College students in Maine who have been accused of cheating on an exam, plagiarizing a paper, or forging or altering official school documents often think that they can count on the misconduct hearing to find they are innocent of the charges against them. Unfortunately, misconduct hearings are notoriously inept at accurately determining guilt or innocence. This makes your right to appeal an adverse outcome even more important.
Taking advantage of that right to appeal, though, is not easy. Joseph D. Lento is an academic appeal advisor and student discipline defense attorney who can help.
Your Right to Appeal the Outcome of a Misconduct Hearing
Most schools in Maine realize that the misconduct hearing panel is not going to be perfect. Therefore, they allow students who think that the hearing panel misjudged their case to appeal to a higher hearing board. However, that right to appeal a case is not absolute. Instead, there are procedural hurdles to overcome and that are meant to keep as many cases final after the initial hearing.
Some of these procedural hurdles can be tricky. Many colleges in Maine require appeals to satisfy certain requirements or deal with specific alleged faults at the hearing, below. Some even require extensive evidence that proves your case falls into one of these appealable categories.
Ensuring that your case reaches the appellate hearing is something that academic appeals advisor Joseph D. Lento can help you with.
Why Misconduct Hearings are so Error-Prone in Maine
Having a right to appeal the outcome of an academic misconduct hearing is crucial for students in Maine because the hearing panels are extremely prone to error. Colleges in Maine seem to care more about their hearing panels being diverse than being skilled at judging allegations of misconduct.
Panels tend to be made of members from all walks of life on campus – from administrators to faculty members to members of the student body – and this gives the panel the appearance of neutrality. However, that neutrality is spoiled by the lack of experience this puts in charge of an important hearing that can drastically taint a student's academic record and saddle his or her professional career with a major setback at its very inception.
Because the hearing panel is more diverse than adept, many college students in Maine who have been wrongly accused of academic misconduct nevertheless find themselves facing sanctions after the hearing panel decides against them. In many cases, the hearing panel fell for an argument that was designed to prey on their emotions. In others, they mistook irrelevant, prejudicial, or implausible evidence for a reason to find you in violation of the school's code of academic integrity.
Maine's Academic Appeal Advisor Joseph D. Lento
Joseph D. Lento is an academic appeal advisor who can help guide college students in Maine who have been found in violation of their school's code of academic integrity. Bringing attorney Lento into your case can be a wise investment in your professional future. Call his law office at (888) 535-3686 or contact him online for help and legal guidance.
- Bates College
- Bowdoin College
- Central Maine Community College
- Central Maine Medical Center College of Nursing and Health Professions
- Colby College
- College of the Atlantic
- Eastern Maine Community College
- Husson University
- Kaplan University Maine Campus
- Kennebec Valley Community College
- Landing School of Boat Building and Design
- Maine College of Art
- Maine Maritime Academy
- New England School of Communications
- Northern Maine Community College
- Saint Joseph's College of Maine
- Southern Maine Community College
- Thomas College
- Unity College
- University of Maine
- University of Maine at Augusta
- University of Maine at Farmington
- University of Maine at Fort Kent
- University of Maine at Machias
- University of Maine at Presque Isle
- University of New England
- University of Southern Maine
- Washington County Community College
- York County Community 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 Maine 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 Maine 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.
