Campus Location: We are located on the bottom floor of the MCC building directly adjacent to the University Center in the Associated Students Main Office.
The Housing Division can assist you with any alleged misconduct violations occurring within university-owned housing. Misconduct charges range from possessing alcohol to committing harassment. The OSA can give you advice, draft your paperwork, and accompany you to meetings and hearings. Our help is always free, confidential, and prompt.
About the Housing Judicial Process
Incident Occurs
If you are accused of engaging in misconduct an Information Report, describing details of the alleged violation, will be put into your file and then forwarded to your Resident Director. Your Resident Director will then review the information report and decide if further disciplinary steps are necessary. If further disciplinary steps are considered necessary, your case can be decided through either an informal or formal resolution process. If further disciplinary steps are considered unnecessary, your information report will be filed without additional disciplinary actions.
Informal Resolution Process
If disciplinary action is considered necessary, an administrator may select one the following informal resolution methods:
Mediation
You and all parties affected by the alleged violation come together to discuss ways to resolve the conflict. Mediation is provided by the University free of charge and is performed by trained mediation facilitators.
Restorative Justice
A resolution used when you admit wrongdoing. You and everyone affected by the policy violation come together to discuss how the conflict can be resolved. You will have the opportunity to give your input on the best way to repair the damage done from the policy violation.
Conduct Meeting
A meeting between you and a university administrator. A member of the Office of the Student Advocate (OSA) may accompany you to the meeting and offer advice. After the meeting, the administrator will decide if they feel you are responsible. If you are found responsible, appropriate disciplinary sanctions will be given. If you are found not responsible, no further action will be taken. If the administrator deems it appropriate, you will be referred to the Residence Hall Review Board or to University Hearing Officers, who will hear the case and determine your responsibility.
Formal Hearing Process
The formal hearing process allows you to present your case to an unbiased hearing body that will determine your guilt or innocence and then make a recommendation regarding potential penalties. The following two meeting options constitute the formal resolutions review process.
Residence Hall Review Board (RHRB) Meeting
A formal judicial hearing board that is comprised of three to seven appointed students. At the hearing, you are given the chance to respond to your Information Report and also to present witnesses to the board. A member of the Office of the Student Advocate may come with you to the hearing and offer advice, but he/she is not allowed to speak on your behalf. At the end of the hearing, the RHRB will decide if you are responsible or not responsible for the policy violation. If they find you responsible, you will be given the appropriate sanctions. If you are found not responsible, no further actions will be taken against you.
Hearing Officers Meeting
Hearing Officers, two to three administrators, may hear your misconduct case if the RHRB is unavailable. At the meeting, you are given your Information Report and a chance to respond to the report as well as to present witnesses to the officers. A Student Advocate may accompany you to the hearing and offer advice, but he/she is not allowed to speak on your behalf. At the end of the meeting, the Hearing Officers will determine if you are responsible. If they find you responsible, you will be given appropriate disciplinary sanctions. If they find you not responsible, no further actions will be taken against you.
Appeals Process
You have the right to appeal a sanction if you have been found responsible for a University or Housing policy violation. Your appeal must be based on either a violation of due process, an apparent bias during your hearing process, or a sanction that is unfitting of the violation. An appeal must be made in writing and submitted within ten working days of the date appearing on the notification of the imposition of the sanction. Appeals must be sent to the designated administrator as indicated on the notification of the imposition of the sanction. It is important to note that if you file an appeal, the sanctions imposed are not lifted until the appeal has been upheld.
Possible Sanctions
If you are found responsible for policy violations, an administrator, the RHRB, or Hearing Officers may impose one or more sanctions upon you. There is no predetermined sanction for any particular violation; rather, sanctions are determined on a case by case basis. For housing policy violations, sanction punishments range from written warnings, special projects, payment of incurred damages etc., to cancellation of housing contract and total exclusion from all University housing and dining facilities.
Visit the Housing Judicial website for a more comprehensive overview of housing judicial policies.
