The University of Rochester is a highly ranked private research university, noted internationally for both its quality and value. The university's many Nobel laureates, Pulitzer Prize winners, and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellows prove that its more than 12,000 graduate and undergraduate students have every right and reason to be proud and confident of their future prospects. The great prospects that University of Rochester students rightly anticipate, though, make facing dismissal from the university especially hard. School suspension or dismissal can carry potentially disastrous collateral consequences. If you've already suffered university dismissal, or you've received notice of disciplinary charges that put you at risk of dismissal, then get the skilled and experienced student defense attorney advisor help you need. National school discipline defense attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento is available to help you preserve your University of Rochester education. Don't give up hope. Your best step is to retain attorney advisor Lento.
Dismissal Grounds at the University of Rochester
The University of Rochester, like other premier colleges and universities, must protect both its academic environment and its reputation. To accomplish that goal, the university publishes Standards of Student Conduct. Violating those standards can result in a student's dismissal, especially when the conduct disrupts or threatens university operations or adversely affects the university's reputation. Behavioral misconduct involving things like alcohol or drug abuse, violence or threats of violence, or property damage or trespassing gets the attention of University of Rochester disciplinary officials. So, too, does academic misconduct like exam cheating, plagiarism, or research fraud, which is always a concern at top-ranked research institutions. University of Rochester students must also meet satisfactory academic progress requirements, maintaining minimum grade-point averages while completing a substantial majority of course credits attempted. The University of Rochester, like other schools receiving federal funding, must also discipline students for Title IX sexual misconduct. Retain national school discipline defense attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento for your defense, no matter the grounds for your dismissal or potential dismissal.
Disciplinary Procedures at the University of Rochester
The University of Rochester's Standards of Student Conduct doesn't just set the expectations for student conduct. The Standards also include the procedures the university uses to determine disciplinary charges and impose dismissal. Procedures must generally provide you with due process, meaning fair notice of the charges and a reasonable opportunity to respond. Strategically invoking those disciplinary procedures can make a difference to your successful defense. But academic disciplinary procedures can differ depending on the charges. The University of Rochester maintains separate procedures for Title IX charges and non-Title IX sexual misconduct charges. Academic disciplinary procedures can also be ambiguous, opaque, and complex, meaning that you should retain skilled and experienced school discipline defense. For University of Rochester disciplinary charges falling under the Standards of Student Conduct, expect to follow these procedures:
- the judicial officer reviews the complaint and documentation to determine whether to initiate formal disciplinary proceedings;
- if the judicial officer determines to file formal charges, the officer must provide a writing to the accused student detailing those charges;
- the judicial officer may offer an initial meeting and may tender a responsible option letter with sanctions for the student to accept or reject;
- for charges that do not resolve but instead proceed toward hearing, the Center for Student Conflict Management should conduct a pre-hearing conference;
- the university then conducts a formal hearing before either an Administrative Conduct Board or All-Campus Judicial Council, at which the university must present the incriminating evidence in the accused student's presence;
- the accused student has the right to the assistance of an advisor at the hearing, including an attorney advisor, when the charges involve allegations of criminal misconduct; and
- the judicial officer then conducts a post-hearing meeting with the accused student to discuss the hearing results and appeal options.
University of Rochester Decision Authorities
The University of Rochester's Standards of Student Conduct also states who decides whether the accused student has committed the charged misconduct. Judicial officers at the university's Center for Student Conflict Management play a large role in the initial evaluation and informal resolution of disciplinary charges. But the university designates panels to decide disputed charges at formal hearings. When the accused student is an undergraduate, an Administrative Conduct Board decides whether the accused student committed the alleged misconduct. When the accused student is a graduate student, an All-Campus Judicial Council determines the charges. But when the charges involve Title IX sexual misconduct allegations, the University of Rochester's Title IX policy requires different decision-makers. A university Title IX coordinator makes the initial evaluation of Title IX sexual misconduct charges, while a Title IX hearing officer conducts and decides the formal hearing on disputed charges. Retain national school discipline defense attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento to strategically and effectively invoke the right procedures before the right University of Rochester decision maker.
University of Rochester Appeals Process
The University of Rochester's Standards of Student Conduct and separate Title IX policy each provide for an appeal of a hearing panel or hearing officer's decision to dismiss the accused student. Appeals under the Standards are written in form and go to either the All-Campus Judicial Council or the Administrative Appeal Board or to representatives from both. An appeal under the Standards must show either an inappropriate dismissal, new evidence previously unavailable, or a substantial error in the disciplinary process. Appeals under the university's Title IX policy go before a three-person appeal panel. Grounds for a successful appeal include procedural irregularity, previously unavailable evidence, conflict of interest or bias by the investigator or decision maker, and an inappropriate dismissal. National school discipline defense attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento can help you obtain your best available appeal outcome.
Dismissal Alternatives at the University of Rochester
Even if you have exhausted all disciplinary procedures at the University of Rochester and still face dismissal, you may have another option. National school discipline defense attorney advisor Joseph D. Lento knows how to reach and negotiate with university general counsel, outside retained counsel, and similar school oversight channels. Retain attorney advisor Lento to investigate and pursue alternative special relief, even if you have already suffered University of Rochester dismissal. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now to retain attorney advisor Lento.
