Center For Honor Enrichment and Community Standards

Handbooks

The university's policies are designed to support the educational mission and to ensure a safe environment where all members of the university community can work, study and live without undue interference.

Policies are also designed to build and support the academic and social community by teaching students responsibility and interdependence.

The Student Handbook contains the Honor Code and Student Code of Conduct. The Residence Life Handbook contains policies associated with on-campus residential living.

Flowcharts

Below you will find a flowchart showing the step-by-step process for both conduct and academic misconduct cases.

Organization Conduct

The Student Code of Conduct and Honor Code apply to individual students and student organizations alike. Student organizations must know and abide by all regulations and policies that govern their conduct as members of their national/international organization, the university community and the commonwealth of Virginia. The organization conduct process is explained below.

Any member of our community can report concerning behavior or an incident. To submit a report, click on the appropriate reporting form below.

When an incident report is filed, alleged students will be notified of the incident by email. An alleged student must schedule an initial conference with the designated conduct officer by calling the CHECS office.

During the initial conference, the alleged student is given the opportunity to share their perspective, ask questions and present information related to the incident. After a conduct officer meets with the student(s) involved in the incident, a decision will be made and the student(s) will be notified of the decision by email.

If students are found responsible for Student Code of Conduct and/or Honor Code violations, sanctions will be imposed.

Sanctioning

Sanctioning is determined on a case-by-case basis and takes into account the circumstances and nature of the violation, the needs of the individual student, the student's judicial history, and the impact or potential impact of the student's behavior on the CNU community.

There are four types of sanctions that may be imposed as a result of a responsible finding:

• Educational sanctions
  These sanctions are content-specific based on the nature of the student’s violation. Examples:
  • Alcohol or drug education
  • Attendance at a program/speaker
  • Research paper
• Developmental sanctions
  These sanctions are applied specifically for the individual to help their own personal growth and reflect on their decisions. Examples:
  • Counseling assessment
  • Reflection paper
  • Meeting with the Center for Career Planning or Center for Academic Success
• Campus contribution sanctions
  These sanctions allow students to give back to the CNU community. Examples:
  • Campus service
  • Community service
  • Restitution
• Punitive sanctions
  These sanctions hold students accountable and enable them to take responsibility for their actions. Examples:
  • Disciplinary probation
  • Suspension or dismissal from housing
  • Suspension or dismissal from the university

Typical Sanctions

While there is no such thing as a typical case, some situations are more prevalent than others and regularly have similar sanctions. Examples of situations such as these include:

• Underage alcohol consumption
• Drug usage in residence halls
• Disorderly conduct incidents

Below is a list of typical sanctions given in these situations. While these sanctions are typical, no situation is exactly the same. Depending on a wide variety of factors, including judicial history, these sanctions could be different than those listed.

• Incident: underage alcohol consumption/possession (on and off campus)
  • Typical sanctions:
    • AlcoholEdu for sanctions (this program carries with it a fee of $50)
    • Reflection paper
    • Written warning
• Incident: drug usage in the residence halls
  • Typical sanctions:
    • Suspension from housing
    • Marijuana101 (this program carries with it a fee of $75)
    • Reflection paper
    • Disciplinary probation
• Incident: disorderly conduct
  • Typical sanctions:
    • Written warning
    • Reflection paper
    • Campus or community service

Once a student receives their outcome letter, they have five business days to request a review of their decision.

The student or conduct officer can request to have a case reviewed by the Student Honor Council in the following circumstances:

• Academic Honor Code violations
• Violations with a sanction of suspension or dismissal from housing
• Violations with a sanction of suspension or dismissal from the university

Cases that do not fall in the above three categories, will be sent for administrative review to the director of CHECS.

Hearing Panels and Honor Panels

The student can request to have a case reviewed by the Student Honor Council in the following circumstances:

• Academic Honor Code violations
• Violations with a sanction of suspension or dismissal from housing
• Violations with a sanction of suspension or dismissal from the university

If a panel is convened, the alleged student will be assigned a student advocate, who is a trained Student Honor Council member, to help prepare for the panel. A community advocate, who is a trained Student Honor Council member, will also be assigned to represent the community's perspective during a panel.

Student Honor Council members serve on different panels as part of the university conduct process:

• Honor Panel
  An Honor Panel is convened to hear alleged violations of the Honor Code that are independent of Student Code of Conduct violations. The final decision of responsibility in this panel must be unanimous
• Hearing Panel
  A Hearing Panel is convened to hear alleged violations of the Student Code of Conduct. The final decision of responsibility in this panel is determined by a majority vote.
• Combined Panel
  A Combined Panel is convened when an alleged violation(s) of the Student Code of Conduct and an honor system violation(s) occur during the same incident. The honor system violation(s) will be determined by a unanimous consensus, while the Student Code of Conduct violation will be decided by a majority vote.

Resources for students preparing for a panel are available below.

After a panel, a student may appeal their case one final time to the vice president for student affairs/dean of students. This appeal may only be considered for one of the following reasons:

• The student was not notified of the incident
• The student was not given the opportunity to share their perspective
• There is new information that was previously unknown that may have resulted in a different decision being made

Administrative Reviews

Administrative reviews by the director of CHECS will only be considered for one of the following reasons:

• The student was not notified of the incident
• The student was not given the opportunity to share their perspective
• There is new information that was previously unknown that may have resulted in a different decision being made