Appeals Explained

Requesting an Appeal
Accused students who are found guilty and sanctioned by the Honor Court can request an appeal of the decision on three different grounds: Insufficiency of Evidence, Violation of Basic Rights provided in Section IV.A of the Instrument, and Severity of Sanction. In order to appeal, the student must file a written Appeal Petition with the Judicial Programs Officer outlining his or her reasons for appealing within five business days of the original hearing. Upon review of the Appeal Petition, the Judicial Programs Officer (JPO) (Dave Gilbert for undergraduate appeals and Melinda Manning for graduate and professional school appeals) may either grant or deny the appeal.

If the JPO grants the appeal, he or she will schedule a University Hearings Board (UHB) to hear the matter.

If the JPO denies the Appeal Petition, the student may request that the Appellate Review Board (comprised of one faculty member, one administrator, and one student with no prior knowledge of the case) review his decision. The Appellate Review Board (ARB) reviews the Appeal Petition and makes the final determination as to whether the student will be granted an appeal. If the ARB grants the appeal, it will instruct the JPO to schedule a University Hearings Board to hear the matter. If the ARB denies the appeal, the decision is final and the appeals process ends.

The Appeal Hearing
If the appeal is granted, the JPO schedules a University Hearings Board (comprised of two faculty members, two students who did not hear the original case, and one administrator) to hear the matter.

• If the student alleges that the evidence presented to the original court was insufficient to prove the charge beyond a reasonable doubt (Insufficient Evidence appeal), the University Hearings Board will review the evidence contained in the original record (the evidence presented at the original hearing and the recording of the hearing) to determine whether a reasonable basis exists for the decision of the Honor Court. If the Board determines that there was a reasonable basis for the decision, it will deny the appeal. If not, it will overturn the decision and dismiss the case.
  
• If the student alleges that his basic rights were violated during the course of the Honor System process (Basic Rights Violation appeal), the UHB will review the original record and any evidence presented by the student or the investigator related to the possible violation of his or her rights. If the preponderance of the evidence indicates that a violation of rights occurred and it is evident that this violation prejudiced the outcome of the hearing, the UHB will remand the case for a new hearing. If the UHB determines that remanding the case will not remedy the violation, it will dismiss the case. If the UHB determines that no violation occurred, it will uphold the decision of the original court. NOTE: a remanded hearing is conducted de novo before the new court. This means that the rehearing is conducted before a court that has not heard the case before, and the court will determine whether the evidence presented constitutes a violation of the Honor Code, and if so, what sanction is appropriate. The court rehearing the case will not be made aware of the result and sanctions applied by the prior court; thus, it is possible that the court rehearing the case may apply different sanctions according to the information provided during the rehearing.
  
• If the student alleges that the sanction imposed was overly severe given the facts of the case, the UHB will review the original record (no new evidence is permitted) to determine whether a reasonable basis exists for the sanction imposed. If the Board determines that a reasonable basis exists, it will deny the student's appeal. If the Board determines that there is not a reasonable basis, it will lower the sanction to a lesser appropriate sanction. The Board may not increase the severity of the sanction imposed by the original court.

Appeals to the Chancellor
If a student believes his basic rights have been violated, he or she can file a Chancellor's Appeal Petition with the Dean of Students . Appeals to the Chancellor may only be made based on allegations of basic rights violations or where the sanction imposed is Permanent Suspension or Expulsion. The Dean of Students reviews the Petition and can either grant or deny the appeal . If she grants the appeal, the case goes before the Chancellor or his designate. If the Dean of Students denies the appeal, the student may request that the ARB review the Dean's decision as described above.

If the Chancellor or his designate hears the appeal, he can uphold the decision, remand the case for a new hearing, or overturn the case if he finds that basic rights violations occurred that cannot be corrected by a new hearing. Once the Chancellor hears and decides the appeal, the appeals process ends and the sanction, if any, becomes effective immediately.