New Mexico is a great state in which to attend a college or university. Depending on how one counts them, New Mexico's colleges and universities number about eighteen, of which four offer graduate programs. Another twenty or so colleges and universities headquartered in other states offer programs in New Mexico. An Albuquerque business journal ranks Central New Mexico Community College as by far the state's largest school with an enrollment of around 24,000 students, followed by the University of New Mexico with an enrollment of around 18,000 students and New Mexico State University with an enrollment of around 11,000 students. New Mexico thus offers colleges and universities of substantial size and sophistication among its many smaller colleges and institutes. The commerce hub Albuquerque, the beautiful arts community and capitol Santa Fe, and other beautiful New Mexico cities and towns host the state's attractive colleges and universities. National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento of the Lento Law Firm is pleased to be able to advise and represent students facing college code of conduct charges at New Mexico colleges and universities.
New Mexico College Code of Conduct Charges
Attending a beautiful and prestigious New Mexico college or university is no guarantee of graduation success. Students attending New Mexico colleges and universities, like students at schools in other states, often face student code of conduct charges. Each New Mexico college or university maintains one or more student codes of conduct under which the school regulates student behavior. Violating those codes can result in student misconduct charges. Student misconduct charges are serious matters. If not handled properly, student misconduct charges can result in suspension or expulsion from your New Mexico college or university. That's why national college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento of the Lento Law Firm commits his professional practice to helping New Mexico college and university students. Attorney Lento knows the unfair risks that college and university students can face under college codes of conduct. See, for example, the student codes of conduct at each of these New Mexico colleges and universities:
- The University of New Mexico maintains a comprehensive Student Code of Conduct enacted by the school's Board of Regents addressing academic, behavioral, and sexual misconduct
- New Mexico State University maintains a separate Student Social Code of Conduct, Academic Code of Conduct, and Title IX Non-Discrimination Policy addressing sexual misconduct
- Central New Mexico Community College maintains a Student Code of Conduct for academic and behavioral misconduct and a separate Title IX Policy addressing sexual misconduct
New Mexico College Code of Conduct Prohibitions
New Mexico colleges and universities generally prohibit three forms of student misconduct: (1) academic misconduct; (2) sexual misconduct; and (3) other behavioral misconduct, not including academics or sex. New Mexico colleges and universities may bring charges in any one or more of these categories. National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento has successfully defended college and university students nationwide against false, unfair, exaggerated, and unsupported charges of all kinds. If you face any of these kinds of college misconduct charges at your New Mexico college or university, retain attorney Lento and the student conduct defense team at the Lento Law Firm. Get the premier help you need to preserve your New Mexico college or university education.
Academic Misconduct
Academic integrity is as important at New Mexico colleges and universities as it is at schools in other states. Common forms of academic dishonesty that New Mexico colleges and universities prohibit include these actions listed in the University of New Mexico's Student Code of Conduct:
- Dishonesty in quizzes, tests, or assignments
- Claiming credit for work not done or done by others
- Hindering the academic work of other students
- Misrepresenting academic or professional qualifications
- Nondisclosure or misrepresentation in university applications and records
National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento defends college and university students nationwide against all these forms of academic misconduct and other forms of academic misconduct. For instance, some New Mexico colleges and universities supply greater detail on the kinds of academic misconduct that they specifically prohibit. New Mexico State University is a good example, publishing this much longer list of Examples of Academic Misconduct:
- Cheating by copying or attempting to copy from others during an exam or on an assignment, communicating answers with another person during an exam, preprogramming a calculator to contain answers or other unauthorized information for exams, using an electronic device to capture, transmit, or receive information during an examination when prohibited by course or instructor policy, using unauthorized materials during an exam, allowing others to do an assignment or portion of an assignment for you, submitting the same assignment for more than one course without prior approval of all the instructors involved, collaborating on an exam or assignment without instructor approval, taking an exam for another person or having someone take an exam for you, and creating multiple accounts for an online homework system to get and enter answers for credit
- Plagiarism including wholesale copying of passages from works of others without acknowledgment, using the views, opinions, or insights of another without acknowledgment, or paraphrasing another person's characteristic or original phraseology, metaphor, or other literary device without acknowledgment
- Misuse of course materials by removing, defacing, or deliberately keeping them from other students, contaminating laboratory samples or altering indicators during a practical exam, or selling, distributing, website posting, or publishing course lecture notes, handouts, readers, recordings, or other information provided by an instructor for any commercial purpose without the express permission of the instructor
- ● Theft of or damage to others' intellectual property, including sabotaging or stealing another person's assignment, book, paper, notes, experiment, project, electronic hardware or software, improperly accessing the property of another person or the university via computer or other means, obtaining a copy of an exam or assignment prior to its approved release by the instructor, altering university documents by forgery of an instructor's signature on a letter of recommendation or any other document, submitting an altered transcript of grades to or from another institution or employer, putting your name on another person's exam or assignment, or altering a previously graded exam or assignment for purposes of a grade appeal or of gaining points in a regrading process
Sexual Misconduct
New Mexico colleges and universities also prohibit sexual misconduct, as other schools do in other states. Indeed, federal Title IX requires all schools receiving federal funding to prohibit certain forms of sexual misconduct. All New Mexico public colleges and universities and many of its private colleges and universities receive federal funding, meaning that New Mexico colleges and universities prohibit Title IX sexual misconduct. National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento defends college and university students nationwide against Title IX and related sexual misconduct charges. Common forms of sexual misconduct that New Mexico colleges and universities prohibit include these actions listed in New Mexico State University's Title IX Non-Discrimination Policy:
- Sexual violence such as rape or other forms of sexual assault
- Sexual harassment of the quid pro quo or hostile environment types
- Stalking
- Domestic violence
