial board will hear the case. Full policy, located at http://www.desales.edu/titleix ​.  
• The committee will elect its own chairperson who will be responsible for maintaining the minutes of the committee and record of proceedings in each case.
• Hearings will be conducted in accordance with established procedures and disposed of by formal written opinion.
• Committee decision will be transmitted to the director of student conduct, who will maintain the records of each case.

Disciplinary Hearing Procedures

1. Members of the hearing body are introduced. 
2. The student charged and the complainant are presented with copies of the hearing procedures. 
   1. Should a student not appear at the disciplinary hearing, the hearing will be conducted without his/her presence and a decision rendered. 
   2. If it is later ascertained that the student was ill or unavoidably detained, the decision may be set aside and a new hearing held. 
3. The chairman reads the charge or complaint. 
4. The student charged makes a plea: responsible or not responsible. 
5. The complainant or director of student conduct presents evidence and/or witnesses. 
6. The student charged presents evidence and/or witnesses in his/her behalf.
   1. Advisor: the student charged may be accompanied by an advisor who may be present during the hearing, but is only permitted to advise the student. The advisor is not permitted to question participants or present verbal statement or argument. 
   2. The advisor must be a member of the University community (student, faculty, staff) but may not be an attorney-at-law. 
7. The hearing officer or member of the committee may ask questions of the complainant and then of the student charged. 
8. The complaining party asks questions of the participants. 
9. The student charged asks questions of the participants.
10. The complaining party presents concluding remarks.
11. The student charged presents concluding remarks.
12. All are excused from the hearing room except those members who will render a decision in the case.
13. Only information introduced as evidence during the hearing will be considered in determining responsible or not responsible. The following will be decided by majority vote: 
    1. Responsible/Not Responsible. 
    2. Sanction (penalty) to be given, including special requirements or stipulations. A student’s past disciplinary record will be considered. 
    3. Length of time the sanction will be in effect.
14. Disciplinary decisions rendered by the Judicial Affairs Committee are submitted to the student affairs office within 24 hours and all evidence and documentation will be maintained in the disciplinary files of the dean of students.
15. The decision and sanction is announced in the presence of the student(s) charged. This decision will also be submitted to the student(s) in writing by the student affairs office.
16. The disciplinary hearing is adjourned.
    
    Due to the sensitivity of some cases, appropriate measures may be taken to protect all parties involved.