Judicial Affairs Appeal Options

After the initial meeting with a Judicial Affairs member a student has the right to appeal the decision and sanctions to through the High Point University Conduct or Honor Court.  For alleged violations of the Code of Conduct one may select either Open Court or Closed Court.  For alleged violations of the Honor Code then one will move forward with Honor Court.

 

Open Conduct Court

Open Court is a full hearing  heard 6 student and 2 faculty or staff justices that all vote.  Also present is the Chief Justice who is a non-voting member of the panel. The Attorney General is a student who presents the “University perspective.”

At the beginning of the hearing both the Attorney General and Charged Student begin with an opening statement.  This is a brief overview of the matter at hand and explains why the Conduct Court is gathered.

After the opening statements, the Attorney General and Charged Student present their full cases.  At this time the Attorney General will present any incident reports, security reports, pictures, etc that were submitted to the University initially.  The Attorney General will also present information in reference to the policies in question as well as any witnesses that may help establish facts from the incident.  Typically the Attorney General is responsible for calling any Office of Student Life/Security members that wrote the reports or were present at the time.  The Charged Student will present their interpretation of the event as well as why they believe they are not responsible for the the charges and sanctions that were initially presented to them by Judicial Affairs.  The Charged Student may also present any evidence he or she may have or call any witnesses that may assist in their case.  Witnesses must provide information relevant to the incident, they may not be character witnesses.  For both presentations and any witnesses the justices may ask any questions for clarification or more information.

Once both presentations have concluded and questions have been asked the Attorney General and Charged Student will present closing statements.  These closing statements are expected to be a “wrap up” of what was presented today and any final thoughts on the matter.

After closing statements  Attorney General, Charged Student and all witnesses are dismissed from the hearing room and the justices will move into deliberations.  During deliberation, the justices may call on the Judicial Affairs representative or designee for clarifying questions.

Following deliberation, all parties return to the hearing room for the outcome:

In the case of a responsible outcome, all charges and sanctions shall be read to the Charged Student.

In the case of a not responsible outcome, the Charged Student is free to leave with no charges or sanctions.

 

Closed Conduct Court

Closed court is a hearing held in front of  a panel of three individuals: typically the panel is comprised of a representative from the Office of Student Life (typically the Director/Assistant Director of Judicial Affairs), the Chief Justice (a student) and another University Administrator (typically someone from Security). Also present for the hearing is the Attorney General and Charged Student.

The procedure of Closed Court is similar to that of Open Court.  Opening Statements will be made by both parties followed by the Presentations.  Evidence may be submitted however; witnesses are not permitted in a closed hearing  (written sworn statements are acceptable).  After the Presentations, questions are asked by the panel before moving into the Closing Statements.

After closing statements  Attorney General and Charged Student are dismissed from the hearing room and the hearing panel will move into deliberations.  During deliberation, the panel may call on the Judicial Affairs representative, if they are not already sitting on the panel.

Following deliberation, all parties return to the hearing room for the outcome:

In the case of a responsible outcome, all charges and sanctions shall be read to the Charged Student.

In the case of a not responsible outcome, the Charged Student is free to leave with no charges or sanctions.

 

Honor Court

Honor Court is a full hearing  heard by 6 student and 2 faculty or staff justices that all vote.  Also present is the Chief Justice who is a non-voting member of the panel. The Attorney General is a student who presents the “University perspective.”

At the beginning of the hearing both the Attorney General and Charged Student begin with an opening statement.  This is a brief overview of the matter at hand and explains why the Honor Court is gathered.

After the opening statements, the Attorney General and Charged Student present their full cases.  At this time the Attorney General will present any documentation that was provided by the instructor regarding the alleged violation of the Honor Code.  The Attorney General will also present information in reference to the Honor Code that may support the alleged policy violation. During Honor Court the Attorney General is responsible for calling the instructor of the class to act in the capacity of a witness.   The Charged Student will present their interpretation of the event as well as why they believe they are not responsible for the the charges and sanctions that were initially presented to them by the instructor.  The Charged Student may also present any evidence he or she may have or call any witnesses that may assist in their case.  Witnesses must provide information relevant to the incident, they may not be character witnesses.  For both presentations and any witnesses the justices may ask any questions for clarification or more information.

Once both presentations have concluded and questions have been asked the Attorney General and Charged Student will present closing statements.  These closing statements are expected to be a “wrap up” of what was presented today and any final thoughts on the matter.

After closing statements  Attorney General, Charged Student and all witnesses are dismissed from the hearing room and the justices will move into deliberations.  During deliberation, the justices may call on the Judicial Affairs representative or designee for clarifying questions.

Following deliberation, all parties return to the hearing room for the outcome:

In the case of a responsible outcome, all charges and sanctions shall be read to the Charged Student.

In the case of a not responsible outcome, the Charged Student is free to leave with no charges or sanctions.

 

Appeal to Executive Committee

To appeal a decision of the Conduct or Honor Court, a student must submit a written letter of appeal to the chair of the Executive Committee, Vice President for Community Relations, Dr. Don Scarborough within five (5) days of the issuance of the Conduct Court decision. The appeal letter must include the following information: 1) a summary of the incident in question, 2) an indication of the grounds for appeal and 3) narrative that supports the request for appeal.

In order to appeal a decision of the Conduct Court, the appeal must meet at least one of the following criteria:

1. A clearly erroneous finding of fact; and/or
2. Significant procedural irregularities which denied the student a fair hearing; and/or
3. Substantial new or relevant evidence which was not available at the time of the previous hearing; and/or
4. The sanctions issued do not fit the offense as stated in the Student Guide to Campus Life

This is the final level of appeal that High Point University offers.