Guide for Complainants
Guide for Respondents

A GUIDE FOR COMPLAINANTS
PREPARING FOR AN ACADEMIC INTEGRITY HEARING

This guide has been designed to provide you with information you need to prepare for an academic integrity hearing. This guide is not meant to be all-inclusive and for a complete description of the Academic Integrity Council Hearing Panel procedures, please consult the Code of Academic Integrity (Article III, Section 6). Copies of the Code may be downloaded from the Academic Integrity web site or obtained in hardcopy format from the Academic Integrity Office (801 22nd Street, NW; Phillips Hall, Suite 412).

Take time to think through the allegations you have made and the sanction you have proposed. When you address the Hearing Panel, you will need to be specific as you present your version of the facts of the case. Be prepared to offer a rationale for what you think the appropriate sanction should be.

The Academic Integrity Office will make every effort to accommodate your schedule when setting a date for a hearing. Once a hearing date is established however, requests to change the date may not be considered.

If you would like to call any witnesses to support your case, please prepare a list, along with telephone numbers and email addresses and inform the Academic Integrity Office. The Presiding Officer will review the list and issue appearance requests to those witnesses determined to have material knowledge of the case. While the Presiding Officer may issue appearance requests, the Academic Integrity Council cannot compel the presence of any individual.
You may be accompanied to the hearing by an advisor of your choice. The role of an advisor is limited to consultation during the hearing. The advisor may not address the Hearing Panel or question the respondent or any witnesses. Advisors who do not confine their activities to the role describe in the Code, may be excluded or dismissed from the hearing.

Hearings will be conducted in private and are tape recorded. In the event that an appeal is filed, the tape-recording will serve as a verbatim record of the proceedings. You may make arrangements with the Academic Integrity Office for access to the tapes.

Please arrive on time for the hearing. Remember that since the burden of proof in a university administrative hearing rests with the Complainant, there will be no grounds to find the Respondent "in violation" if you are not present. We will wait no longer that 15 minutes from the stated time of the beginning of the hearing.

University disciplinary proceedings are not analogous to a criminal trial. In academic integrity hearings, panel members play an active role in questioning all parties and eliciting relevant evidence. Complainants and respondents are entitled to call appropriate witnesses and present relevant evidence, under the direction of the Presiding Officer of the hearing.

The complainant bears the burden of proof, and therefore you will present evidence first. After you present evidence, the Hearing Panel and respondent will have an opportunity to ask questions. The respondent will then have an opportunity to present evidence. When the respondent is done, you will have an opportunity to ask questions. While you may direct appropriate inquiries to the presiding officer, you should refrain from interrupting the respondent’s presentation. You, as well as members of the Panel, will have the opportunity to question the respondent and any witnesses called to support the respondent’s case.

The Presiding Officer shall exercise control over the proceedings to avoid needless consumption of time and to achieve an orderly completion of the hearing. Any person who disrupts the hearing may be excluded by the Presiding Officer.

A finding of in violation by the Hearing Panel shall require a three-fourths of the voting members of the Panel. Should the Hearing Panel find the Respondent in violation of any charge, the Panel will forward a recommendation to sanction to the Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs. A recommendation of a sanction other than expulsion requires a three-fourths vote of the Panel, and a recommendation of a sanction of expulsion requires unanimity. Faculty and staff complainants will receive notification of the Panel’s decision on culpability and the Vice President’s decision on the sanction normally within one week of the hearing date. Due to federal privacy restrictions, student complainants will not receive notification of the Panel’s decision.

Please contact the Academic Integrity Office at 202-994-1977 if you have further questions.

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A GUIDE FOR RESPONDENTS
PREPARING FOR AN ACADEMIC INTEGRITY HEARING

This guide has been designed to provide you with information you need to prepare for an academic integrity hearing. This guide is in no way meant to be all-inclusive. For a complete description of the Academic Integrity Council’s Hearing Panel procedures, please consult Article III, Section 6 of the Code of Academic Integrity. A complete copy of the Code may be found here, the office of your school’s dean, or the Academic Integrity Office. Should the Code ever conflict the "Guide to Student Rights and Responsibilities" the latter will govern.

After receiving the Charge of Academic Dishonesty form, review the specific charge(s) that have been made against you. Be prepared to enter a plea of in violation or not in violation for each of the charges. Take time to think through your response to each charge. When you address the Hearing Panel, you will need to be specific as you present your version of the facts of the case. If you are accepting responsibility for the charges, be prepared to offer a rationale for what you think the appropriate sanction is.

The Academic Integrity Office has made every effort to accommodate your published class schedule when scheduling a hearing. Once a hearing date has been established, request to change the date may not be considered.

If you would like to call any witnesses to speak on your behalf, please prepare a list of witnesses, along with their telephone numbers and email addresses, and turn it in to the Academic Integrity Office. The Presiding Officer will review the list and issue appearance requests to those witnesses determined to have material knowledge of the case. Character witnesses may not be used. While the Presiding Officer may issue appearance requests, the Academic Integrity Council cannot compel the presence of any individual.

You may be accompanied to the hearing by an advisor of your choice. The role of an advisor is limited to consultation during the hearing. The advisor may not address the Hearing Panel or question the Complainant and any witnesses. Advisors who do not confine their activities to the role described in Article III, Section 6(e) of the Code may be excluded from the hearing.

Be on time for the hearing and consider your appearance. Remember that the hearing can be held in your absence, and a plea of "no contest" will be entered if you are not present. The Complainant will still have the opportunity to present the evidence against you. The hearing will begin no later than 15 minutes after the stated time.

The testimony you provide must be truthful. Intentionally furnishing false information at a hearing constitutes a violation of the Code of Student Conduct, and may result in separate charges being filed with the Dean of Students Office and may also affect the Hearing Panel’s sanction, assuming you are found in violation of the Code.

University disciplinary proceedings are not analogous to a criminal trial. In academic integrity hearings, Panel members play an active role in questioning all parties and eliciting relevant evidence. Complainants and other Respondents are entitled to call appropriate witnesses and present relevant evidence, under the direction of the Presiding Officer of the hearing.
The Complainant bears the "burden of proof" and therefore will present evidence first. You may direct appropriate inquiries to the Presiding Officer after the Complainant’s presentation, and you should refrain from interrupting the Complainant’s presentation. You, as well as members of the Panel, will have the opportunity to question the Complainant and any witnesses called to support the Complainant’s case.

After the Complainant concludes, you will be given an opportunity to present your evidence, including any mitigating factors which may impact the sanction which may be imposed. The Complainant and the Panel members may question you and any witnesses you choose to call. You have the right not to be compelled to be a witness against yourself. However, you waive this right should you decide to testify on your own behalf. This means that if you testify on your own behalf, you can be asked questions about your testimony.
The Presiding Officer will exercise control over the proceedings to avoid needless consumption of time and to achieve an orderly completion of the hearing. Any person who disrupts the hearing may be excluded by the Presiding Officer.

A finding of "in violation" shall require a three-fourths vote of the Panel. Should the Hearing Panel find you in violation of any charge, the Panel will forward a recommendation of sanction to the Vice President for Academic Affairs. A recommendation of a sanction other than expulsion requires a three-fourths vote of the Panel, and a recommendation of a sanction of expulsion requires unanimity. You will receive notification of the Panel’s decision on culpability and the Vice President's decision on the sanction normally within one week of the hearing date.

For more information please contact the Academic Integrity Office at 202-994-1977.

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