There’s only one reason you would have found your way to this page: you’ve been found “responsible” for committing some type of offense at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. UNC-Greensboro has imposed some serious sanctions—suspension or dismissal. You’re here to find out if there’s anything you can do about this situation.
There is. You can file an appeal. Failing that, you might be able to try direct negotiation with the university’s administration.
Neither option is simple, though, and you don’t want to keep defending yourself all on your own. You need the LLF National Law Firm on your side. Why us? Our Student Defense Team has handled hundreds of disciplinary misconduct cases. We know UNC-Greensboro policies and procedures. Most importantly, we’re always on your side, no matter what the situation.
It is important you contact us quickly, though. You have just three days from the end of your hearing to file your appeal, and there’s a lot to do. Call the LLF National Law Firm today at 888-535-3686, or use our online questionnaire to tell us more about your situation.
The Appeals Process
The appeals process at UNC-Greensboro is a relatively straightforward affair, at least in terms of the steps you need to take.
- You write the appeal.
- You submit the appeal, within the three-day window, to either the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities or the Title IX Coordinator.
- This Office or Coordinator then has five days to develop its response.
- All of this material is then delivered to a designated appeals officer.
- You wait for a final decision.
You’ll notice most of this process doesn’t even involve you. Once you’ve written your appeal and submitted it, all you can really do is wait. Let’s turn, then, to a close examination of what’s involved in putting the content of your appeal together.
The Content of Your Appeal
Here’s where things get tricky.
First and foremost, you need to understand what’s involved in an appeal. Most students think it’s a chance to re-argue their case. Obviously, the original Hearing Officer or Conduct Panel got things wrong. You just need to get your arguments in front of a sympathetic judge.
Take this approach, and your appeal is doomed before you even submit it.
Appeals have nothing to do with your responsibility (guilt) or non-responsibility (innocence). They are about one question and one question only: did the disciplinary system work the way it was supposed to? All of your arguments must relate to this single question.
In fact, there are only a handful of possibilities.
- You can argue that the university failed to follow its own procedures and that this cost you the chance to present your full defense.
- You can argue that decision-makers in the case did not base their decisions on the evidence.
If you’re appealing a Title IX case, you can additionally argue,
- A decision-maker had an unfair bias against you.
- Some new piece of evidence has arisen since the hearing that deserves to be considered.
Your first challenge is to come up with sufficient grounds to support your appeal. That’s not the only challenge you face, though.
For example, there are no hearings in appeals cases. All of your arguments and all of your evidence must be contained in your written document. You won’t have an opportunity to cross-examine witnesses. You won’t get a chance to explain anything that’s unclear. In addition, the only evidence you’re allowed to rely on is the record of the original hearing.
Finally, you’re also facing a more significant challenge this time around. You were the respondent (the accused), and as such, you had the right to a presumption of innocence. In legal terms, the university had the “burden” of overcoming this presumption.
This time around, you’re the accuser. You’re accusing the university of failing to provide you with a fair opportunity to defend yourself. As such, the university is the respondent, and you bear the burden of overcoming the presumption of innocence.
An appeal is always a more difficult prospect than mounting a defense. That’s by design. Appeals aren’t the main event when it comes to disciplinary misconduct. They’re an afterthought, a last check on the system. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t file one. Appeals are meant to correct mistakes, and when it comes to justice, colleges and universities make lots of mistakes. UNC-Greensboro’s job is to educate, not to make weighty judicial decisions. When they refuse to let in a piece of vital evidence, or they allow unfair hearsay evidence, you have a right to a new hearing, and you shouldn’t be shy about demanding it.
Our job at the LLF National Law Firm is to support you in your fight. We know what makes for the strongest arguments. We know what counts as the most compelling evidence. We’ll walk you through every aspect of the process and help you put your very best foot forward.
The Office of General Counsel
Should your appeal fail, there is one more option: direct negotiations with the UNC-Greensboro. This isn’t necessarily any easier than an appeal, though, and ordinarily, it should be your last option.
The reason is that administrators don’t usually volunteer to negotiate. University presidents don’t want to overrule a decision made by the disciplinary misconduct system. It sets a bad precedent. They can, and they will when they need to, but it takes a lot of work to overcome their reticence.
How do you do that? The LLF National Law Firm uses its connections. We have relationships with OGC (Offices of General Counsel) around the country. These are lawyers hired by a school to protect it from lawsuits. As you might imagine, their opinions carry enormous weight. If we can convince an OGC to open negotiations with a university administrator, those administrators will usually listen.
We’ve managed to get positive results for our clients through this process, including, in a few cases, dismissed charges. Only we can provide this service, though, because only we work so extensively in the field of student defense.
How Can the LLF National Law Firm Help?
Whether you’re entirely innocent or simply looking to get fair treatment from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, 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.