Conduct

Resource Links

The Housing Handbook, including the Standards of Residence
The PSU Code of Conduct 
Student Conduct Complaint Form

Process Standard

When a student is charged with a violation of housing policy, they can expect the following process to be available. Students will:

1. be notified via their pdx.edu email address (or alternative if this medium in unavailable) of their possible violation of applicable policies;
2. have those charges heard by a UHRL Hearing Officer or Peer Conduct Board in a conduct meeting, which will be in an impartial and competent manner;
3. have the opportunity to hear the evidence against them; and
4. have the opportunity to present information on their behalf in an orderly way. 

Students must read their email or other conduct notice in order to understand the details of the charges as well as the time/location of their hearing. It is a student’s responsibility to attend the hearing in order to hear evidence supporting the charges, respond, and present new information relevant to the charges. 

If a student feels that they need more time to prepare for a hearing or have a time conflict, they may request to reschedule the hearing. Reasonable requests for rescheduling of a hearing will often be honored, so long as there are compelling reason to postpone the hearing. However, UHRL reserves the right to choose the time/location of the hearing.

Students may contact the Housing and Residence Life Student Services office at 541-725-4375 or reslife@pdx.edu at least 24 hours before their hearing time to reschedule their meeting. If a student fails to appear at the hearing, the hearing body may make a decision on the case in their absence.

Conduct Meetings

Student conduct meetings, also referred to as conduct hearings, are an administrative review of the evidence relevant to the charges. Students alleged to have violated a policy will be invited to attend these meetings to respond to, verify, and/or deny the charges or the relevant evidence.

These meetings seek to determine whether or not a student is responsible for the charged violations by collecting and reviewing the available information. The conduct officer or board will look at available information and determine the outcome of the case by a preponderance of the evidence (what more likely than not happened). Note that this threshold is different than a “beyond reasonable doubt” burden of proof that the justice system works under.

A hearing officer or body will seek to decide on the outcome of a case in the hearing when possible. In the event that the hearing officer needs to verify information, interview additional witnesses, or corroborate accounts, the hearing officer may defer the outcome decision to a later time.

Sanctions

If students are found responsible for a violation, a sanction and deadline will be assigned and outlined in a decision notification letter sent to the students pdx.edu email account. The conduct process seeks to identify educational opportunities for students who have violated policy. While sanctioning may have associated fees or fines, the process is not intended to be punitive in nature.

Students who do not complete sanctions adequately by the deadline will have disciplinary holds placed on their student accounts.

Appeals

Appeal Request Form (*.pdf)
Appeal Request Form (*.doc)

A student may appeal any decision resulting in a sanction. Residents cannot appeal the fee associated with the sanction.

The student must file a written notice of appeal to the Director of Housing and Residence Life. A written notice must be filed within 72 hours of the notice of sanction and must specify in detail the grounds upon which the appeal is based.

Appeals can be emailed to reslifeconduct@lists.pdx.edu or dropped off at the Housing and Residence Life Student Services Office in Broadway 210.

The request for an appeal should include:

• Your name and PSU ID number 
• Contact information (address, phone, pdx email) 
• The date of incident 
• Date of hearing Hearing officer’s name 
• Violation(s) found responsible for 

Then explain the specific criteria for the appeal. Appeals must meet at least one of these specific criteria:

A. There was an error in the process that had a significant effect on the outcome. Please note the process standards listed in the conduct meetings section above.
B. There is new information that was previously not available at the time of the hearing AND it would have a significant effect on the outcome. (Information that could have been available, but the student failed to provide or present it at the hearing is not considered new information.)
C. Sanction(s) are inconsistent with the violation and outlined outcomes.

There is only one opportunity for appeal. Failure to file the above-mentioned notice within the prescribed 72 hours will constitute a waiver of the right to appeal.

The appeal process is an administrative review of the appeal request and available information. It is designed to be informal in nature with the objective of assuring that fundamental fairness was applied to a conduct case; no formal rules of evidence or procedure will apply.

An appeal is not a re-hearing of the case or a second opinion. If an appeal is approved, the review officer, the Director of Housing and Residence Life or designee, will determine the next steps for the case.

At the time an appeal is granted, the sanctions incurred will not be in effect until the outcome of the appeal is determined. Where a serious threat to self or others or significant immediate impact to the University can be determined, sanctions will be in effect while awaiting the outcome of the appeal.

Administrative Fees

The conduct process at PSU, both in the Office of the Dean of Student Life and the Office of Housing and Residence Life have administrative fees. If a student is found responsible for a violation, they are responsible for an administrative fee that covers administrative costs related to a case and sanction. This fee will vary between $10-$150 per person, per violation, dependent on the specific violation type(s). The administrative fee itself is not eligible for appeal.