Hearing

1. When a case has been forwarded for a hearing, the Director of Academic Integrity, will act with dispatch to convene a Hearing Board from the Academic Integrity Board.

2. Each Hearing Board will consist of seven members selected from the Academic Integrity Board: four (4) students, two (2) faculty/combined faculty members, and one (1) staff member. The Chair for each hearing will rotate and may be a student, faculty, or staff member, although students must have previous hearing experience before serving as Chair. Every effort should be made to distribute hearing responsibilities evenly among the various members of the Academic Integrity Board. In addition, a member of the Case Review Team in general should not participate as a member of the subsequent Hearing Board. Any member of the Academic Integrity Board who has a conflict of interest in the case should make that conflict known to the Chair of the Academic Integrity Hearing Board and the Director of Academic Integrity.

3. The Director of Academic Integrity will notify the student(s) and faculty that are involved, in writing, of the academic judicial hearing procedures. The student, along with his or her advisor, may choose to meet with the Director of Academic Integrity to be sure he or she fully understands the procedures that will be followed during the Hearing. The Hearing Board will meet as soon as reasonably possible, and the parties involved must be notified in advance of the meeting date.

The notification letter to the parties involved shall include a date, time, and location of the scheduled hearing. This letter also will communicate the findings of the Case Review Team, and it will inform the recipients that each party has the right to an advisor, who can be any member of the Quinnipiac University undergraduate faculty, staff, or an undergraduate student. The student and faculty appearing before the Hearing Board will not be permitted to have legal counsel, legal representation, parents, family members, or students or faculty from the Quinnipiac University Law School at the hearing. If a hearing is held while Quinnipiac University classes are not in session, a student may request, in writing, to have an advisor assigned by the Director of Academic Integrity. The student must demonstrate that he or she was unable to locate an advisor during this time period. These requests must be sent to the Director of Academic Integrity one week prior to the hearing date. If a student requests an assigned advisor, and then refuses this advisor, no further advisors will be assigned. The advisor for either party may not represent the individual he or she is advising. While in general the chair will not recognize the advisor, the advisor may raise procedural issues and may request an opportunity to break for a private conference with the student.

4. Any cases which involve more than one student, will all be heard prior to any voting by the board on individual cases.

5. The procedure for the hearing will be as follows.

a. A member of the Case Review Team will present the case.

b. Each party will present a statement. The Hearing Board will ask questions of each party, examine evidence, and interview witnesses if necessary.

c. Upon conclusion of this discussion, each party will be asked if there is any additional information, discrepancies, or questions that need to be presented or addressed.

d. All parties will be asked to leave the room while the Hearing Board deliberates. After its discussion, the Board decides if a preponderance of the evidence indicates that the student is responsible or not responsible for violation(s) of the Academic Integrity Policy by way of a simple majority vote. In order for the vote to be valid a quorum must be present. A sufficient quorum is six members.

e. If the student is found to be responsible, the Hearing Board shall be informed of the student's prior record to determine whether the student has been found responsible for previous academic integrity violations.

f. If the student is found responsible for the violation(s), the Hearing Board has full and unique authority to determine the sanction(s), how and for how long the record of the sanction will be maintained on the student's permanent record, and the conditions that must be met for the record to be removed, if any. If any permanent record is made of the violation, the student has the right to petition that the record be expunged based upon his or her personal growth, even after graduation.

Below are guidelines for the Hearing Board to consider in this deliberation. However, the Hearing Board may deem alternate sanctions appropriate in individual cases.

1) First offense may result in probation as well as failure on the exam/assignment and/or failure in course, but could lead to immediate suspension, dismissal, or expulsion.

2) Repeat offenses will result in increasingly severe sanctions, including suspension, dismissal, and expulsion.

3) In addition to above, the Hearing Board has the right to require the student to attend an Academic Integrity Seminar, complete academic integrity projects, write letters of apology, or any alternate sanction deemed appropriate for any violation.

4) Any sanction of dismissal or expulsion will automatically appear on a student's transcript. The student has the right to appeal to have this notation removed.

g. Once the Hearing Board has reached a decision on the sanction(s), the chair of the Hearing Board will ask the parties involved to return to the room, and the results of the deliberation will be presented. In addition, the Hearing Board will communicate, the results of the hearing and any Hearing Board action directly to the student and faculty. Within one business day, the Director of Academic Integrity will mail notification to the students explaining the sanctions imposed by the Hearing Board and the appeal process.

h. If insufficient evidence of the alleged violation(s) is determined, the report and charges will be dismissed. Under these circumstances, no record of the report or the outcome will be retained in the student's file. The Director of Academic Integrity must inform the student and other involved parties of this decision.

6. If a student fails to respond to or comply with a letter/notification from the Academic Integrity Board, Hearing Board, or Case Review Team; attend a scheduled meeting with any Academic Integrity Board, Hearing Board, or Case Review Team member or faculty member; attend an academic judicial hearing; or abide by any of the procedures here noted in this policy, the student has forfeited his/her rights and options presented. The case may proceed without the student or faculty present and a decision will be rendered. However, a Hearing may be delayed at the discretion of the Chair. If a Hearing takes place without the student present, the student will be notified by certified mail of the outcome of the hearing.

7. Non- compliance

1a. "Students who chose not to comply with the sanctions determined in a joint resolution, will be required to attend a hearing."

1b. "Students who chose not to comply with the sanctions determined by a hearing board will be subject to a one-semester suspension."

Procedure:
a. Any student who appears to be in non-compliance with either a joint resolution or a hearing board sanction will be notified by the Director of Academic Integrity via email and certified mail of the apparent non-compliance. The student will be informed of the non-compliance issues/facts and will be instructed to reply in the stated time frame. The student will have seven calendar days to reply to the Director. The student will also be informed that he/she can request an extension, in writing, to the Director. No more than one extension can be granted by the Director.

b. If the student requests an extension, he/she will be notified by the Director within seven calendar days of the extension's approval/denial and the reasons for such.

c. If the student does not reply after notification, the student will be deemed to be non-compliant and will be required to attend a hearing (joint resolution) or will be subject to a one-semester suspension (hearing).

d. Appeal of the suspension will occur in the same manner as all other suspensions. (See Appeals section)