Community Standards and Student Conduct

Section IV. Definitions

Code of Student Conduct

Academic Integrity Hearing Panel (AIHP) – A group of trained students and faculty who examine information presented to them in order to determine if a violation(s) of academic integrity occurred and, if so, what sanction(s) should be assigned. This panel also determines if additional sanctions are necessary for repeated violations of academic misconduct.

Academic Misconduct - Engaging in an act that violates the standards of the Academic Integrity Policy as described in the Code of Student Conduct or in any behavior specifically prohibited by a faculty member in the course syllabus or class discussion.

Behavioral Misconduct - Any behavior that is inconsistent with University policy or community standards as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct, Campus Housing Policies, Student Handbook, or other University publications or announcements. 

Category "A" Violation - A first-time violation of the Code in a less-serious manner. These types of violations typically do not result in separation from the University.

Category "B" Violation - A violation that is of a more serious nature or that involves repeated behavior for which any sanction in the Code may be assigned, up to and including expulsion. These violations are processed exclusively through the director or designee. Category "B" violations may entail an administrative hearing before a conduct officer, Conduct Review Panel, Gender Based Harassment and Violence Panel, or Academic Integrity Hearing Panel.

Conduct Conference - A process in which the facts of an alleged violation of the Code of Student Conduct are presented to a conduct officer to determine if a violation(s) took place and what sanction(s) are appropriate.

Conduct Officers - University staff and graduate students trained to adjudicate violations of the Code of Student Conduct.

Complicity - Complicity is condoning, supporting, or encouraging any violation of the Code of Student Conduct. Students who anticipate or observe any violation of the Code are expected to remove themselves from association or participation in any such inappropriate behavior.

Conduct Body - Any person or panel authorized by the University to determine whether a student has violated the Code of Student Conduct and to assign appropriate sanctions.

Conduct Review Panel (CRP) - A group of trained students, faculty, and staff who review cases in which information of an alleged violation are presented in an effort to determine if a violation(s) took place and what appropriate sanction(s) should be assigned.

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) - A federal law passed in 1974 which defines educational records and indicates who may have access to disciplinary records and under what circumstances.

Fundamental Fairness - A standard that includes, minimally, the right to receive notice of the alleged violation(s) and the time, date, and location of the opportunity to be heard.

Hazing -  As defined in Ohio Revised Code 2903.31, hazing involves doing any act or coercing another, including the victim, to do any act of initiation into any student or other organization or any act to continue or reinstate membership in or affiliation with any student or other organization that causes or creates a substantial risk of causing physical or mental harm to any person, including coercing another to consume alcohol or a drug of abuse, as defined in section 3719.011 of the Revised Code.

Ohio Revised Code 2901.01 (A) (9) (a) (Trigger Offense) - A state law that mandates certain state action if a student at a public university is arrested for specified crimes. (See Section XIII "Distinguishing the Student Code Provisions and Local, State, and Federal Laws" for more information.)

Plagiarism - Quoting, paraphrasing, or otherwise using the words or ideas of another as your own without acknowledging or properly citing the other.

Preponderance of Information - A standard of proof in which a greater weight of the information presented supports a conclusion by the conduct officer or panel member that "more likely than not" that a particular fact or allegation is true.

Sanction - An outcome imposed for the violation of the Code of Student Conduct. Generally, sanctions are educational in nature and intended to modify the student's behavior as well as build an awareness of personal responsibility and community standards.

Stalking - Stalking involves repeatedly following, harassing, threatening, or intimidating another by telephone, mail, electronic communication, social media, or any other action, device, or method that purposely or knowingly causes substantial emotional distress or reasonable fear of bodily injury or death. (Examples of activities that may constitute stalking include but are not limited to: monitoring an individual's phone calls, reading a person's mail, following a person outside the home, breaking into a person's home, stealing a person's belongings, calling, texting, emailing, mailing a person repeatedly at home or work, repeated, uninvited appearances at a place of work or residence).

Student - An individual who has been accepted to the University and/or enrolled in courses at Wright State University's Dayton or Lake Campus or abroad on a full or part time basis. Student status lasts until an individual graduates, is academically or disciplinary separated from the University or is not in attendance for two (2) complete, consecutive terms.

Student Organization - The term "student organization" means any number of persons who have complied with the formal requirements for Wright State University registration.

University Appeals Panel (UAP) - A group of trained students and faculty who examine information presented to them in order to ensure the disciplinary outcome was appropriate and/or to ensure University policies and procedures have been followed. All appeals involving "A" violations will be heard by the director or designee. The appellate decision of the director or designee will be final.

All appeals involving "B" violations heard by the Conduct Review Panel, Gender Based Harassment and Violence Panel, and those decisions by the Director of Community Standards and Student Conduct or designee resulting in suspension or expulsion will be heard by the University Appeals Panel. The appellate decision of the University Appeals Panel is final. 

Regarding the academic integrity hearing process, the decision as to whether a student is responsible or not responsible for a violation of academic misconduct is final. Furthermore, if the student is found responsible by the AIHP, then the academic sanction recommended by the faculty member is also final. Only non-academic sanctions levied by the AIHP (e.g. a suspension for a second violation) may be appealed to the University Appeals Panel.

University Official - Any individual who is employed, contracted with or appointed and performing administrative or professional responsibilities within the scope of their authority by the University.

University Premises - The premises of Wright State University, both the Dayton and Lake campuses, includes all land, buildings, facilities, and other property in the possession of, owned, used, managed, or controlled by the University (including adjacent streets and sidewalks).