Franklin & Marshall College upholds a set of College Policies to secure order on its campus, and within this set of College Policies is the College's Student Code. The Student Code can be found within the College Life Manual. The College makes an effort to deal with matters of student discipline swiftly. All matters of misconduct, including academic misconduct are handled through a singular process.
The process begins with an investigation of student misconduct. Students under investigation will have an opportunity to meet with the investigator. At the meeting, students will be informed of their procedural rights and also that, pending the results of the investigation, they may be charged with a violation of the Student Code. After the investigative meetings take place, a decision will be made on how to pursue the case. There are two types of disciplinary resolution procedures.
Franklin & Marshall College Administrative Review
An Administrative Review is used for incidents of minor misconduct. There is no formal hearing, and the student will meet with an assigned Administrative officer to discuss the allegations and the incident. The Administrative Officer will discuss the matter with the student, and hear out the student's response to the allegations. The Administrative Officer will make a decision on whether or not a violation took place after the meeting ends.
Committee on Student Conduct Hearing
Any member of the college community can request to have a case heard by the Committee on Student Conduct. The Committee typically hears higher level violations. The Dean of the College makes the decision on whether or not the matter warrants being heard by the Committee. In most cases, matters that can result in serious penalties will normally be referred right away.
The Senior Associate Dean of the College or a designee will meet with the accused student to discuss the matters of the hearing and inform them of their procedural rights and the hearing procedures. The student will receive a notice of charges in writing. Prior to the hearing the student can question the impartiality of Committee members. Hearings will follow a standard process. All witnesses will be heard out first, then the student will be heard. After this, the Committee will question the witnesses, then the student. The accused student will have the chance to question the witnesses after the Committee finishes their questioning. Finally, the Committee will go into private deliberations, and make a decision based on the standard of "more likely than not." If the student is to be held responsible for a violation, then the Committee will use the student's prior disciplinary records to make the decision on what sanctions to assign.
For hearings with the Committee on Student Conduct, accused students are able to be accompanied by an adviser. However, the adviser must be a member of the College community, and may not have the same level of experience and dedication to a student's case that an attorney will. Students who receive counsel from an attorney will gain access to a wealth of knowledge of how cases are argued and witnesses are questioned in courtrooms. Attorneys will help students apply these methods to their conduct hearings.
Franklin & Marshall College Appeals
In the event of an unfavorable outcome, students can make an appeal. For outcomes of an Administrative Review, students must appeal to the Office of the Dean of the College. For outcomes from a Committee on Student Conduct Hearing, appeals must be made to the Office of the Provost. All appeals must be made within 5 working days after the student receives their written notification of the outcome. The grounds for appeal are a claim of error in the hearing procedure, or new evidence to be considered.
If you or your student is currently facing disciplinary action from Franklin & Marshal College, contact the LLF Law Firm today at 888-535-3686.
