Student Honor Review Procedures
I. INTRODUCTION
A. Purpose. The Student Honor Review Procedures are designed to protect the mission of the university while maintaining a balance between the interests of the student and the university.
B. Administrative Responsibility. The Student Honor Office is responsible for the overall administration of Student Honor Review Procedures under the direction of the Director of the Student Honor Office.
C. University Employees. These review procedures do not address sanctions of university employees.
D. Violations of Law. Students in the university community have the rights and obligations of citizenship. They are responsible for their personal conduct under applicable federal, state and local law, being neither excused nor protected from civil and criminal sanctions by their status as students.
Disciplinary proceedings may be carried out prior to,1 simultaneously with, or following civil or criminal proceedings off campus at the discretion of the Student Honor Office. Disciplinary sanctions shall not be subject to change because criminal charges were dismissed, reduced, or resolved in favor of or against the criminal law defendant.
When a student is charged by federal, state or local authorities with a violation of law, the university will not request nor agree to special consideration for that individual because of his or her status as a student. If the alleged offense is also being investigated by the Student Honor Office, the university may advise off-campus authorities of the existence of university standards. The university will cooperate with law enforcement and other agencies. Individual students and other members of the university community, acting in their personal capacities, remain free to interact with governmental representatives as they deem appropriate.
E. Terms/Definitions. The following terms or definitions2 are used in the Student Honor Review Procedures. The list is not all inclusive or comprehensive but lists those most commonly used.
1. The terms "university," "BYU-Idaho," and "BYU-I" mean Brigham Young University-Idaho.
2. The term "student" includes all persons taking courses at or through the university specifically including internships, students off-track, and persons taking continuing education and internet courses, whether the person is full-time or part-time, matriculating toward a degree or certificate or non matriculating. Individuals who withdraw or who are not enrolled for a particular semester but who have a continuing relationship with the university or who have been notified of their acceptance for admission are considered "students" for purposes of this document as are individuals who are living in a student approved housing unit who meet the above criteria even though they may not be currently enrolled. The CES Honor Code, the principles and standards of For the Strength of Youth, Housing Guidelines, and university policy apply both on and off campus.
3. The term "university official" includes any person employed by the university, performing assigned administrative or professional responsibilities.
4. The term "member of the university community" includes any person who is a student, faculty, staff, administrator, or any other person employed by the university.
5. The term "university premises" includes all lands, buildings, facilities, and other property in the possession of or owned, used or controlled by the university including adjacent streets and sidewalks.
6. The term "Student Honor Review Council" means any person or persons authorized by the President of the university or Dean of Students to hear a review of a disciplinary sanction.
7. The term "Student Honor Office" in this document means the Director of the Student Honor Office, Administrators, and any persons in the Student Honor Office authorized by the President of the university to impose disciplinary sanctions upon any student(s).
8. The term "shall" is used in the imperative sense.
9. The term "may" is used in the permissive sense.
10. The term "class day" means any day that orientation, class days, reading days, or exams are scheduled.
11. The term "policy" is defined as the written regulations of the university as found in, but not limited to, the CES Honor Code, For the Strength of Youth, Housing Guidelines, and statements of policy published by the university.
12. The term "complainant" means any person who submits information about an infraction of university standards or relevant university policies when a student believes that they have been the victims of another student's misconduct, that student/victim will have the same rights under these procedures as those rights which are accorded the "accused student" or "alleged perpetrator".
13. The terms "accused student" or "alleged perpetrator" means any student or individual accused of violating university standards or relevant university policies.
II. ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDENT HONOR REVIEW COUNCIL.
A. Composition of the Council. The Student Honor Review Council shall be made up of five members consisting of two Administrators and three students chosen from members of the Student Honor Council.
B. Secretary. There shall be a secretary present at every meeting of the Council. The Director of the Student Honor Office shall select one or more secretaries from among those employed by the university to serve as secretary to the council. In the event that an appointed secretary is unable to attend a meeting of the council, the Director of the Student Honor Office will ensure that another secretary employed by the university is appointed to serve on an ad hoc basis.
The secretary shall prepare a brief written summary of the proceedings of the council, along with all supporting materials, to the Director of the Student Honor Office.
III. JURISDICTION
A. Proscribed Conduct. Generally, BYU-Idaho jurisdiction and discipline shall encompass behavior committed by any person who has been admitted to the university and shall specifically include those whose enrollment is pending in an upcoming semester, who is off-track, who is on holiday, when the university is not in session or who is at home. Any behavior which may adversely affect the interests of the university or which violates the student's personal commitment to the CES Honor Code, the principles and standards of For the Strength of Youth, the Housing Guidelines or other university policies may be the cause for review and discipline by the university.
