Information for Students

Cuyahoga Community College's Student Conduct Code and Student Judicial System (3354-1-30-03.5) outlines the procedure for when student is accused of plagiarizing.

(F) STUDENT CONDUCT SYSTEM PROCEDURES

(1) Bringing Allegations: (a) Any student or employee may report an alleged violation of the Student Conduct Code through an electronic reporting tool made available through the Office of Student Affairs. If a conduct report is received by an employee or office other than Student Affairs it must be routed to the Office of Student Affairs.

(b) All allegations should be submitted as soon as possible after the event or knowledge of the event takes place, preferably within Fifteen (15) business days. After this timeframe, and except where longer timeframes are required by law, no allegation may be submitted without prior written permission of the Executive Vice President of Access, Learning & Success or their designee who may grant or deny such permission at their sole discretion.

(c) The Student Conduct Administrator will determine if the allegations contained in the incident report are within the parameters of the administration of the student conduct code. The Student Conduct Administrator may conduct an initial investigation to determine if the allegation has merit and/or if they can be addressed administratively by mutual consent of the parties.

(d) The Student Conduct Administrator shall present all allegations in written form to the student. (e) A time shall be set to discuss the allegation(s) during a conduct meeting not more than ten (10) business days after the student has been notified of the alleged violations. Maximum time limits for scheduling a conduct meeting may be extending at the discretion of the Student Conduct Administrator. 3354-1-30-03.5 9

(2) Interim Suspension

(a) The College recognizes a student’s constitutionally protected property interest in their education and students are entitled to due process. After an incident report has been filed, the Student Conduct Administrator in their sole discretion may impose an interim suspension, but only if the Student Conduct Administrator determines the suspension to be appropriate to: i. protect the safety and well-being of members of the College community or to protect College property; ii. protect the reporting and/or respondent’s own physical or emotion safety and well-being; or iii. prevent or deter disruption of, or interference with, the normal operations of the College.

(b) During the interim suspension, a student may be denied access to all or part of the College premises (including classes) and/or all other College activities or privileges for which the student might otherwise be eligible, as the Student Conduct Administrator may determine to be appropriate.

(c) The interim suspension does not replace the regular Student Conduct System Procedures, which shall proceed normally.

(d) The student should be notified in writing of the interim suspension and the reasons for the action. The notice should include the time, date, and place of a conduct meeting where the student may show cause why the interim suspension should not be in place or should be modified pending the final resolution of the allegation(s).

(3) Conduct Meeting(s) - Presentation of allegations to the respondent which includes but is not limited to fact finding and investigation of the conduct issue which can occur in one meeting or over the course of multiple meetings. Upon the conclusion of the Conduct Meeting(s) the Student Conduct Administrator, in their sole, reasonable discretion, will either issue a Decision Letter or proceed to a Level One Hearing. If the respondent fails to appear for their scheduled conduct meeting, the conduct meeting shall continue in accordance with the Student Conduct System Procedures. The Conduct Administrator shall provide the decision in writing to the respondent. In the event there is a finding of responsibility the respondent shall be held accountable for any finding of responsibility and all resulting sanctions.

(4) Level one hearings - shall be conducted by the Student Conduct Administrator according to the guidelines below:

(a) Level one hearings will be conducted in private, but communications in such hearings should not be considered confidential.

(b) The reporting party and the respondent have the right to be assisted by an advisor they choose, at their own expense. The complainant and/or respondent is responsible for presenting their own information, and therefore, advisors may be present but are not permitted to participate in the Level One Hearing.

(c) The Student Conduct Administrator, will determine if the level one hearing involving multiple parties are conducted either separately or jointly. Should a joint conduct meeting occur all parties are required to complete the appropriate FERPA releases to allow joint participation.

(d) The Student Conduct Administrator, at their discretion may permit the Reporting Party and/or other Witnesses to attend the Level One Hearing. 3354-1-30-03.5 10

(e) The reporting party, the respondent and the Student Conduct Administrator may arrange for witnesses to present pertinent information to the Student Conduct Administrator. Witnesses will provide information to and answer questions from the Student Conduct Administrator. Only the Conduct Administrator is permitted to ask questions.

(f) Pertinent records, exhibits, and written statements may be accepted as information for consideration by a Student Conduct Administrator at their discretion.

(g) All procedural questions are subject to the final and sole discretion of the Student Conduct Administrator.

