Guide to Residence Life Handbook

Any Suffolk University student (resident and non-resident) who is documented ("written up") for a policy violation is entitled to due process.

A. JUDICIAL PROCEDURES

If you are documented, you will receive a RESIDENCE HALL VIOLATION NOTICE from a staff member.  This notice will clearly state the alleged policy violation.  You will receive the notice, either, when you sign it ( your signature indicates only that you have received the notice) or it will be placed under your door if you are not available to sign it.  If your guest is a non-resident Suffolk University student, his/her violation notice will be mailed to him/her.  Non-resident Suffolk University students will be held accountable for violations of University or Residence Life policy.  They are entitled to a Residence Life Judicial Hearing and should follow the procedures listed below.

It is your responsibility to make an appointment with a Residence Life Judicial Hearing Officer in the Residence Hall Building Office (in the building where the violation occurred) to discuss the violation.  The appointment MUST BE MADE WITHIN 3 BUSINESS DAYS OF THE VIOLATION.  Failure to make and keep the appointment will result in an evaluation of the incident without your input.

At the meeting to discuss the violation, the violation notice will be reviewed.  Next, you will be presented with your hearing options:

• Informal Hearing:  At the hearing attended by you and the hearing officer (Associate Director of Residence Life & Summer Programs, an Assistant Director of Residence Life or a Graduate Fellow), you will be presented with the allegations being made against you and asked to state whether you are responsible or not responsible for each charge.  At this hearing you will be given the opportunity to present evidence.  In opting for this hearing you waive the right to a hearing in front of a Resident Student Judicial Board; to confront witnesses and evidence presented against you and to present witnesses.  The hearing officer may, at his/her discretion, contact and receive the testimony of the accuser and witnesses prior to rendering a decision.  This option entitles you to meet with a hearing officer one-on-one.  You will have the opportunity to present your version of what happened.  The hearing officer will conduct any follow-up investigation and determine the outcome of the case.  In opting for this hearing you waive the right to a hearing in front of a Resident Student Judicial Board.
• Formal Hearing:  At this hearing attended by you, the accuser, witnesses and the hearing officer (Associate Director of Residence Life & Summer Programs, an Assistant Director or a Graduate Fellow), you will be presented with the allegations being made against you and asked to state whether you are responsible or not responsible for each charge.  At this hearing you will be given the opportunity to present witnesses and evidence and confront witnesses and evidence presented against you.  In opting for this hearing you waive the right to a hearing in front of a Resident Student Judicial Board.
• Resident Student Judicial Board:  This option entitles you to present witnesses on your behalf and to directly question the staff person who documented the violation.  The hearing will be conducted by the Resident Student Judicial Board and chaired by the Associate Director of Residence Life & Summer Programs or the Graduate Fellow for Residence Life.  Upon determining the outcome of the case, the Board will make a sanction recommendation to the Director.  Most cases which involve a disruption in the community will be assigned to the student board.  The Resident Student Judicial Board will be an option by late September.

Appeal Process:

 You may appeal a decision to the Associate Director of Residence Life & Summer Programs if your hearing officer was, either, an Assistant Director or a Graduate Assistant.  If the Associate Director was your hearing officer, an appeal should go to the Director.  In rare cases where the Director hears a case, an appeal should go to the Dean of Students.  All appeals must be made in writing within 7 business days after the hearing resolution is issued.  An appeal will only be considered for one, of two, reasons: 1) new information has become available which was not available during the hearing ; OR 2) you believe that aspects of your hearing were unfair, arbitrary or without basis in fact.  Disagreement with the sanction is not grounds for an appeal.
In either type of hearing, if you are found to be not responsible for the violation, you are not sanctioned.  If you are found to be responsible for the violation, you will be issued a sanction.  An explanation of sanctions follows.

B. VIOLATION TYPES

Level I:  These are the most serious violations.  The resulting sanction can be as severe as suspension or dismissal from the University and/or university housing.

Level II:  The resulting sanctions for these types of violations may include a combination of, but not be limited to, attendance at an educational workshop or program, removal from a particular floor/room,  loss of privileges, confiscation of property, housing jeopardy or probation, a fine, restitution and participation in a community service program and/or educational assignments.

Level III:  The resulting sanctions for these types of violations may include a combination of, but are not be limited to, a written warning, attendance at an educational workshop or program, loss of privileges for up to one month, confiscation of property, a fine, restitution, participation in a community service program and/or educational assignments.

Violations are cumulative for the length of your on-campus residency.  For example, if you have multiple Level III violations, you will most likely receive sanctions at a higher level.  An accumulation of violations may result in additional and more severe sanctions, including dismissal from university housing.

Alcohol and Other Drugs Violations:
Due to the nature of the alcohol and other drug policies, the sanctions are slightly different than those for other types of violations.  The specific sanctions are listed in the "Sanctions" section.