- Dating violence
- Retaliation for reporting suspected Title IX violations
Behavioral Misconduct
While academic misconduct and sexual misconduct receive much attention at New Mexico colleges and universities, and other schools across the country, behavioral misconduct can actually be the form that adversely affects more students. National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento has successfully defended hundreds of students nationwide against behavioral misconduct charges. Common forms of behavioral misconduct that New Mexico colleges and universities prohibit are like these listed in the University of New Mexico's Student Code of Conduct:
- Actions endangering persons with physical harm
- Forgery of university documents
- False representations to the University
- Making false reports
- Making false fire alarms or damaging fire equipment
- Property theft or knowingly receiving stolen property
- Substantial interference with others' free expression or movement
- Failing to comply with reasonable University directives
- Trespassing on University property
- Use or possession of illegal drugs or alcohol
- Use or possession of explosives or fireworks
- Use or possession of prohibited weapons
- Misuse of university computers
- Violating other published University policies
- Inciting others to violate University policies
- Interfering with the University's code implementation
New Mexico College Code of Conduct Procedures
New Mexico colleges and universities offer protective procedures that accused students can, with skilled and experienced attorney-advisor representation, deploy to defend and defeat false, unfair, exaggerated, and unsupported charges. Central New Mexico Community College's Student Code of Conduct provides a good example. The Student Code of Conduct's disciplinary procedures apply only to behavioral misconduct, not academic or sexual misconduct, for which the college provides other procedures. The behavioral misconduct procedures require complaints to go to the Dean of Students, who then holds an informal conference with the accused student. The matter resolves if the Dean finds no misconduct or the student admits the charged misconduct. The Dean may also sanction the student up to suspension or expulsion, such as by warning or remedial education, without further procedures. If you face misconduct charges at your New Mexico college or university, don't resolve them informally in ways that leave a mark against your school record without first consulting with national college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento. Any permanent record on your transcript of school misconduct can adversely affect your future.
Contested Proceedings
If, though, the college Dean intends a sanction of suspension or expulsion and the accused student objects, the matter must proceed through a formal investigation and hearing. The college must, in that case, provide the accused student with the investigation report and evidence in advance of the hearing. At the hearing, the accused student may tell the student's side of the story, present witnesses and record evidence on the student's behalf, and cross-examine the school's witnesses against the student. The accused student may also bring an attorney-advisor to the hearing to assist the student. If the student does not prevail, the student may appeal the adverse decision to the college's Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Success. You can imagine how these procedures, though they certainly can protect students against false or unfair charges, require skilled navigation to have their intended effect. National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the student defense team at the Lento Law Firm know how to put these procedures to your best advantage. Don't attempt to go it alone, and don't retain a local criminal defense attorney who has no skill or experience in academic administrative matters. Instead, hire attorney Lento.
New Mexico College Code of Conduct Sanctions
New Mexico colleges and universities punish student misconduct with various forms of graduated sanctions. The University of New Mexico's Student Code of Conduct, for instance, authorizes sanctions from verbal or written warnings right up through disciplinary probation, suspension, and expulsion. Central New Mexico Community College's Student Code of Conduct lists the same potential sanctions while adding that the college may also take interim measures before concluding a formal proceeding to protect student safety and security. You may assume that most misconduct charges get dismissed or resolved with only a warning. On the contrary, many college and university administrators treat suspension as the default sanction. A suspension not only delays your studies and graduation but also shows up on your permanent school record. Other schools, including transfer schools and graduate schools, require disclosure of school sanctions such as suspension. Employers can also take note of school discipline, as can professional and vocational licensing boards. Don't let an erroneous finding of misconduct and an undeserved or unduly harsh sanction threaten your graduation and future. Retain national college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento to help you successfully defend and defeat the charges.
When Facing New Mexico College Code of Conduct Charges
If you face New Mexico college or university code of conduct charges, don't ignore the charges, and don't take the charges lightly. Instead, treat the charges with the same proactive effort and discipline you treat other important matters in your life, including your New Mexico college or university studies. The first action to take is to retain qualified professional help. Don't rely on school counselors and advisors to advocate on your behalf. They have a conflict of interest by their employment with the school that is charging you with misconduct. Instead, retain national college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento and the student conduct defense team at the Lento Law Firm. Take these other steps on your own behalf to improve your prospects for the best outcome:
- Ensure that you provide your retained academic administrative attorney-advisor with all school notices of charges so that the school receives your timely answer and request for any incriminating evidence
- Identify, save, gather, and organize your academic work, records, notes, emails, texts, videos, photographs, electronic files, and any other information or things relating in any way to the charges, providing them to your retained attorney-advisor
- Avoid giving statements about the misconduct charges to school administrators, instructors, staff members, and students until after you consult with your retained attorney-advisor, who will instruct you as to the time, date, place, and format for your statements
- Avoid social media posts, emails, texts, and other communications about the misconduct charges with anyone other than your retained attorney-advisor because those communications can result in confusion
- If the school permits, continue with your studies, doing your best academic work so that you do not fall behind and instead continue to demonstrate your ability and intent to complete your degree program
College Misconduct Defense Attorney-Advisor Available
New Mexico college or university code of conduct charges are a serious matter. You've committed your time, effort, and finances to earning a New Mexico college or university degree. Don't waste that investment by ignoring or minimizing misconduct charges. Instead, get the premier professional representation that can help preserve your ambition and dreams. National college misconduct defense attorney-advisor Joseph D. Lento of the Lento Law Firm is available to help you defend and defeat college misconduct charges at your New Mexico college or university. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now.