Students will be responsible for their conduct at all times and in all places, both on and off campus, while they are students of BYU-Idaho.
B. Conduct Rules and Regulations. Any student found to have committed or to have attempted, aided, abetted, assisted, or incited to commit the following misconduct may be subject to separation from the university:
1. Violation of the CES Honor Code, the principles and standards of For the Strength of Youth, Housing Guidelines, and university policy.
2. Acts of dishonesty, including but not limited to the following:
a. Cheating, plagiarism or other forms of academic dishonesty.
b. Knowingly furnishing false information to any university official, faculty member, office, or department.
c. Forgery, alteration or misuse of any university document, record or instrument of identification.
d. Tampering with the election of any university recognized student organization.
3. Disruption or obstruction of teaching, administration, disciplinary proceedings, or other university activities, programs or functions, including its public service functions on or off campus.
4. Physical abuse, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, stalking (to follow or otherwise make unwanted contact with a person repeatedly), coercion and/or other conduct which threaten or endanger the health or safety of any person, the interference with another student's academic performance, or any behaviors as outlined in the university Disruptive Behavior Policy.3
5. Inappropriate conduct relating to a person's gender which creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive campus, educational, or working environment for another person. This includes unwanted, unwelcome, inappropriate, or irrelevant sexual or gender-based activities or comments.
6. Attempted or actual theft of or damage to property of the university or property of a member of the university community, or other personal or public property.
7. Hazing, or offensive conduct which endangers the mental, emotional, or physical health or safety of any student, including any activity which would degrade, humiliate, embarrass a person or behavior which defaces, destroys or removes public or private property for any purpose that is inappropriate. The express or implied consent of the victim will not be a defense. Apathy or acquiescence to these behaviors are not acceptable neutral acts but may be treated as a violation of these rules.
8. Failure to comply with directions of university officials or law enforcement officers acting in performance of their duties and/or failure to identify oneself to these persons when requested to do so.
9. Unauthorized possession, duplication or use of keys to university premises or unauthorized entry to or use of premises.
10. Violation of any university policy, rule or regulation published in hard copy or electronically by the university.
11. Violation of federal, state or local law at any time or place.
12. Use, possession or distribution of narcotic or other controlled substances except as expressly permitted by law.4
13. Use, possession or distribution of alcoholic beverages.5
14. Illegal or unauthorized possession of firearms, explosives, other weapons, or dangerous chemicals (including the preparation or detonation of dry ice bombs) on university premises or in or around approved student housing, or use of any such item, even if legally possessed, in a manner that harms, threatens or causes fear to others.
15. The inappropriate activation of any emergency warning equipment or the false reporting of any emergency, the removal, damage or tampering with fire safety or other emergency warning equipment, or the failure to evacuate a university building or facility when a fire alarm is sounded.
16. Participation in any campus demonstration which disrupts the normal operations of the university and infringes on the rights of other members of the university community; leading to or inciting others to disrupt scheduled and/or normal activities within any campus building or area; intentional obstruction which unreasonably interferes with freedom of movement, either pedestrian or vehicular, on campus.
17. Obstruction of the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic on university premises or at university sponsored or supervised functions.
18. Conduct which is disorderly, lewd, or indecent; constitutes a breach of the peace; or aiding, abetting or procuring another person to breach the peace on university premises or at functions sponsored by or participated in by members of the university community.
19. Theft or other abuse of computer time or violations of the university Computer Security Policy, including but not limited to:
a. Unauthorized entry into any file, to use, read, or change the contents, or for any other purpose.
b. Unauthorized transfer of any file.
c. Unauthorized use of another individual's identification, password or computer privileges.
d. Use of computer facilities to interfere with the work of another student, faculty member or university official.
e. Use of computer facilities to send obscene, abusive or inappropriate messages.
f. Use of computer facilities to interfere with normal operation of the university network or computer system.
20. Abuse of Student Honor Review Procedures, including but not limited to:
a. Falsification, distortion or misrepresentation of information before the Student Honor Review Council, Student Honor Office or any other university administrator or employee.
b. Disruption or interference with the orderly conduct of a council meeting.
c. Instituting a council proceeding or Student Honor Office investigation knowingly without cause.
d. Attempting to discourage an individual's proper participation in or use of the Student Honor Office or the Student Honor Review Council.
e. Attempting to influence the impartiality of a member of the Student Honor Review Council prior to, and/or during the course of a council proceeding.
f. Harassment (verbal or physical) and/or intimidation of a member of the council prior to, during and/or after a proceeding.
g. Failure to comply with the sanction(s) imposed under the Student Honor Review Procedures.
h. Influencing or attempting to influence another person to commit any abuse of the Student Honor Review Procedures.
21. Possession of more than one BYU-Idaho student ID card, lending or using another student's card, misuse of student ID number, or the impersonation or unauthorized representation of the university.
