All Bradley University students are answerable to the Standards of Conduct. No student may avoid a conduct inquiry by failing to respond in a reasonable time frame to a notice to see an administrator. Failure to comply with an administrative directive in this area may entail disciplinary action up to, and including, suspension from the University.
In all situations, procedural fair play requires that the student be informed of the nature of the charges against him/her, that he/she be given a fair opportunity to refute them, that the institution not be arbitrary in its action, and that there be provision for appeal of decision. These requirements will be met by the following procedure which applies to your case.
The student will be informed, in writing, of the reasons for the proposed disciplinary action with sufficient particularity, and in sufficient time to insure opportunity to prepare for the hearing.
Should the accused student fail to appear and/or respond to the hearing notice, evidence in support of the charges shall be presented and considered even in the absence of the accused party. No imposition of sanctions shall be imposed solely upon failure of the accused party to answer the charges or appear at the hearing.
The student has the right to be assisted in his/her defense by an advisor of his/her choice. The advisor must be a non lawyer.
The burden of proof rests upon the one bringing the charge.
The student will be given an opportunity to testify and to present material evidence and witnesses. He/she will have an opportunity to hear and question adverse witnesses. In no case will the committee consider statements against him/her unless he/she has been advised of their content and of the names of those who made them, and unless he/she has been given an opportunity to rebut unfavorable inferences which might otherwise be drawn.
Pending action on the charges, the status of a student will not be altered or his/her right to be present on the campus and to attend classes suspended, except where such action is reasonably required for his/her physical or emotional safety and welfare of students, faculty, or University property, or except where the presumption is strong that he/she has participated in a willful disruption of the functions or services of the institution or the use of its facilities.
All matters upon which the decision may be based must be introduced into evidence at the proceeding before the conduct body.
In the absence of a transcript, there will be both a digest and a verbatim record, such as a tape recording of the hearing.
Appeals of decisions shall be made in writing to the Vice President for Student Affairs within five days of the date of notification of the decision.
A student who purposely avoids or fails to respond in a reasonable time to a University conduct inquiry or investigation may be subject to temporary suspension until he/she has properly complied.
The student and conduct officer may agree on the University violations for which the student is responsible and the sanctions to be imposed. In this case, a sanction letter is generated, and the case is resolved. There is no right to appeal, unless the student has agreed to a sanction of disciplinary probation, suspension or dismissal, in which case the student maintains appeal rights. In cases where multiple students face possible violations, no agreement is considered final until all involved students have preliminary conduct hearings and decision has been reached about their case(s).
The conduct office reserves the right to refer any case to a hearing board.
Student Organization Procedure
The president will be considered the main point of contact for the process. An email will be sent to the student organization’s president or equivalent and advisor listed on their annual registration form requesting an initial meeting. The email will request that the student contact the Student Activities Office to schedule an initial meeting to review the charges and begin the investigation.
Student Leaders must:
Contact Student Activities within 48 hours of email being sent to schedule the initial meeting
Attend the initial meeting
The purpose of this meeting is to acquaint the student organization with the process, advise organization of alleged violations, discuss all relevant information, and determine the need for further investigation.
At the initial meeting or any time after, the student organization may accept responsibility for the charges and move immediately to sanctioning (Administrative Hearing) or they may be presented with an opportunity to request a formal conduct hearing through either an Administrative Panel or University Student Arbitration Board.
Should the student organization be found responsible by the Administrative Panel or University Student Arbitration Board the resulting sanction may be the same as, less, or more severe than those provided by the Administrative Hearing.
Additional meetings may be scheduled if a request for a formal hearing is requested by the student organization in order to gather additional information.