(h) The Student Conduct Administrator, at their sole discretion may require multiple level one hearings in order to more fully and fairly evaluate alleged violations.

(i) The Student Conduct Administrator will determine whether the respondent has committed the alleged violation(s) after consideration of all relevant information and the final level one hearing concludes.

(j) The Student Conduct Administrator’s determination shall be made on the basis of the Preponderance of the Evidence, defined as whether it is more likely than not that the respondent violated the Student Conduct Code.

(k) Formal rules of process, procedure, and technical rules of evidence, such as are applied in criminal or civil court proceedings, are not used in Student Conduct System Procedures.

(l) The Student Conduct Administrator shall create a record, this may include all or some combination of video, audio or written record of the level one hearing. The record shall be the property of the College, subject to all local, state and federal laws.

(m)If the respondent fails to appear for their scheduled level one hearing, the hearing shall continue in accordance with the Student Conduct System Procedures. The Conduct Administrator shall provide the decision in writing to the respondent. In the event there is a finding of responsibility the respondent shall be held accountable for any finding of responsibility and all resulting sanctions

(5) Decision Letter

(a) Upon the conclusion of a Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing, the Student Conduct Administrator shall prepare and issue a Decision Letter.

(b) In each case in which a Student Conduct Administrator determines that the respondent has violated the Student Conduct Code, the Student Conduct Administrator shall determine and impose sanction(s). Following the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing, the Student Conduct Administrator shall notify the respondent and the reporting party, if required by law, in writing of the determination and any sanction(s) imposed, if applicable. The Student Conduct Administrator is not otherwise required to provide notice of assigned sanction(s) or meeting details to the reporting party.

Student Right to Appeal

(G) Appeals

(1) Appellate Board Panel - The Appellate Board Panel shall consist of three (3) of the following individuals from a cross section of the campuses: Student Affairs Deans and Assistant Deans, Academic Affairs Deans and Assistant Deans, Associate Deans, full time faculty, and/or staff members at Director level and above. 3354-1-30-03.5 11

(2) Appeal Process

(a) A decision reached by the Student Conduct Administrator or a sanction imposed by the Student Conduct Administrator may be appealed by the respondent. within ten (10) business days of the date the Student Conduct Administrator’s decision letter is issued. Notice of intent to appeal must be in writing and must set for the documentation that provides the basis of the appeal. The appeal shall be limited to a review of the record of the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing and supporting documents for one or more of the following purposes:

(b) To determine whether the conduct meeting and/or level one hearing was conducted fairly in light of the alleged violations and information presented, and in conformity with prescribed procedures. Any inquiry into fairness shall consider, at a minimum, whether the complaining party had a reasonable opportunity to prepare and to present information that the Student Conduct Code was violated, and whether the respondent had a reasonable opportunity to prepare and to present a response to those allegations. Deviations from prescribed procedures will not be a basis for sustaining an appeal unless such deviations might reasonably have led to a different decision and/or different sanctions than were imposed.

i. To determine whether there were facts presented that, if believed by the Student Conduct Administrator, were sufficient to establish that a violation of the Student Conduct Code occurred.

ii. To determine whether the sanction(s) imposed were appropriate for the violation of the Student Conduct Code which the respondent was found to have committed.

iii. To consider whether the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing should be reopened to allow the Student Conduct Administrator to review newly available information. The Appellate Board may direct a re-opening of the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing to review newly available information if and only if the Appellate Board determines that:

1. the appellant neither knew nor should have known such information at the time of the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing, and the information could reasonably be expected to alter the decision made by the Student Conduct Administrator.

(3) Appellate Board Decision - Following the Appeal, the Appellate Board shall advise the respondent, in writing of the Appellate Board’s decision.

(a) If the Appellate Board overturns the decision of the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing, the matter will be returned to the Student Conduct Administrator for re-opening of the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing as applicable. In accordance with the ruling of the Appellate Board the Student Conduct Administrator shall reconsider the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing determination and/or sanction(s). The Student Conduct Administrator shall then issue a Decision Letter in accordance with this procedure. The student may appeal the findings in the Decision Letter per Section F(5) of this procedure as any other Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing.

(b) If the Appellate Board upholds the decision of the Conduct Meeting and/or Level One Hearing, the matter shall be considered final and binding upon all involved.