Student Conduct Appeals

Murray State College Academic and Student Affairs

Code of Conduct

32 Student Conduct Appeals

The accused student(s)/respondent(s) or complainant(s) may appeal a decision made by a conduct review body. A request for an appeal must be submitted to the Vice President of Student Affairs (or designee) within ten (10) working days of the decision. When a student conduct hearing process is utilized, the Vice President of Student Affairs will enlist different representatives to serve to ensure a fair and unbiased review of the appeal. Generally, the Student Conduct/Appeals Committee will hear appeals of residential suspensions and all matters for which they did not render the decision and the VPSA will generally hear all appeals handled by the Executive Director of Student Affairs.

The written request for an appeal must be based upon one or more of the following reasons, which must be specified in the appeal:

Violation of College conduct review procedures
Misinterpretation of the policies alleged to be violated
New evidence not reasonably available at the time of the hearing
Improper or excessive sanction(s)
Decision not supported by a preponderance of the evidence

Student Conduct Decision Appeal Form

https://cm.maxient.com/reportingform.php?MurrayStateOK&layout_id=5

Upon receipt of the appeal, the appellate body will do one of the following:

Accept to hear the case at their discretion
Refuse to hear the case for lack of sufficient reason for appeal
Request that another hearing be conducted
Investigate and amend the decision or sanction

In appeals by the accused involving claims of improper or excessive sanctions, decisions following appeal cannot result in more severe sanctions for the accused student. A review of the audio transcript or other supporting materials will be available to the appellate officer at their request. The decision and sanction(s) resulting from any appeal will be sent to the respondent, complainant, Vice President for Student Affairs, and persons and offices notified of the original sanction(s). Typically, the appellate body will render a final decision within two weeks of receiving the initial appeal.

An appeal can only be made as the result of a review of charges from a conduct review body and not from a review of a reported incident where a formal review has not occurred and/or when an informal resolution is put in place.

The Student Conduct/Appeals Committee must consist of four College employees, appointed by Student Affairs personnel, whose primary duties do not involve the administration of student conduct and aﬀairs, and in some appropriate situations, three student members. The Vice President for Student Aﬀairs will designate the committee and Chair.

Hearing Scheduling

Upon receipt of the request for an appeal hearing, the Vice President of Student Affairs will schedule a hearing and notify the student requesting the appeal of the day and time of the scheduled hearing as soon as is reasonably possible. At the same time, the student will be informed as to the procedure used at the hearing and the student’s right to legal counsel. If the student is to be assisted by legal counsel, notiﬁcation must be made to the Vice President for Student Aﬀairs at least ﬁve days prior to the scheduled hearing.

Usual Hearing Procedure:

The Student Conduct/Appeals Committee Chair distributes a short synopsis of the case in writing to the student and to the Committee. The Chair will then request an oral presentation of facts from the Executive Director of Student Affairs.
Questions are asked by the Committee to clarify the facts and allegations.
An opportunity is provided for the student to speak to, explain, or contradict allegations; to appeal for understanding or clemency; to present contrary evidence; to make known the existence of other testimony; or to raise clarifying questions.
The Committee will then deliberate and make a decision on the appeal. The decision of the Committee may be one of the following:

Uphold the decision of the Executive Director of Student Affairs.
Modify the decision of the Executive Director of Student Aﬀairs by reducing the penalties, changing the penalties, or increasing the penalties.
Dismiss the charges against the student.
Take other action as deemed appropriate.

Attendance at the Appeal Hearing:

A typical appeal hearing involves only the appearance of the Executive Director of Student Affairs, the student (with legal counsel if desired), and the members of the Committee. The deviation may be made from this by the committee Chair on consultation with the committee members when in his/her considered opinion such is necessary in order to ensure complete information and fairness. Either the Executive Director of Student Affairs or the student may request the appearance of others alleged to have relevant knowledge of the case before the committee. The honoring of these requests is at the discretion of the committee. Any witness who appears to make statements is open to questions by all parties, and any documentary evidence presented is open to examination by all parties. The committee itself may call upon expert assistance or may call before it any person having helpful information or knowledge.

Counsel:

The student has the right to counsel during the hearing procedure. The Counsel may be a parent, another adult, or a licensed attorney at the student’s own expense. The appearance of an attorney on behalf of a student also entitles the Student Conduct Appeals Committee to the presence of legal counsel throughout the proceedings. No student or their counsel has the right to speak or behave discourteously or disrespectfully to the Committee or any other person involved in the hearing. Breaches of common courtesy or respect by a party in a hearing may result in the oﬀending party’s removal from the proceedings by the committee Chair and the termination of the party’s rights to any further hearing in the disposition of that particular case.

Records:

The records of a hearing are to be a summary and not a transcript. However, records should be suﬃcient enough to include the more signiﬁcant facts presented, allegations made, statements of views, and decisions reached. Hearings must be tape-recorded and such recordings preserved for a minimum of two years. A copy of the record of the case must be placed in the disciplinary record ﬁle of the student, and the Chair of the Committee must keep copies of all records. Such records are open to review by a higher College authority, such as the President, but will not otherwise be available to any person or party except on court order. An exception to this procedure may be if the speciﬁc time student applies for admission to any other college or university and requests that a clarifying statement be sent to explain a notation that may appear on the student’s transcript in regard to his/her probationary, suspension, or dismissal status.

Notice of Action:

The Committee may notify the student verbally of actions not involving suspension or expulsion. Notiﬁcation of suspension or expulsion must be in writing and signed by the Chairman of the Committee, the Executive Director of Student Affairs, and the Vice President. Notice of action must be given within ten working days. Suspension or expulsion of a student is not ﬁnal until written authorization by the President.

Appeal beyond the Student Conduct/Appeals Committee:

An appeal of any action taken by the Committee may be made to the President of MSC within ﬁve working days. Reasons for the appeal must be stated in writing and presented to the President. The President may exercise whether or not to re-open the case, adjust the penalty, set aside the penalty, or order a reconsideration of the case or a new hearing by the Committee. The President is not bound by the formal rules of hearing in his/her investigation or appraisal and the President’s decision has no time frame.