B. Academic Standards. Academic misconduct may constitute grounds for university discipline, including separation from the university.
C. Non students. The Student Honor Review Council has no jurisdiction to sanction non students. However, information regarding the misconduct of non students may be provided to the Director of Admissions if it is relevant to the decisions regarding future admission.
IV. PROCEDURES
Student Honor Review Council
1. Student Honor Review Councils are held in a confidential setting6 in the interests of the student and the university. Individuals providing information or statements shall be allowed to participate at the discretion of the council and will be invited into the meeting at an appropriate time.
2. If a council member's association with a student appearing before the council is such that they are personally acquainted with the student or is unable to render a fair and impartial decision, the member has a duty to disqualify himself/herself. Any member of the council may be disqualified if the student shows that a bias exists on the part of that member toward the student.
3. A council meeting involving more than one student involved in the same incident, may be conducted either separately or jointly at the discretion of the Director of the Student Honor Office.
4. The student may, at any time, request a change of schedule to provide for a more adequate presentation of his/her case. Such requests will be considered by the Director of the Student Honor Office. If there appears to be a compelling reason to postpone the review, the Director may cancel or reschedule the review.
5. The Director of the Student Honor Office may accommodate concerns for personal safety, well-being and/or fears of confrontation of the complainant, accused student and/or other witness during the review by providing separate facilities, by using a visual screen, and/or by permitting participation by telephone, videophone, closed circuit television, video conferencing, videotape, audio tape, written statement, or other means where and as determined in the judgment of the Director.
6. The council shall invite and encourage the student to respond to the allegations. The student may present facts in his/her own behalf, request assistance in getting other persons having first-hand knowledge of the matter at issue to attend the council meeting, ask questions of those making statements or providing information to the council and offer his/her own statement and recommendation for disposition of the matter. The council may request persons having first-hand knowledge to appear or offer written statements if the student is, through his/her own efforts, unable to secure their attendance.
7. The student shall not be required to make any statement. If he/she should chooses to make a statement, he/she may refuse at any point to answer any question.
8. The student may be accompanied to the meeting by an advisor of his/her choice. The advisor may be a faculty or staff member, fellow student, parent, or other person so long as the availability of the advisor does not substantially hamper the timeliness of the council meeting. The advisor may not be an attorney unless he or she is a parent of the student. The university may not be represented by legal counsel, but legal counsel for the BYU-Idaho Office of the General Counsel may be consulted by the Director on procedural issues. The advisor may not represent the student during the meeting and will not be permitted to address the council.7 The student will be expected to speak for himself/herself at all times. The advisor may be asked to leave the council meeting if he/she becomes disruptive or violates this policy.
9. The secretary assigned to the council will be responsible for taking brief, summary minutes of the meeting. These minutes will be the official record of the proceedings. No verbatim recording of the meeting will be made.
10. Witnesses may be invited to address the council during the meeting to present pertinent information and answer questions from council members. The accused student may direct questions to the witness through a member of the council. This will facilitate the process and preserve the educational tone of the review process and avoid the creation of an adversarial environment.
11. Pertinent records, exhibits and written statements may be accepted as information for consideration by the council.
12. The Director of the Student Honor Office or his/her designee has the responsibility to ensure that appropriate procedures are observed during the review process. The Director or his/her designee should: (a) make an initial response to any procedural questions that arise, (b) alert the council to the procedural implications of any action which they are considering, (c) identify any inconsistencies between the Student Honor Review proceedings and the actions of the council or its individual members at any point in the proceedings, and (d) in situations where the director feels it is desirable or the council instructs him/her to seek further guidance, seek out and present to the council additional relevant information which may be available from the experience of previous councils or from other sources. The Director of the Student Honor Office, University Legal Counsel, has the authority to alter these procedures provided the substituted procedures are fair to the student.
13. If a student does not appear before the Council at the appointed time, the decision of the Student Honor Office will stand, provided the Council is satisfied that the student has been given adequate notice.
14. Formal rules of process, procedure and/or technical rules of evidence, such as are applied in criminal or civil court, are not used in Student Honor Review Council proceedings.8
B. Student Honor Review Council Decisions
1. All deliberations of the council shall be confidential and by majority vote.
2. The council's determination shall be made on the basis of whether it is more likely than not that the accused student committed the behavior alleged in violation of the CES Honor Code, the principles and standards of For the Strength of Youth, Housing Guidelines, or university policies.
3. If the council determines to uphold a decision to separate the student from the university, the Student Honor Office Administrator will implement appropriate stipulations which the student must meet in order to return to the university at some future date.
4. If the council remands the matter back to the Student Honor Office Administrator, the administrator will implement appropriate disciplinary stipulations which he or she believes will serve to strengthen the student's commitment to the standards and principles of university.
