Disciplinary Procedures

Section I – Reporting Violations

Anyone accused of an Honor Code violation will be considered innocent until proven guilty.  An accused student will continue to attend class, and may not drop the class, while the violation and/or appeals proceedings are in process.  To report Honor Code Violations, the following procedures will be followed:

(a)     By Faculty:

If a faculty member believes that a student has violated the Honor Code, the faculty member will schedule a meeting with the student regarding the offence, to be held as soon as possible but no more than ten (10) class days from the faculty member’s discovery of the offence.  At that meeting the faculty member will discuss the offence with the student, presenting the student with available evidence.

A special note on Proctors:  if a proctor observes academic dishonesty during an exam, he or she should intervene immediately to stop the alleged cheating.  Then the proctor should report the incident to the course professor as soon as possible so that the proctor and the course professor can discuss the incident with the student.

 (b)     By Students:

If a student believes that an Honor Code violation has been committed, the student will inform the course professor.  The faculty member will then follow the above procedures for reporting Honor Violations by faculty.  The student must be available for possible questioning by the faculty member, the Academic Dean, and/or the Hearing Board.

SECTION II -- Deciding Guilt or Innocence and Assigning Penalties

Honor Code violations will be adjudicated by the following procedures:

(a)     By Faculty:

i.      If after meeting with the student the faculty member determines that the Honor Code was not violated, the charge will be dismissed and faculty member will make no permanent record of the meeting.

ii.   If after meeting with the student the faculty member determines that the Honor Code was violated and the faculty member wishes to assign sanctions, the faculty member may adjudicate the charge by choosing one of the following options:

• Awarding a grade of zero for the assignment. This zero cannot be dropped or otherwise omitted from the student’s final course average.
• Awarding a grade of “F” for the course
• Awarding another significant penalty. This may not involve having the student re-do the work in question without academic penalty.

iii.    If the faculty member imposes any sanction, and if the student agrees with the charge and sanction, the faculty member will complete an Honor Code Violation Report.  The student and faculty member will sign the report.  Confidential copies will be given to the student, the faculty member, and the Academic Dean.

 iv.  If the student denies the charge and/or wishes to dispute the sanctions assigned, the student may appeal using the process described in Article V, Section III.

 v.  If the faculty member chooses to present the alleged violation to the Academic Dean rather than adjudicate the matter. The following procedure will be used.

(b)     By the Academic Dean:

i.      The Academic Dean will schedule a meeting with the student and the faculty member as soon as possible but no more than ten (10) class days from the faculty member’s discovery of the offence.  At that meeting, the Academic Dean will be in charge. The faculty member will present the evidence. The student has the opportunity to refute the charge or contest the penalty.

 ii.     The Academic Dean, in consultation with the faculty member, may adjudicate the charge by choosing one of the following options:

• Dismissing the charge.  If the charge is dismissed, the Academic Dean and faculty member will make no permanent record of the meeting;
• Awarding a grade of zero on the assignment;
• Awarding a grade of “F” for the course.

iii.          If the Academic Dean and faculty member impose any sanction, and if the student agrees to the charge and the sanction, the Academic Dean will update and sign the Honor Code Violation Report. Confidential copies will be given to the student, the faculty member, and the Academic Dean.

iv.           If the student denies the charge and/or wishes to dispute the sanctions assigned, the student may appeal using the process described in Article V, Section III. If the faculty member wishes to dispute the Academic Dean’s ruling, he or she may appeal to the Honor Council using the same appeals procedure. 

 (c)      By the Honor Council:

The Academic Dean, the faculty member, and/or the student may bring any alleged Honor Code violation to the Honor Council.  If this occurs, a Hearing Board will meet, following the procedures outlined below:

i.   The student will receive a written notice specifying the alleged violation of the Honor Code, the time and place of the hearing, and the procedures that will be used during the hearing.  Such notice will be sent to the student’s official Young Harris College email address at least forty-eight (48) hours prior to the hearing.  When possible, a written notice will also be given to the student personally.  Upon receipt of the hearing notice, the student will have the right to access and review physical evidence used to support the alleged violation.

ii.  The student has the right to be present during the hearing while evidence is being presented and may remain until the Board begins deliberations.  The student may choose to remain silent during the hearing, and such silence will not be taken as an admission of guilt.  The student may also elect not to appear at the hearing; failure to appear will not be taken as an admission of guilt. The student may bring to the hearing an individual from within the College community whose role is to serve as an advisor.  Such person may not act in a legal capacity, and may speak only when invited to do so by the chairperson.

iii.    At the hearing, the Board chairperson will read aloud the Honor Code Violation Report and the student and/or faculty members’ written request for an appeal. The chairperson will explain the exact nature of the violation of the Honor Code. (If it is subsequently determined that this explanation was incomplete or inaccurate, the chairperson will promptly inform all parties of this fact in writing.) The student is allowed to plead as he/she desires. 

