At the University of Hartford, community matters. Student Conduct is one of many offices on campus that works actively to maintain community standards and support a campus environment where every student’s rights are protected. The student conduct process is educational, not a court of law. Every student who goes through the process is offered a fair opportunity to discuss the incident that happened with a trained professional staff member.
The student conduct process is a non-adversarial process. Decisions are not predetermined. The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution is located in the Gengras Student Union (GSU) room 307, 860.768.5403. Please note that we have several student conduct officers across campus. Do not assume that your conduct meeting is in GSU. The notification of hearing email will state the location of student conduct hearing and the name of the hearing officer.
Please reference the Student Code of Conduct in the Student Handbook for a detailed description of the student conduct process, including the notification of a hearing, the hearing process, resolution process, sanctions, and the appeal process.
Following the Student Code of Conduct, a student may login with their credentials to submit an appeal based on one of two grounds.
Understand the Process
- An incident occurs.
- A report is generated and forwarded to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution.
- The case is assigned to a student conduct officer.
- The student receives an email with the date and time of their conduct meeting.
- The student and the conduct officer have a conversation about the incident.
After the student conduct hearing, a hearing resolution is emailed to the student.
If a student fails to attend a scheduled meeting with the director of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution (or their designee), or conduct officer/designee, the conduct referral will be resolved based on the information available to the conduct officer/designee at the time.
I didn’t do anything! Why am I being told I have to have a student conduct meeting?
A referral of a student conduct complaint made to the Student Conduct office is the reason why a student is notified of a hearing. The purpose of the hearing is to allow the accused student(s) the opportunity to share his/her perspective regarding the documented incident with a conduct hearing officer.
What’s going to happen at my meeting?
During a student conduct hearing students meet one-on-one with a trained student conduct hearing officer to read the documented incident, answer questions about documented behavior and review the overall student conduct process.
How are student conduct decisions made?
Using a preponderance of evidence standard (‘what is more likely than not’ to have happened) the hearing officer uses all available information at the time of the hearing to find the accused student ‘responsible’ or ‘not responsible’ for violating the Student Code of Conduct.
Can a student conduct hearing be rescheduled?
The meetings are scheduled around student’s academic schedules. Therefore rescheduling is typically not permitted. Scheduling conflicts with students’ employment is not a valid reason to reschedule.
What happens if a student does not attend the hearing?
If this happens, the case will then be heard with the available information at hand to the hearing officer (the documented incident report) and a decision made by the hearing officer. Following the hearing, the hearing officer will send the email resolution.
Are parents/guardians contacted about the student conduct process?
The University reserves the right to contact parents/guardians for violations of the Student Code of Conduct related to alcohol and/or drugs.
“I don’t think my meeting was fair and I want to appeal. What do I do?”
There is an appeal process. Students are encouraged to read the Student Code of Conduct for details pertaining to the appeal process. In general, there is a time period in which a student can submit an appeal based on specific grounds in which appeals are accepted for review.
What should a student do more time is needed to complete a sanction?
Students should proactively communicate such a request to the hearing officer associated with the student conduct hearing. Sending such a request does not ensure the sanction completion deadline will be granted.
What if a student fails to complete assigned sanctions?
Failure to complete sanction(s) within the allocated time frame is considered noncompliance. Noncompliance can be viewed as a violation of the Student Code of Conduct and addressed through the student conduct hearing process resulting in additional sanctions.
Unless prohibited by FERPA, parental notification generally occurs when a dependent student has been found responsible for violating the Code of Student Conduct regarding drug and alcohol usage. Parents are also usually notified when a dependent student is found responsible for University misconduct regarding drug and alcohol usage when coupled with being held responsible for University misconduct regarding acting with violence and/or committing an assault, or any other serious offense. Situations in which parents of dependent students might not be notified include:
- When no contact information is available
- When, in the professional judgment of University staff, notification is deemed to not be in the best interest of the student.