Policy Violation Procedures

Basic Procedures

Policies and procedures are put in place for the safety and development of the community. When policies are violated, a certain protocol takes place. Here is what you can expect:

Sanctions (Active and Status)

  • Active Sanctions: This type of sanction has follow-up steps that require action on the resident’s part. Active sanctions are intended as opportunities for the resident to gain additional information or engage in additional reflection related to the policy violation.
  • Status Sanctions: These sanctions are related to a resident’s status within Campus Housing or their status as a student at the College of Charleston. Status sanctions typically do not require action on the resident’s part.

Active Sanctions

  1. Referral – Residence Life reserves the right to refer students to other offices within the College of
    Charleston for further sanctions (i.e. Honor Board, Dean of Students, or Counseling Center)

  2. Educational Assignment – Designed to promote self-reflection, the student's understanding of how his/her
    behavior impacts others, the college community, the student's personal being, and personal future as well
    as being a deterrent for future violations and raising awareness through activities that relate to the
    violation.

  3. Restitution and fines – A Monetary penalty that is added to a student’s financial record; if not paid, this
    may result in an administrative hold on one’s record. There are four types of fines in Residence Life; Fire &
    EMS, Vandalism/Damage to Property, Checkout, and Lost Key. Fines for vandalism will be levied according
    to the damages. Amounts of fines are at the discretion of Residence Life and Housing Administration.
    Students are subject to fines given at the discretion of the Department of Residence Life for failing to
    comply with directives given by Residence Life Officials.

  4. Collective Accountability – When violations occur to any part of a residence hall or house, every effort is
    made to determine who is responsible. When this fails however, all residents in the area affected will be
    notified of the violation and given a period of time in which any information about the incident may be
    given to your RA. If this fails to yield a responsible party, all residents in the affected area will be
    sanctioned accordingly. A series of warning letters are sent to residents in an attempt to gain information
    leading to the apprehension of the responsible party.

  5. Disciplinary Removal – The student is required to move out of the residence hall community within 10
    days. S/he is banned from all campus housing. There is no refund of fees; full payment of contract is
    required. Students removed for disciplinary reasons can re-apply for on-campus housing, after two
    academic semesters, by submitting a written request to the Director of Residence Life for consideration.
    Residence Life reserves the right to accept or reject such request after consideration. A housing
    application will be mailed to the student based on availability.

  6. Disciplinary Service – Requires the student to volunteer personal time for the residence hall, campus, or
    community at-large.

  7. Interim Removal – Whenever there is evidence that the continued presence of a student in the
    residential community poses a substantial threat to him/herself or to others or to the stability and
    continuance of normal residence life functions, Residence Life and Housing may remove the accused
    student for an interim period pending disciplinary proceedings or medical evaluation. Such interim
    removal becomes immediately effective without prior notice. A student removed on an interim basis will
    be given an opportunity to appear personally before the Director of Residence Life or
    other appropriate official within 5 business days from the effective date of the interim removal for a
    hearing only on the following issues:

      • The reliability of the information concerning the student's conduct
      • Whether the conduct and surrounding circumstances reasonably indicate that the continued presence of the student on the campus poses a substantial threat to him/herself or to others or to the stability and continuance of normal college functions
      • Prorating of fees due to interim removal is determined by the Director of Residence Life
  8. Residence Expulsion – permanent separation of the student from the residential system. This sanction is
    automatically accompanied by the assignment of a Persona Non Grata status from all residential
    environments of the College and full payment of the housing contract if the removal is due to a code or
    regulation infraction.

Status Sanctions

  1. Written Warning – A letter of warning to a resident that their conduct is in violation of the Residence Life Policies & Community Standards. The letter summarizes the violation and informs the resident about future consequences if the behavior continues.

  2. Revoking of a Privilege – Having one’s privileges as a resident of the College restricted for a specified amount of time as related to the violation (i.e. suspension of visitation).

  3. Parental Notification – The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) permits an institution of higher education to disclose to parents or legal guardians the results of disciplinary hearings and actions if the student is less than 21 years of age and responsible for violating campus rules regarding the use or possession of alcohol or a controlled substance. Parents or guardians of students under the age of 21 will be notified of all violations of College drug and alcohol policies.

  4. Residence Life Probation – The student is in a probationary status within the residential community; any significant behavioral violation of policy while on probation will cause the student to be removed immediately from the residence hall community with no refund of housing fees and full payment of contract required.

  5. Disciplinary Probation – A student on probation is not considered in good standing within the College, and his/her continued enrollment is conditioned upon good conduct for the probationary period. The period of time over which the probation extends shall be set forth in the letter to the student as well as the probability of more severe disciplinary sanctions if the student is found to violate any regulation during the probationary period. This sanction may limit student participation in other College activities or programs as determined by individual College units.

  6. Deferred Suspension – A student on deferred suspension is not considered in good standing within the College and the suspension is held in abeyance as long as all other sanction conditions are completed and the student has no other proven code violations. The period of time over which the deferred suspension extends shall be set forth in the letter to the student. This sanction may limit student participation in other College activities or programs as determined by individual College units.

Appeals

The Department of Residence Life has an appeal process in place for students found in violation of policy. The only grounds that will justify changing or overruling a previous decision by the official are the following:

  1. There was no reasonable basis in the record for the decision rendered or the sanction imposed;

  2. There was a substantive mistake of procedure that likely influenced the outcome of the proceeding; or

  3. New evidence, sufficient to alter a decision was not brought out in the original hearing, because such evidence was either unavailable or unknown at that time after diligent inquiry by the person appealing.

A student will have five (5) business days after the transmittal of the decision to turn in a written appeal based on the criteria listed above. The written appeal should be emailed to the Associate Director of Residence Life, Joy Heinzman at heinzmanj@cofc.edu. If the appeal is accepted, the case will be reviewed within ten (10) business days. In the case of not responsible, the case is dismissed. The appeals decision of responsible or not responsible is final.

Please Note: This appeals process applies only to cases heard by a Hearing Officers within the Department of
Residence Life. All policy violations heard by the Honor Board or Dean of Students have a separate appeals
procedure.