The Lowdown 23-24

8 . APPEALS
a. Filing an appeal - If the respondent, complainant, or victim is not satisfied with the
disciplinary decision rendered in hearing option 1 or option 2, the decision may be ap
pealed to the Dean of Students or his/her designee. A request for appeal must be
based on at least one of the following:
• Violation of procedural rights.
• Severity of disciplinary action.
• Evidence not available at the time of hearing. In order to request an appeal, the
student must submit a written request of appeal to the Dean of Students within five
(5) working days of the hearing decision. The appeal may either be submitted on
an appeal request form, which is available from the Student Conduct Administrator,
or in the form of a letter from the student to the Dean of Students. The desired
outcome of the appeal should be included in the form or letter.
b. Appeal Decision
The person(s) considering the appeal (as designated by the Dean of Students) shall
have the authority to:
• Sustain the decision of the Student Conduct Administrator or UDC, including the
penalty imposed.
• Sustain the decision of the Student Conduct Administrator or UDC, but impose a
different penalty.
• Remand the case to a new Student Conduct Administrator for further consideration.
• Reverse the decision.
The decision shall be transmitted in writing to the appealing party and, if the Dean of Students
was not the person who considered the appeal, to the Dean of Students within ten
(10) days of the date of the appeal hearing. This decision is final.
The rules and regulations contained in this section are subject to change. Between printings
of The Lowdown, an updated version will be presented to any responding student or
organization before any hearing.
9. RECORD KEEPING
All student disciplinary records are confidential and subject to the privacy protection
granted by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). FERPA gives certain
rights to parents regarding these records. These rights are transferred to students who are
enrolled in postsecondary education.
Generally, USA must have written permission from the eligible student before releasing
any information from their conduct records. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose
records, without consent, to certain individuals or organizations, including but not limited
to the following:
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