C. SANCTIONS

1) Sanction Options and Definitions

• University Dismissal:  Separation from the University.  Parents are notified if a student is dismissed from the university.
• University Housing Dismissal:   Permanent separation from university housing (this includes visitation).  The student is not eligible for re-admission to university housing.  Parents are notified if a student is dismissed from university housing.
  University Housing Suspension: Separation from university housing for a specified period of time.  The student is not permitted to enter any university housing.   Parents are notified if a student is suspended from university housing.
• Notification to the Dean of Students Office:  Sanction letter is copied to the Dean of Students Office.  Parents are copied if the Dean of Students is notified.
• Notification to Athletics / Student Activities:  The Athletics Department has asked that whenever a student athletic is found responsible for an alcohol or drug policy violation (or any other Level 1 violation) that they are informed.  The Student Activities Department has asked that whenever a student leader is placed on Housing Jeopardy that they are informed.
• Housing Jeopardy:  Status as a resident student is being placed in jeopardy.  Students are placed on Housing Jeopardy for a minimum of six months.  Should a student on Housing Jeopardy receive an additional alcohol or drug policy violation, it is likely he/she will be suspended from housing.  Students on housing jeopardy are not eligible to return to campus early during vacation periods or request late-stays.  Students on housing jeopardy may not be eligible to participate in room selection for the following academic year.  Parents are notified if a student is placed on housing jeopardy. 
• Housing Probation:  During this period, if a student is found to be in violation of any policy, the sanction will be more severe than if it was a first time violation.  If an off-campus student is placed on Housing Probation and receives additional violations of Residence Life and/or University policy, the student will lose visitation privileges to Suffolk University Housing.  Housing Probation is typically for a period of one semester.
• Loss of Privileges:  The student loses privileges in university housing which may include, but is not limited to, guest privileges, early arrival / late stay status, vacation period housing or removal from a floor, room or building.  Should space not be immediately available, relocation may take place at an arranged time.
• Confiscation of property:  Items, which are not permitted in university housing and found in plain view in a room, will be confiscated by staff.  Personal items (candles, appliances, etc.) may be returned to the student upon his/her departure from university housing.  If other items — such as stereos, televisions, and radios — are the source of on-going problems they may be confiscated.
• Fine:  Fines are collected from the student and returned back to the community through building improvements and programming.
• Restitution:  Requires that a student compensate the university/individual for loss, damage or injury that the student is found responsible for causing.
• Educational Assignment:  Requires that a student complete a course on Judicial Educator, an essay or other assignment which encourages the student to consider the circumstances involved in the incident.
• Participation in a workshop or community / university service project:  The particular workshop or project will be determined based on the violation.  "Participation"  is defined as being on time, devoting appropriate hours and completing any necessary paperwork.

Notification to parents may occur in instances referenced under "Sanctions" and on page 40 (Disruptive or Life Threatening Behavior). Such notification is applied to resident students regardless of age. In any other matters, federal privacy laws (FERPA) apply to all resident students regardless of age.

2) Alcohol and Drug Violations for Resident Students

Typical Minimum Sanctions for Alcohol Violations
Sanctions shall include, but not be limited to:

• First violation:  Fine - $25.00
     Alcohol Educational Assignment
     Housing Probation
• Second violation:  Fine - $50.00
     Alcohol Educational Assignment
     Housing Jeopardy
     (includes parent notification)
• Third violation:  University housing suspension or dismissal

Typical Minimum Sanctions for Drug Violations
Sanctions shall include, but are not limited to:

• First violation:  Fine - $50.00
     Educational Assignment
     Housing probation
• Second violation:  Fine - $75.00
     Educational Assignment
     Housing Jeopardy
     (includes parent notification)
• Third violation:  University housing suspension or dismissal.

3) Alcohol and Drug Violations for Non-Resident Suffolk University Students

Typical Minimum Sanctions for Alcohol Violations
Sanctions shall include, but not be limited to:

• First violation:  Fine - $25.00
     Alcohol Educational Assignment
     Housing Probation
• Second violation:  Fine - $50.00
     Alcohol Educational Assignment
     Loss of Visitation Privileges
     Notification to Dean of Students
     (includes parent notification)

Typical Minimum Sanctions for Drug Violations
Sanctions shall include, but are not limited to:

• First violation:  Fine - $50.00
     Educational Assignment
     Loss of Visitation Privileges
     Housing Probation
• Second violation:  Fine - $75.00
     Educational Assignment
     Loss of Visitation Privileges
     Notification to Dean of Students
     (includes parent notification)

Alcohol and Drug Violations for non-resident Suffolk University students may be treated with more severity.  If found responsible for violating alcohol and drug policies, a non-resident student may lose visitation privileges.  Guests who are not Suffolk University students and violate alcohol and/or drug policies while visiting university housing, will lose visitation privileges and be placed on the Banned List. 

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