The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities Informal Hearing Process
A description of the Informal Hearing process is outlined in the “Conduct Process” section of the NOVA Student Code of Conduct. The Informal Hearing section states “During the Informal hearing OSRR will advise students of the allegation(s) and explain the student conduct process and clarify student’s rights and responsibilities. Every effort will be made to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.”
The Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities (OSRR) highly recommends that all members of the NOVA Community become familiar with the set of rules and expectations listed in the “Violations and Sanctions” section of the Student Code of Conduct.
As a community, being familiar with NOVA’s protocol and procedure will help us be prepared and take on a proactive approach when it comes to dealing with inappropriate student behavior and misconduct. For instance, cases that involve stealing, smoking, alcohol consumption, or drug use are classified as student conduct violations and are listed in the Student Code of Conduct.
From Student Conduct Report to the Informal Hearing Process:
- When a faculty member, student, or community member completes a Student Conduct Report form https://www.nvcc.edu/student-rights/SIC/index.html, that report is sent to the campus’s Student Integrity and Conduct Coordinator.
- Once the case is assigned, the Coordinator for Student Integrity and Conduct will contact the reporter to ask relevant follow-up questions, they will also send an Informal Hearing notice to the accused student. The Informal Hearing notice will include an overview of the allegations and potential violations of the student code of conduct.
- In an Informal Hearing, the coordinator will explain the code of conduct to the accused student, ask questions and allow the accused student to respond to the charges. After reviewing the complaint with the student, if they accept responsibility for violating the code of conduct, they are issued consequences per the sanctions listed in the “Violations and Sanctions” section of the code of conduct.
If you have questions concerning the student code of conduct and/or about the Informal Hearing process, please reach out to your campus Coordinator for Student Integrity and Conduct:
Dr. Chevella Wilson (chwilson@nvcc.edu): LO and WO
Lisa Zandel (lzandel1@nvcc.edu): AL and MA
Steven Mosley (smosley@nvcc.edu): AN and ME
Submitted by:
Steven Mosley, smosley@nvcc.edu