Student Conduct Appeals

Both parties have the right to appeal the outcome of a hearing by filing a written appeal to the Dean of Nursing and Allied Health, or designee, within five (5) academic days of receipt of written notice of the determination. Appeals regarding dismissal of formal complaints follow this same procedure. Information on how to submit an appeal is included in the outcome letters sent to both parties.

Appeals may be filed under the following circumstances. It is the responsibility of the student, in writing, to prove one or more of the following occurred for an appeal to be accepted:

• Procedural error that resulted in significant harm to the student. Deviations from the designated procedures will not be a basis for accepting an appeal unless the deviations are material, substantial, and/or significant harm or bias resulted;

• The Title IX Coordinator, Investigator, or hearing body had a conflict of interest, bias or prejudice that prevented a fair and impartial hearing and affected the outcome of the hearing;

• Substantial new evidence that was unavailable at the time of the hearing and which reasonably could have affected the decision of the conduct hearing body;

• Sanctions imposed are substantially outside the parameters or guidelines set by the College for violations of this policy or the cumulative conduct record of the responding student.

Students may not appeal under the following circumstances:

• Non-attendance by the responding student may not be the sole grounds for an appeal;

• Dissatisfaction with a decision.

The appellate body, or designee, will decide the appeal based upon a review of the conduct record and supporting documents. The appeal officer may consider additional relevant information from any party to the proceeding and then decide the appeal based upon the enhanced record. The decision of the appeal officer is final. The appeal officer may:

• Uphold the original decision and/or sanction(s);

• Dismiss the case or individual violation(s) against the student and lift any or all sanction(s);

• Modify, enhance, or reduce the sanction(s);

Refer the case to the original hearing body or refer the case to a new hearing body for a rehearing. If possible, a new hearing body should be different from the one that originally decided the case.