College students invest large amounts of money and lots of time into their education. All with hopes of one day walking across the big stage and getting their degree. However throughout a student's journey to accomplish this goal, setbacks - whether they are at the fault of a student or not - may arise.
Accusations of academic misconduct are among one of the most serious dilemmas a student can face in a college setting. Administrators, faculty members, and particularly instructors or professors, will take these accusations incredibly seriously. Once a student is accused of having breached an institution's policies of academic integrity, an adversarial relationship between a school and student is created.
Within your school's processes to determine guilt or innocence, you will likely have the option of attending an academic disciplinary hearing to defend yourself. This hearing is important since the outcome decided by a panel can gravely affect many aspects of a student's academic and even professional career. For students who maintain a genuine belief that they are innocent, or who believe that the accusations are unjustified, or unfair, retaining a skilled student defense attorney is a must. Bringing an attorney with you to an academic disciplinary hearing, or at an absolute minimum, involving an experienced attorney in a behind-the-scenes capacity, and allowing them to accompany and/or support you throughout the whole experience is a great idea. Here are a few reasons why.
You will have to go before an academic integrity panel
Most academic integrity panels are comprised of students, staff, and faculty, who will be given free reign to ask you any questions they would like. Although questioning sessions are intended for a panel to gain clarification of the situation, some members may treat it like an opportunity to attack you or become confrontational. An experienced attorney will be able to be a source of support for you and have the knowledge to call out when questions are outright inappropriate or if the academic disciplinary process is not proceeding fairly.
You will be able to defend yourself well
Since the findings of this panel could possibly lead to a program withdrawal, a suspension, or an expulsion, you need to make preparations to defend yourself. An upside to retaining a student defense attorney is that he or she does this in their daily lives. They know how to prepare for cases, and how to garner sufficient evidence to help back their case. In order to present a solid defensive case at your hearing, it would benefit you to receive help from a skilled and experienced student defense attorney.
Student Defense Attorney Helping Clients Nationwide
Allegations of academic misconduct are serious and should be treated as such. To ensure that you're adequately prepared for a hearing, you need the help of a student defense attorney. Joseph D. Lento has extensive experience helping students in New Jersey, New York, and nationwide in this predicament overcome these charges by aiding them in making preparations for a hearing. He has the experience and skill to do the same for you. Contact him today.
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