iv. The Board will first hear from the complainant,--the person making the charge-- who may choose to make a statement, after which the Board may question the complainant.  Then the student may make a statement, after which he/she may question the complainant. The Board may then question the student. If there is more than one complainant and/or more than one student, the Board chairperson will determine the order in which parties are to be questioned.

v.  Both the complainant and the student will be allowed to offer physical, written, and/or oral evidence.The complainant will be allowed to offer evidence first.  Then the student will offer evidence in defense.  If witnesses have been summoned, they will appear one at a time as called by either party.Each witness will be questioned first by the Board, then by the party who called him/her, and then finally by the remaining party.  Witnesses may be recalled as required.

vi. Closing statements will be made after all witnesses have appeared and been questioned by the complainant, the student, and the Board.  The complainant and respondent will also have a final opportunity to question one another.

vii.   After all of the closing arguments have been presented, the complainant and student will be dismissed.  The Board members will meet and discuss their opinions.  Each member will cast an oral vote, unless a member asks to abstain from voting.  The majority vote will determine the verdict in the case.  The Board will use the standard of “preponderance of evidence” (i.e., whether it is “more likely than not” that a violation has occurred) to make its decision as to the guilt of the student.  In deciding on the appropriate penalty in the event of a guilty finding, the Board will also use the standard of “preponderance of evidence” except when considering dismissal of the student from the College.  In order to impose the penalty of dismissal, the Board must use the standard of “guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”  If in the judgment of the Board the evidence does not rise to that level, a lesser penalty will be imposed.

viii.   If a guilty verdict is found, the Board may assess one of the following penalties:

• Award a grade of zero on the assignment;
• Award a grade of “F” in the course. 
• Recommend dismissal of the student from the College.

ix. Once a penalty is imposed, the Board will provide to the student, the faculty member, and the Academic Dean written notice of its decision.

x.  The Honor Council and Hearing Boards will meet only during fall and spring semesters. Alleged violations occurring during the fall final exam period should be adjudicated within the first ten (10) class days of the spring semester according to the procedures above.  Alleged violations occurring during the spring final exam period or summer sessions that can be adjudicated by the faculty member and/or the Academic Dean will be adjudicated according to the procedures in sections (a) and (b) above.  In cases that cannot be adjudicated at those levels, the matter will go before the Honor Council as soon as possible the following fall semester. If the matter cannot be resolved before the beginning of the next term and might prevent the student charged from being eligible to continue at the College, the student will be allowed to enroll and attend classes until the matter is settled.

xi. The Educational Component of the Process: Any penalty (except dismissal) must be accompanied by education about the Honor Code, or our Code will be merely punitive.  Members of the Honor Council will decide on the best educational program for each student found guilty of a violation. 

xii.  Each time a violation report is submitted to the Academic Dean’s office, the Dean’s office will check to see if the student has been reported for a prior Honor Code violation. Students reported for multiple violations will be required to meet with the Academic Dean.  Additional sanctions may be assigned.

Appeals for cases adjudicated for Honor Code Violations will be made as follows:

 (a)           Requesting an Appeal

i. If the student disagrees with the charge and/or sanction of a faculty member, the Academic Dean and/or the Hearing Board, the student has the right to file an appeal.  Faculty members may also appeal matters adjudicated by the Academic Dean and/or Hearing Board. To request an appeal on any level, the student or faculty member must complete the Appeal Request form available in the Academic Dean’s office.  The appeal meeting will then be scheduled and the student and faculty member will be notified of the date and time.  

ii. All requests for appeals must be made within ten (10) class days of receiving the results of the initial hearing. If a violation is adjudicated during the final exam period and the student or faculty member wishes to appeal, the appeal must be requested within the first ten (10) class days of the following semester. For students facing imminent transfer or graduation, the appeal will be adjudicated as quickly as possible by the Academic Dean. 

(b) Adjudication of Appeals

i.   For matters originally adjudicated by a faculty member, the appeal will be adjudicated by the Academic Dean.

ii.   For matters adjudicated by the Academic Dean, the appeal will be adjudicated by the Honor Council.

iii. For matters adjudicated by an Honor Council Hearing Board, the appeal will be adjudicated by the Honor Council Appeals Board. A student or faculty member who believes he/she did not receive a fair hearing from a Hearing Board may appeal for a rehearing on the grounds of the availability of new evidence or a claim that procedural errors were committed in the original hearing. If the claim of this appeal is upheld, the original judgment and penalty will be declared void and the case will be returned for a new hearing. If a case is reheard because of procedural error, the student has no further appeals available from the Honor Council.

iv. The student will have the right to file a final appeal with the President of the College

 v.  In all appeal cases, it is the student’s responsibility to demonstrate that the earlier decision was incorrect, that the hearing procedure was unfair, and/or that the penalty should be modified.  In cases in which a student is appealing a penalty, consideration of such an appeal will be restricted to affirming the penalty or to modifying it (e.g. changing its length, its effective date, etc.).  In no case will a more severe penalty be imposed.