5. The Director of the Student Honor Office or his/her designee will verbally review the decision of the council with the student and the administrator assigned to the case following the council decision. Written notification of the outcome will follow.
C. Sexual Assault Victim's Rights
1. The alleged victim of a sexual assault has specific rights under the "Student Right to Know and Campus Security Act".9 All rights enumerated in the Student Honor Review Procedures apply to the complainant and/or alleged victim as well as to the accused student.
2. The alleged victim of a sexual offense may choose to report the accused to the Student Honor Office for assessment of appropriate disciplinary sanctions provided under the Student Honor Review Procedures.
3. The alleged victim may be present at the Student Honor Review Council meeting of the accused and has the right to make a statement, present witnesses and be accompanied by an advisor of his/her choice.
4. The alleged victim has the right not to have irrelevant past sexual history discussed during any council meeting.
5. The alleged victim has the right to know the outcome of any disciplinary meeting held in regards to an accused individual.
6. The proceedings of the meeting shall be kept confidential.
V. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW BY THE DEAN OF STUDENTS
A. Request for Administrative Review
1. Within three days after notice of upholding a decision the Student Honor Office of separation from the university by the Student Honor Review Council, a complainant or an accused student may petition the Dean of Students, in writing, for a review of the determination of the Student Honor Review Council.
2. The petition shall contain a summary of the case, a statement of the sanction imposed, and the reason(s) why a review is being requested.
3. The Dean of Students may initiate a review only under the following circumstances:
a. The student establishes to the satisfaction of the Dean of Students that it is more probable than not that he/she was denied a fair and impartial council meeting.
b. The student establishes to the satisfaction of the Dean of Students that since the council's meeting new and material information has been discovered which, had it been introduced at the council meeting, would probably have changed the decision.
B. Dean of Students Review Process
I. The Dean of Students may, at his sole discretion, either grant or deny the student's petition for further review. In any case, the Dean of Students shall inform the student of the decision, in writing, within two school days after receiving the student's petition.
2. If the Dean of Students reviews the case, he may permit the student to provide any written statements or explanations relevant to the case he/she desires. In such a case, the Dean of Students shall be given an opportunity to respond. The assigned Student Honor Office Administrator may also be given an opportunity to respond.
3. The Dean of Students may notify the student verbally of his decision and shall submit written notification setting forth the decision in the case. Copies of the decision letter shall also be sent to the Director of the Student Honor Office, the Administrator handling the case and to the student's parents if the parents had previously been notified.
4. Unless remanded back to the Student Honor Office, the decision of the Dean of Students is final and not subject to further review.
C. Remanded Case
If the case is remanded back to the Student Honor Office, the Administrator handling the case will determine the stipulations of the sanction.
VI. RECORDS AND READMISSION
A. Records and Reports
1. Any student who receives a disciplinary sanction shall have the right to place in his/her disciplinary file a statement of his/her own regarding the case.
2. Seven years after a student graduates without further enrollment, or seven years after the end of the last period of enrollment by a student who has received no degree, the contents of all Student Honor Office files pertaining to that student shall be disposed of as follows:
a. Records necessary to document a separation from the university under the sanctions of expulsion, suspension or needs clearance of any student will be transferred to the BYU-Idaho archival vault.
b. All other records will be destroyed.
3. All personal notes kept by a member of the Student Honor Office are not student education records and are not subject to disclosure or disposal.
4. All permanent disciplinary records generated pursuant to these procedures are protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as part of the student's education record and may only be disclosed in accordance with FERPA regulations.
B. Review of Status. Unless otherwise stated in writing to the student at the time he/she is separated from the university the following conditions shall apply:
1. An expelled student will not be considered for clearance for future admission.
2. A student who is separated from the university, except in the case of expulsion, may petition the Student Honor Office for clearance to apply for admission upon the expiration of the specific period of suspension (or if no period is specified, one year from the date of suspension). This does not mean that the suspended student will automatically be readmitted to BYU-Idaho or any other CES school; it only means that the petition to remove the disciplinary hold will be considered. If the petition for clearance is granted, the student's application will be considered along with all other students who are applying for admission to BYU-Idaho or other CES school. The petition for clearance to seek admission must be in writing and include the following: (a) a letter from the student requesting readmission and indicating his/her present activities and goals as well as what he/she has done to overcome the circumstances which gave rise to suspension, (b) a letter from the student's current bishop (or ecclesiastical leader) verifying the student's personal commitment and worthiness in the same manner and to the same degree as required of new applicants for admission to the university, and (c) the student will provide documentation that all conditions required at the time of suspension have been completed, including documentation that any city, state or federal legal requirements have been fulfilled.