Student Affairs and Conduct

As members of the College of Southern Maryland’s campus community, each individual student bears certain responsibilities to themselves, their peers, and the institution in order to achieve success. Among those responsibilities are demonstrating respect for self and others and maintaining personal and academic integrity.

The Student Code of Conduct

The Student Code of Conduct establishes common expectations and outlines an equitable, educational process for holding members of our community accountable for their actions when academic and behavioral expectations are not met.

Students are strongly encouraged to review the Student Code of Conduct in order to be familiar with the expectations the college has of its student body. The full document, including the associated processes and range of sanctions, can be found within the Student Policy Guide. The College of Southern Maryland reserves the right to sanction students that have been found responsible for misconduct.

Student Conduct Learning Outcomes

Educating students is the primary goal of the student conduct process. As a result of their interactions through the conduct processes established by the college, the student will:

• Recognize the expectations the College of Southern Maryland has of all students.
• Discuss their personal rights and responsibilities as members of the college community.
• Reflect upon and learn from one’s own decisions and actions.
• Explain how individual actions impact the greater campus community.
• Discover campus resources that will provide additional support for success in their academic and personal pursuits.

Jurisdiction of the Student Code of Conduct

The Student Code of Conduct applies to all individuals taking courses at the college, either full time or part-time, pursuing credit and/or continuing education studies sponsored by the college with the exception of children under the age of sixteen who are enrolled in continuing education courses (e.g. Kids`and Teen College) or the JOBS program.

A student, as defined above, can be held responsible for their behavior from the time of enrollment through the time of graduation. This period also includes breaks between academic terms and periods of withdrawal if an incident is reported during the time of enrollment.

These expectations also extend to all campus locations, official college activities and events, and off-campus activity when the behavior may have an adverse effect on the campus community. Off-campus behavior will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine applicability of the Student Code of Conduct.

Rights and Responsibilities of the Respondent

In the event of alleged misconduct students may exercise the following rights:

1. To be given notice of alleged violations of the Code of Conduct.
2. To be given reasonable notice and time to prepare for a conference.
3. To choose to appear or not appear at a conference.
4. To have a fair conduct conference, including:
   1. To receive a written summation of the information alleging misconduct;
   2. To review information submitting alleging misconduct and the identity of its source;
   3. To comment on the submitted information and to present witnesses and information on your behalf, either in person or in writing; and
   4. To be given written notice of the final decision.
5. If found in violation of the Code of Conduct, the right to appeal the finding and/or the sanction to the appropriate body.

Appeals must be made in writing no later than ten calendar days after receiving notification of the finding.

As an accused student, you also bear the following responsibilities:

1. To respect the confidentiality of the information pertinent to the case.
2. To be honest and cooperative with the conduct administrator or conduct board at all times.
3. To inform witnesses on your behalf of the date, time, and place of the conference and to ensure that they appear.
4. To bring all available, pertinent information for your conduct review to the conference. Failure to do so will not be considered good cause for reevaluating the incident.

Rights and Responsibilities of the Complainant

As someone alleging violations of the Code of Conduct have occurred you have the following rights:

1. To be given reasonable notice and time to prepare for the conference.
2. To choose to appear or not appear at a conference.
3. To present material, witnesses and information on your behalf, either in person or in writing.

As a complainant, you also bear the following responsibilities:

1. To respect the confidentiality of the information pertinent to the case.
2. To be honest and cooperative with the conduct administrator or conduct board at all times.
3. To appear at the conference unless notified by the conduct administrator that you are not required to do so.
4. To provide the college with contact information for any witnesses you believe should participate in the conference.
5. To bring all available, pertinent information to the conference. Failure to do so will not be considered good cause for reevaluating the incident.