In Kansas, college students who have been accused of academic misconduct often feel like they can count on the investigation and the hearing process to prove their innocence. However, many students who put trust in the system feel violated when the hearing panel concludes that they have broken the college's code of academic integrity by plagiarizing, cheating, or committing an infraction with school documents. Some students complain that their hearing was unfair, and in many cases they are right.
Making use of your right to appeal is essential, and academic appeal advisor Joseph D. Lento can help.
You Have a Right to Appeal from an Academic Misconduct Hearing
Colleges in Kansas recognize that students should have options if they have been found in violation of the code of academic integrity after a hearing. These hearings are not perfect, and students who are certain of their innocence, but who have been found guilty of academic misconduct, anyway, should be able to have their case reheard.
However, your right to appeal an adverse outcome is not absolute. In many cases, you need to show that your case was unfair or that the hearing panel was prejudicial in some way for the appellate panel to hear your case. Making this showing in your appeals documents is not always easy. It is even more difficult to satisfy this procedural requirement without weakening your case at the appellate level.
Academic misconduct appeals advisor Joseph D. Lento can help aggrieved Kansas students at this stage in their case.
Why Many Academic Misconduct Appeals are Necessary
Unfortunately, many academic misconduct appeals are necessary because the hearing panel that makes the initial determination of guilt or innocence is not put together well enough to make a reliable decision. Determining guilt or innocence in any situation – whether it is a murder trial or an allegation of plagiarism – is not easy to do. Nevertheless, many colleges in Kansas think that anyone can do it, and so focused on packing misconduct hearing panels with diversity rather than experience. Instead of ensuring that these misconduct allegations are heard by the people in the best position to find the truth of what happened, Kansas colleges tend to fill the panels with a mixture of administrators, faculty members, and other students.
When these hearing panels fall for emotional appeals and evidence that should never be taken seriously, innocent students get convicted of things that they never did and face consequences that the hearing panel was supposed to protect them from.
Kansas Academic Appeals Advisor Joseph D. Lento
Joseph D. Lento is a student discipline defense lawyer who can advise students in Kansas who have been found in violation of their college's code of academic conduct. Fighting these allegations and invoking your right to appeal should not be taken lightly: The repercussions of an academic violation can make it far more difficult to enter the professional world after you graduate and can seriously hurt your future career. Call attorney Lento at (888) 535-3686 or contact him online.
- Allen County Community College
- Baker University
- Barclay College
- Barton County Community College
- Benedictine College
- Bethany College
- Bethel College North Newton
- Brown Mackie College Kansas City
- Brown Mackie College Salina
- Bryan University Topeka
- Butler Community College
- Central Baptist Theological Seminary
- Central Christian College of Kansas
- Cleveland Chiropractic College
- Cloud County Community College
- Coffeyville Community College
- Colby Community College
- Cowley County Community College
- Dodge City Community College
- Donnelly College
- Emporia State University
- Flint Hills Technical College
- Fort Hays State University
- Fort Scott Community College
- Friends University
- Garden City Community College
- Hesston College
- Highland Community College
- Hutchinson Community College
- Independence Community College
- ITT Technical Institute Wichita
- Johnson County Community College
- Kansas City Kansas Community College
- Kansas State University
- Kansas Wesleyan University
- Labette Community College
- Manhattan Area Technical College
- Manhattan Christian College
- McPherson College
- MidAmerica Nazarene University
- National American University Overland Park
- National American University Wichita
- Neosho County Community College
- Newman University
- North Central Kansas Technical College
- Ottawa University Ottawa
- Pinnacle Career Institute Lawrence
- Pittsburg State University
- Pratt Community College
- Salina Area Technical College
- Seward County Community College and Area Technical School
- Southwestern College
- Sterling College
- Tabor College
- The Art Institutes International Kansas City
- University of Kansas
- University of Phoenix Wichita Campus
- University of Saint Mary
- Vatterott College Wichita
- Washburn University
- Wichita Area Technical College
- Wichita State University
- Wright Career College
Regrettably, an academic misconduct finding of responsibility can derail an accused student's academic and professional goals and some students and parents do not recognize this concern until it may be too late. If a student is found responsible for academic misconduct charges, in addition to the short-term consequences such academic and disciplinary sanctions, there will be long-term consequences. Internships, graduate school opportunities, and employment opportunities can all be adversely impacted by a finding of responsibility.
For these reasons and more, it is critical to properly address such concerns as early as possible in the disciplinary process. There are times, however, that it necessary to appeal an adverse outcome, and Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm have unparalleled experience passionately fighting for the futures of his clients at universities and colleges in Kansas and throughout the nation. He does not settle for the easiest outcome, and instead prioritizes his clients' needs and well-being. Joseph Lento is a licensed attorney in New Jersey and New York, is admitted as an attorney pro hac vice in state and federal court if needed when representing clients nationwide, and serves as an academic misconduct advisor to students facing disciplinary cases in Kansas and throughout the nation. Make certain your or your student's interests are protected at all stages of the academic misconduct disciplinary process, including the appeal stage - Contact National Academic Misconduct Advisor Joseph D. Lento today at 888-535-3686.
