Code of Student Life
APPEAL PROCESS
Appeals of decision made by the appropriate Greek system judicial board or the Intramural Board will be made to the Student Judicial Board. Appeals of decision made by the residence hall area coordinator will be made to the University judicial officer. Appeals of decisions made by the Student Judicial Board or University judicial officer will be made to the Appellate Committee.
The Appellate Committee is authorized to only hear appeals from decisions of the Student Judicial Board and University judicial officers. The three-member Appellate Committee is comprised of two (2) students appointed by the student body president with first and second alternates also named; the third member of the committee will be the vice president for business and finance with the provost/vice president for academic affairs as the alternate. The student members may not be current members of the Student Judicial Board, resident assistant, assistant area coordinator or area coordinator. If any of the appointed student members can not meet within a suitable time frame, the student body president and/or vice president of student services will appoint a student(s) in an attempt to expedite the appeal process. Each member has one vote to determine if a student has violated rules and/or procedures.
Members of the Appellate Committee may not contact judicial officers or members of the Student Judicial Board to solicit an opinion of a case. The same rules and/or procedures apply in the next level of the appeals process. The judicial body whose decision is being appealed may not forward its opinion to the appellate body hearing the appealed case. Each student has the right to appeal the University decision rendered at the original hearing. If a student wishes to appeal the original decision, a written notice of appeal, including the reasons for the appeal, must be filed in the appropriate office as delineated in the written statement of the findings within three (3) working days, as defined by the University, of receipt of the decision. In cases heard on appeal, the body conducting the hearing can do the following:
- Find the appellant not guilty—overturn the decision;
- Decrease the appellant's penalty—uphold the decision with modifications; or
- Keep the appellant's penalty the same—upholding the decision.
Review of the appeal will be based on examination of the evidence presented at the original hearing, the recording of that hearing and the statements provided within the request for appeal. The appeal process is not an avenue for submitting evidence that was not provided in the original hearing. In reviewing the hearing recording, if the appeals committee determines that the “Procedures for Hearings” was not directly observed, the committee may grant a new hearing to take place; otherwise, the decision will be based on the review alone. Students may appeal traffic violations to the Traffic Committee not the Student Judicial Board.