All disciplinary matters will be addressed by the Office of the Dean of Students, the Cumberland University Student Conduct Committee, or the Office of Residence Life.  Students may request to have their case heard by either the appropriate campus administrator or the (CUSCC).  All cases will be referred directly to the CUSCC for case adjudication.  The Dean of Students and the Vice President of Administration each reserve the right to immediately suspend any student who presents a danger to campus pending case adjudication.  In the event that the Dean of Students is unavailable to initiate the adjudication process in a timely manner and a case must be adjudicated immediately to protect the safety and welfare of the campus, the Dean of Students may appoint an alternate  university administrator to initiate the adjudication process.  

 

Students will receive a notification letter following the receipt of an incident report.  This letter requests that the student schedule a meeting with the Dean of Students or alternative hearing officer.  During an initial meeting with the Dean of Students or other hearing officer, a student can enter the conduct resolution process immediately by indicating that they agree with the incident report and are willing to accept sanctions.  In this case, no formal conduct hearing would be held.  If the student disputes facts in the incident report and requests a hearing, s/he may request to have the case heard by the CUSCC.   The CUSCC will meet on a weekly basis to adjudicate cases.  

 

An appeal may be based only upon one or more of the following grounds:  1) new information or evidence, 2) procedural error, and 3) sanction is grossly disproportionate to the violation committed.   Appeals may be filed via the Student Conduct computerized administration system to the Executive Vice President, the Vice President of Administration, or another campus administrator designated by the Executive Vice President. Final appeals may be filed via the Student Conduct computerized administration system to the University President. A students’ past record and standing with the University will be used in consideration of all offenses.  Failure of a student to schedule a preliminary meeting or respond to the initiation of charges shall in no way prevent the university from scheduling and conducting a hearing in the absence of the accused student.

 

All hearing bodies reserve the right to question any and/or all student(s) perceived to be involved in any campus/student related issue/offense.  All Appeals must be filed within 72 hours of a verdict and/or imposition of disciplinary sanctions.

 

Any student who does not complete a student misconduct condition or sanction will have a hold placed on his or her account in the Business Office.  Upon proof of satisfactory completion of the conditions or sanctions, the hold will be released.