Appeals are an important part of any justice system, including the disciplinary misconduct system at Wichita State University. The appeals process ensures that a system works properly and helps to guarantee justice is done in all cases. 

Appeals are frequently misunderstood by the general public, though. For example, an appeal is not a chance to continue arguing for your innocence. It’s not a hearing “do-over.” And even if you win, it won’t mean you’ve been found innocent.

If you want any chance of success with your appeal, it’s important you have help from someone who understands the system and knows how to navigate it effectively. No one is better at these things than the LLF National Law Firm. Our Student Defense Team understands exactly what you’re up against, and we know the stakes are high. We also know how WSU processes and procedures work, and we can show you how to use these processes and procedures to your best advantage.

It’s important you act quickly, though. You have just five business days from the end of your hearing to file your appeal. Wait too long, and you’ll lose your chance. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.

An Overview of the Filing Process

Unlike before, there is no hearing to prepare for. Appeals are decided behind closed doors. You don’t need to rehearse a presentation. You don’t need to come up with questions for witnesses. In fact, the process itself is actually pretty simple.

  • First, you write your appeal. There’s even a handy form to help structure your arguments.

  • Next, you file this appeal with Student Conduct and Community Standards (SCCS).

  • SCCS forwards your appeal to the university’s Appellate Body.

  • The original Hearing Officer in your case also submits a response to your arguments.

  • Once the Appellate Body has all the information, it has five days to issue a final decision in the matter.

The simplicity of these procedures can be deceptive, though. They mask the fact that an appeal requires a complete change in strategy. Let’s get into that next.

The Content of Your Appeal

As we mentioned above, an appeal isn’t a second chance to argue for your innocence. That issue was already decided at your hearing. An appeal serves an entirely different function.

So if you’re not arguing for your innocence, what are you arguing? Appeals are designed to ask whether or not the disciplinary system worked the way it was supposed to. If you had a fair opportunity to present your case, then your responsible verdict stands. If, however, you were handicapped in some way during the process, you may deserve a new hearing.

  • You can argue that WSU failed to follow its own procedures. Maybe SCCS failed to tell you about a key piece of evidence it had uncovered. Maybe you weren’t given enough time to prepare your case. Whatever the situation, you deserve a new hearing, one that’s entirely fair.

  • New evidence has come to light in your case, evidence that wasn’t available at the time of your hearing. As a result, you didn’t have all the facts when you were defending yourself before. This new evidence warrants an entirely new hearing so decision-makers can consider it.

  • Decision-makers in your case imposed a sanction on you that is disproportionate to the nature of your offense. There are no new hearings in these cases, but you may be entitled to a lesser sanction.

Note that you’re now the one making the allegation in your case. You’re accusing the university of having mistreated you in some way. When you were the accused, you had the presumption of innocence. You didn’t need to present any evidence, just disprove the evidence being used against you. Now, the situation is reversed. The university has the presumption of evidence, and you have the burden of coming up with enough evidence to overcome that presumption.

Finally, you must confront these various challenges in writing. You don’t have to come up with a hearing presentation, but that means you don’t get to make your case in person. You won’t be there during the Appellate Board’s deliberations to explain your evidence or clear up any confusion about your arguments. That puts an enormous amount of pressure on your writing ability.

And yet for all these challenges, you have every chance of winning your appeal and gaining a new hearing. Universities are built to educate, not to decide issues of innocence and guilt. When it comes to jurisprudence, they make a pretty high number of mistakes. It only takes one to win an appeal.

The Office of General Counsel

The Appellate Board’s decision is supposed to be the final verdict in your case. And it is, in the context of the university’s disciplinary misconduct system. There is an option outside that system, though.

Every college and university maintains an Office of General Counsel. The OGC is made up of attorneys or whole law firms hired to provide the school with legal advice. These attorneys keep up with changes in the law, they help ensure no one on campus opens the school up to a lawsuit, and they frequently play a role in designing a school’s disciplinary misconduct system.

The LLF National Law Firm has relationships with OGC around the country. Call it an occupational hazard. We can sometimes leverage these relationships to convince a university president or provost to talk to us. Once we’ve opened negotiations, we can work on getting our clients reduced sanctions, new hearings, or expunged transcripts.

Keep in mind, though, that other attorneys can’t offer this service. Only we have these connections because only we work so extensively in the field of student rights.

How Can We Help With Your Case?

Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from Wichita State 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.

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