What Happens Next
Am I in Trouble?
Mistakes are part of the learning experience. We're here to help you with life's lessons.
If you got an email from the Dean of Students Office, don't panic. We want to be sure all students feel heard and understand their rights and responsibilities. Our conduct process is focused on education with the goal to create a safe and civil campus environment.
Now what? Meet with us.
You will receive a letter from our office inviting you to meet with someone representing the Dean of Students Office (typically not the Dean). It's a really good idea to show up for the meeting; we want to hear your side of what happened and go over the reports we received with your name on them.
Check out step-by-step procedures for misconduct below.
Non-Academic Misconduct Procedure
(Less than suspension)
Referrals to the student non-academic misconduct process can be made in a number of ways:
- Most are made through University Police or Housing and Residential Education. Both are official reports that are used to document alleged violations of university policies or state law.
- University Police reports are recorded by sworn campus police officers.
- An incident report is written by Housing and Residential Education staff.
- Alleged violations may also be reported to the Dean of Students Office through online reporting forms by any member of the University community.
Once an incident report is filed, it will be reviewed to determine if further investigation is warranted. If an investigation is called for, you, the student, will be notified by letter of the alleged misconduct and notified of a conference. Typically, this letter is sent electronically within 5 business days of receipt of initial report.
A misconduct conference will be scheduled with either a Dean of Students Staff member or a Housing and Residential Education professional staff member.
During the conference, the incident report will be reviewed and you, the student, will be given the opportunity to share your perspective. Questions will be asked relevant to the incident to determine facts. An explanation of relevant policies and potential policy violations will be presented, and your participation will be discussed. If you fail to appear at the scheduled meeting, the case will be reviewed based upon the information gathered. If applicable, a determination will be made and educational sanctions will be assigned as warranted.
After the conference, you, the student, will be notified in writing of the findings of the investigation. This communication generally occurs within fourteen (14) days of completion of the investigation. There are two possible outcomes of the investigation:
- If it is determined that no policy violations occurred, no further action will be taken.
- If you are found responsible for a policy violation, the decision letter will outline educational sanctions and deadlines for completion.
Educational sanctions are intended to address the inappropriate conduct in a developmental manner, constructed to achieve a restorative justice outcome.
Criteria for assigning sanctions are, the nature of the incident, severity of the misconduct and your prior misconduct record.
Failure to complete educational sanctions by the prescribed deadline will result in a Registration Hold being placed on your SIS account. A hold prevents you from registering for classes. This hold remains in place until the educational sanction is complete.
Upon receipt of the decision letter, you, the student will have 10 calendar days from the date of the letter to file an appeal by submitting the appeal form found in your decision letter. You may choose to have the appeal heard by either a hearing examiner or a hearing committee (comprised of one faculty member, one staff member and one student). The hearing for the appeal will be conducted within 45 days of receipt of the request, and a decision rendered within 10 days of the hearing.
Non-Academic Misconduct Procedure
(Suspension or Expulsion)
Referrals to the student non-academic misconduct process can be made in a number of ways:
- Most are made through University Police or Housing and Residential Education. Both are official reports that are used to document alleged violations of university policies or state law.
- University Police reports are recorded by sworn campus police officers.
- An incident report is written by Housing and Residential Education staff.
- Alleged violations may also be reported to the Dean of Students Office through online reporting forms by any member of the University community.
Once an incident report is filed, it will be reviewed to determine if further investigation is warranted. If an investigation is called for, you, the student, will be notified by letter of the alleged misconduct and notified of a conference. Typically, this letter is sent electronically within 5 business days of receipt of initial report.
You, the student, is provided a Statement of Charges and information about the hearing process.
You chose to have either an examiner or committee to hear case.
Dean of Students Office will schedule a hearing for you.
You and hearing body are provided case file to understand what happened.
Hearing is held and hearing body deliberates and reaches decision:
- Decision letter is sent stating you are not responsible for violation of university policies.
- Decision letter sent stating you are responsible for violating university policies and outlining resulting sanctions less than suspension.
- Decision letter sent stating you are responsible for violating university policies and suspended or expelled.
You, the student, may appeal suspension or expulsion sanction to the Chancellor. If appealed, the Chancellor makes decision based on the record of the original hearing.
Restorative Justice
Restorative Justice is a collaborative decision-making process that includes harmed parties, offenders and others who are seeking to hold offenders accountable. Its purpose is to help all the parties talk about the harm caused, how to repair the damage done and rebuild the trust which was lost.
Dean of Students representative meets with accused student to discuss the case and assess whether the case is a good candidate for the restorative justice process.
Dean of Students representative meets with harmed parties to review the case, review the process and determine if they are willing play a role in the process. Circles are made up of the involved parties, the moderator and includes community representatives as well.
- Consultation with other parties who may be included in the restorative conversation to represent related parties.
- Circles are made up of the involved parties, the moderator, an advisor and includes community representatives as well.
- Mediation is made up of the involved parties and the mediator.
A Dean of Students representative will facilitate the conversation with all parties. Four rounds of conversation will give each representative the opportunity to be heard.
- Build connection and discuss affiliation with the incident
- Discuss harm and concerns
- Brainstorm, plan and agree on a response to the incident
- React, reflect and close
Accused student and Dean of Students representative finalize recommendations from the mediation or circle and action plan for next steps.
Sanction Guidelines
If you're wondering what the consequences might be of misconduct, below are the minimum sanctions our office uses to guide our decision-making. Keep in mind, these are the minimums and factors such as fleeing the scene, providing alcohol or drugs to others and failing to comply with staff requests, will drive up the severity of sanctions assigned. Cooperation can save you from even bigger problems.
We are primarily focused on learning and education to assist with future decision making. A variety of educational programs have been identified to assist students in critically thinking about decision making and to ensure health and safety while navigating being a student. From online courses, in person meetings, to community engagement – we have considered the best options for an individual’s personal growth.
This is the least severe outcome possible in the process. This outcome acknowledges that a policy was violated, and you are cautioned to observe all University policies as to avoid further concerns.
This sanction is for students that are involved in a serious situation and/or repetitive violations of policy. Typically, this is the final warning before suspension or expulsion is taken into consideration. When a student is on probation, they may not serve in an on campus paid supervisory, role modeling and/or mentoring role(s) for other students or participate in university sponsored travel programs including study abroad, travel courses or national student exchange. Additionally, probation status may impact a student’s ability to participate in university sponsored internships, field placements, or assistantships.
While the University works primarily with students regarding concerning decision making, parents/guardians are notified typically when a student has been placed on probationary status for alcohol and/or drug violations (if the student is under the age of 21). The purpose of this notification is to ensure that the student has an additional support system to avoid further misconduct action.
This is the most severe sanction and thus is rarely perused, however will be deemed necessary if a student is presenting as a harm to self and/or others based on their decision making. Suspension is for a period of up to two years in which a student cannot be enrolled at any Universities of Wisconsin campus. Expulsion is the indefinite dismissal from any Universities of Wisconsin campus.
Ask an Expert
Our office seeks to maintain fairness, objectivity and respect for all people throughout this process. If you have questions about the misconduct process, get in touch with our team.