Student Rights and Responsibilities
Students are expected under all circumstances to show a proper respect for law and order, care of property, rights of others, and a sense of personal honor and integrity as is required of good citizens. Students are expected to conduct themselves in a manner becoming a university student. Students at GC can expect that they will be treated with reason and respect, and that the faculty and staff of the University will act responsibly toward them. The University expects students will employ reason, show respect to others, and to take responsibility for their actions.
Students who disregard the expectations placed upon them as good citizens subject themselves to the disciplinary process. Georgia College has a policy on the standards and procedures for student non-academic discipline. The policy acknowledges both the need to preserve the orderly processes of the University with regard to its teaching, research, and public service missions, as well as the need to observe the student’s rights. While the rules and regulations of Georgia College are not meant to duplicate general laws, there are some respects in which the lawful interests of the institution as an academic community coincide with the broader public interests treated in general laws. Students who commit offenses against the laws of municipalities, states, or the United States are subject to prosecution by those authorities and are liable for disciplinary action under Georgia College rules.
The Vice President for Student Affairs is the administrative official with primary responsibility for student discipline.
Students accused of misconduct under the Student Code of Conduct may choose between an administrative hearing or a Student Judicial Board hearing. Honor code cases are typically heard by the Student Judicial Board. Charges of lying, stealing, or vandalism are heard in order to determine the guilt or innocence of the accused student. In charges of cheating or plagiarism, the appropriate faculty member(s) will determine that academic dishonesty occurred. The Student Judicial Board hears these cases to determine whether additional sanctions are warranted under the honor code. The Office of Student Affairs may decide to refer any case to an administrative hearing panel if it determines that it would be inappropriate to be heard by a student panel. The administrative hearing will be one in which the Vice President for Student Affairs or his designee chairs the case, and a faculty/staff panel determines guilt or innocence and imposes sanctions. The judicial board hearing will be conducted by the Student Judicial Board, chaired by a designated faculty advisor.
Sanctions against a student judged guilty of misconduct could include oral or written reprimands, personal probation, revocation and/or limitation of privileges, restitution, probation, suspension or expulsion. A student may be temporarily suspended, pending final action on the charges, if potential harm to self or others is judged to exist. The student shall be afforded an opportunity for a preliminary hearing prior to temporary suspension.
Further, the Vice President for Student Affairs shall have power to impose such temporary sanctions, including suspension, pending a hearing, when a student engages in conduct that materially and substantially interferes with the requirements of appropriate discipline in the operation of the University.
It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with the university student disciplinary procedures.
These policies and procedures are subject to revision from time to time. Please refer to the Student Handbook for the most recent version.