Defending yourself from a charge of disciplinary misconduct is never an easy proposition. It can be especially challenging, though, for those who attend an online university, like Columbia Southern. Virtual schools tend to employ virtual justice. Processes and procedures can be particularly difficult to navigate when you’re trying to work problems out in cyberspace.
All of this goes double if you’re filing an appeal. Appeals are confusing procedures anyway, but as with most other aspects of student justice, CSU doesn’t deal with appeals in the usual way. Instead, you must file a formal grievance against the university if you want to correct an injustice.
The good news is that an attorney from the LLF National Law Firm can help you straighten all of this out. Our Student Defense Team knows how the disciplinary system at CSU operates, including what’s involved in filing an appeal. We can take you through the process step by step. More importantly, we can ensure your appeal is as strong as it can possibly be, with clear and compelling evidence to support it.
We can help, but it is important you contact us quickly. You have just ten business days to file your appeal, and there’s a lot to do in that time. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
Filing an Appeal at Columbia Southern
The CSU disciplinary process makes no mention of “appeals.” In any judicial system, though, you should always have a chance to raise questions about how you were treated during the investigation and adjudication phases of your case. So CSU does have a process that serves the function of an appeal. However, under the Code of Conduct, this is designated a “grievance” process. Here’s what’s involved:
- First, you submit a letter to the university stating your grievance and providing evidence to back up your complaint.
- The grievance is forwarded to the appropriate administrator, who conducts an investigation into the matter.
- Within ten days, the reviewer responds with their decision.
Sounds easy enough, right? Once you’ve written your grievance letter, your job is mostly just waiting. We need to talk a little about writing that letter, though. Filing a grievance is a lot different than representing yourself during a formal review, and it’s crucial that you shift your thinking about your case.
Drafting the Grievance
Many students have trouble accepting the fact that they’ve been found “responsible” for an offense, especially if they’re entirely innocent of the offense. The first thing they want to do is find a “higher authority” they can make their case to. They’re sure that if only they can find someone smarter to consider their arguments and evidence, everything will work out as it should.
Unfortunately, grievances aren’t about your innocence. Rightly or wrongly, that issue was decided by the review. Grievances are about ensuring you were treated fairly by the process. That is, did you have a fair opportunity to present your case? In that context, there are a limited number of arguments you can make, and none of them have to do with innocence.
- The first question is whether the school followed its own procedures in adjudicating your charges.
- You can also raise questions about the outcome if you feel someone on your review panel may have had a bias against you.
- You can present new evidence if it has come to light since the original review. However, this evidence isn’t to demonstrate your innocence. It’s to argue that you deserve a new chance to make your case now that you have new evidence.
- You can also argue that the sanction applied in your case is disproportionate to the nature of your offense.
Other aspects of your situation have changed as well. A three-person panel considered the original case review. Now, a single official holds your fate in their hands. And while they may contact you with questions, they may not. You do not have a right to speak with them directly, to make your arguments in person, or to clarify confusing points in your grievance. That means your letter must be crystal clear.
In addition, the burden in the case has shifted. Initially, you were “innocent until proven guilty.” The university had to come up with a “preponderance of evidence” to overcome that presumption. Now the presumption is that you are “responsible” for your offense. You’re essentially accusing the university of mistreating you in some way. The university has the presumption of innocence, and you have the “burden” of coming up with the evidence.
In fact, many students give up without filing a grievance. The deck is stacked against, so to speak, and it may seem like the odds are impossible to overcome. The fact is, though, that students win grievance complaints all the time. The reason is that universities tend to be pretty bad at rendering justice. It’s not what they were founded to do. Administrators and faculty aren’t trained in jurisprudence, and they make lots of mistakes. Those mistakes entitle you to another—fair—opportunity to defend yourself.
Our job at the LLF National Law Firm is to help you do that. We can help you go over the record of your original hearing. We can work with you to put together a compelling appeal. Our job is to protect your rights and ensure you’re treated fairly every step of the way.
The Office of General Counsel at CSU
Should you lose your hearing, there is one more option you can try: approaching the CSU administration directly to argue your case. That’s never a simple procedure, though. Administrators aren’t usually anxious to step into a disciplinary misconduct case, especially one that’s already been decided.
The LLF National Law Firm may be able to open a path to negotiation, though. We maintain strong relationships with the Offices of General Counsel at schools all over the country. OGC are attorneys colleges and universities hire to provide them with legal advice, and their opinions carry a great deal of weight. If an OGC suggests a university president meet with a student, you can be sure they will.
Negotiations can produce lighter sanctions, get offenses removed from transcripts, and sometimes even result in a completely new outcome. Keep in mind, though, that only the LLF National Law Firm can offer this service because only we work directly in the field of student defense.
Salvaging Your Future
Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from Columbia Southern University, you owe it to yourself to continue the fight. The LLF National Law Firm’s Student Defense Team is here and ready to help. We’ll guide you through the entire appeals process, make sure you put forward your very strongest arguments, and guarantee the university respects your rights.
As we said in the beginning, though, you cannot afford to wait. There are deadlines for filing your appeal. Get started now. Contact the LLF National Law Firm at 888-535-3686 or use our online form.