Student Conduct

Residence Life and Housing Services Student Conduct System

All communities need to have rules in order to maintain safety and order.  The Duke Community Standard at Duke University applies to the residence halls and apartments and is educational in nature. Its primary purpose is to help residents learn from choices they make and become positive contributors to their residential community. As members of this community, you share the obligation to establish and sustain a living environment that supports individual needs and university values.

The official statement of University policies and regulations is available in the Duke Community Standard guide that is provided to each first-year student and is available for review by other students on the Dean of Students website.

Residence Hall Student Conduct Process

The Process followed within the residence halls and apartment area is as follows:

1. Behaviors that appear to be violations of university policy are reported in an incident report by residence hall staff or students.
2. Incident reports are reviewed and are referred for adjudication.  The nature of the violation as well as any prior violations of policy may determine the route of the report.  In general, Residence Coordinators will adjudicate cases that involve first-time violations of policies impacting residence hall behavior.  Other cases will be managed through the Office of Student Conduct.
3. The Residence Coordinator will contact the involved parties via email with a date and time for an informal resolution meeting.  This meeting is the opportunity for the parties involved to share their recollection of behaviors leading to the allegations.
4. Based on the information shared in the informal resolution meeting, the Residence Coordinator will resolve the case through a finding of responsible or not responsible for violation of policies.  If a resident is found responsible, he/she will likely be issued sanctions to complete as part of the informal resolution.
5. If the resident does not appear for the meeting, a decision will be made based upon the information available in the incident report and the resident will be responsible for any outcomes that follow from the meeting.

Sanctions

If a student is found responsible for a violation, and depending upon the circumstances  (including any past history of violations), the Residence Coordinator or other university official who resolves the case will issue one or more sanctions.  Some sanctions will remain within the RLHS system.  Others, however, may be recorded on the student's university record.

RLHS sanctions may include:

• Monetary fine
• Residence hall warning or probation for specified period of time
• Making a formal apology
• Writing a paper, presenting a program or performing a service that demonstrates an understanding of relevant issues and impacts
• Participation in a specified workshop, or in an educational, awareness enhancing discussion  with a specified referral person, group or class
• Loss, restriction or modification of privileges
• Restitution
• Community service in the residence hall or other location
• Limitations on guest visitation, as either host or guest
• Transfer to another room in the same residence hall, or to another residence hall
• Removal from the residence hall system and revocation of the housing license
  

Note:  If a student's housing license is revoked for reasons of his/her conduct, and the student remains enrolled at the university, the student will remain financially liable for the full term of the housing license.

Emergency Interim Suspension of Housing License

The Dean of Residence Life & Executive Director of Housing Services, the Dean of Students, or the Vice President for Student Affairs  (or authorized designee) may impose immediate interim suspension from a residence hall or apartment when he or she has reasonable cause to believe that the continued presence of the resident in the residential community constitutes an immediate threat to the emotional or physical health, safety or welfare of the resident, other residents or staff, and/or to university property.  Some possible situations may involve violations of fire safety policies, physical assault, and harrassment.

 In such cases, the resident will be required to leave the residence hall or apartment immediately, regardless of time of day or time of year, and to remain away from the residence hall or apartment and its residents until a hearing can be held to determine the status of the resident as a member of the residential community.  Given the implications of this action, it is not one that is imposed lightly. It is, however, one means of helping protect the rights of other residents.

Appeal Process

There are limited grounds for appeal if a student is found responsible for a violation.  They are:

1. New information not available at the time of the conduct meeting
2. Procedural errors that may have substantially affected the fairness of the process
3. Inconsistent finding with the weight of the information.

A written appeal, based on one or more of these specific grounds, should be submitted to the appropriate Assistant/Associate Dean for Residence Life within 72 hours after a written decision has been rendered. The Assistant/Associate Dean will determine if the appeal has merit.