Student Code of Conduct
As stated in Article VI of the FHSU Bill of Student Rights and Responsibilities, the university has a duty to establish the rules and policies that all students are required to follow. Students have a right to expect enforcement of these rules and policies. FHSU also has a right to expect students to abide by them as befits responsible students as members of the learning community.

For the purposes of this code of conduct, a “student” is any person who is enrolled at FHSU for any academic period. A person shall be considered a student subject to this code of conduct when attending any university activity prior to or after an academic term, such as residence hall check-in, new student orientation and fraternity or sorority recruitment.

The following statements constitute the official record of all general conduct policies at FHSU. Students shall abide by these policies and administrators, faculty and staff are expected to enforce them. These policies should be read broadly and are not designed to limit the definitions of prohibited conduct to the examples described. Note that if any infractions of the Student Code of Conduct are found to have an element of malice, the resulting sanctions may be more severe. FHSU reserves the right to make a case-by-case determination as to whether conduct of a serious nature which occurs off of the premises of the university but has an impact on the university community may be addressed under this policy. For more information about procedures regarding the enforcement of this code of conduct, consult the section of this Student Handbook immediately following this one titled “Discipline Procedures.”

1. Compliance with General Laws
Students, upon registration at FHSU, shall abide by all regulations, federal and state laws and city of Hays ordinances. Enrollment as a student in no way exempts any person from penalty in case of violation of local, state or federal laws. Any disciplinary action taken by the university may be taken independently of any action taken by an off-campus authority.

2. Vandalism/Damage of Property
Willful, intentional or negligent vandalism or damage to and/or destruction of property is strictly prohibited.

3. Firearms and Other Deadly Weapons
The unauthorized possession or use of firearms or other deadly weapons of any kind is prohibited. The use or display of any object or instrument in a dangerous or threatening manner is prohibited.

4. Flammable Materials and Fireworks
The ignition or detonation of an incendiary device which could cause damage by fire, explosion or similar means to persons or property, or possession of anything in the nature of fireworks or explosives is prohibited on any property owned or operated by FHSU unless the student receives express permission to participate in a display or event sanctioned by the university.

5. Arson
No person shall start a fire that causes or may cause damages or injury on university property without university authorization and willful damage to property (as de-scribed in conduct regulation 2 above) will be prosecuted as arson when appropriate.

6. Fire Alarms and Fire Equipment
Making or causing a false fire alarm or emergency report of any kind is prohibited. No person shall tamper with, damage, disable or misuse fire safety equipment.

7. Theft or Misappropriation
Theft of any kind, including seizing, receiving or concealing property with knowledge that it has been stolen or reasonably should have known that is stolen, is forbidden. Sale, possession or misappropriation of any property, including FHSU property, without the owner’s permission, is also prohibited. This includes sale of a textbook by any student who does not own the book unless express prior written authorization has been given by the owner.

8. Disorderly Conduct
Individual or group behavior which disturbs individuals or groups is prohibited. Such conduct includes (but is not limited to) assault, threats to the personal safety of one’s self or others, throwing objects to create a danger, making excessive noise, unwelcome physical contact, hazing and any other type of interference with the normal operations of the university or its activities or any type of conduct that interferes with the ability of those who attend, visit or work at the university to enjoy the benefits of the purposes for which the university exists.

9. Misuse of University Documents
Forgery, alteration or misuse of any university document or record is forbidden, including furnishing false information or withholding material information from the university.

10. Fraud or Lying
Lying or fraudulent misrepresentation in or with regard to any transaction with the university, whether oral, written or by other means, is prohibited, including misrepresenting the truth before a hearing of the university or making a false report or statement to any university official.

11. Student Identification
Using fake identification or falsely identifying oneself is prohibited. This includes furnishing false identification to the university or to any university employee or agent, including campus law enforcement or security officers, acting in good faith and in the performance of their duties.

12. Official Requests
Students must comply with the reasonable and lawful requests of university officials acting in the performance of their duties. Students shall appear at disciplinary hearings to respond to allegations or testify as a witness when reasonably notified to do so. Failure to appear at a scheduled hearing is a violation of this student code of conduct and will not necessarily prevent the hearing from taking place, nor will it preclude a determination. A failure to properly comply with or complete a sanction or obligation resulting from a disciplinary hearing or adjudication may be considered a violation of an official request and may be treated as an independent violation.

13. Presence In and Use of University Facilities
Unauthorized entry into, presence in, or use of university facilities, equipment or property, which have not been reserved or accessed through appropriate university procedures, is prohibited.

14. Misuse of Keys
No person may use or possess any university keys or access codes without proper authorization. No student is allowed under any condition to have a university key duplicated.

15. Misuse of Telephones
Making or assisting in making annoying or harassing telephone calls, unauthorized use of long distance phone privileges or otherwise misusing or abusing FHSU telephone equipment is prohibited.

16. Alcoholic Beverages
Students must comply with the published regulation concerning the transport, provision and consumption of beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages on campus or university property. (For more details, see “Drug and Alcohol Policies” under Administrative Policies and Procedures.)

17. Drugs
The unauthorized possession, use, manufacture, sale or distribution of any counterfeit, illegal, dangerous, “designer” or other controlled drug or other substance is prohibited. (For more details, see “Drug and Alcohol Policies” under Administrative Policies and Procedures.)

18. Misuse of Computer Equipment
Use of computer equipment and resources, including account numbers, interactive terminals, data storage media, other peripherals, local, state, national and international computer networks, mainframe and microcomputer systems and software for computing activities other than those authorized by the law and the university constitutes misuse and is strictly prohibited.

Note: For further information concerning regulations in effect for use of university computer equipment and accounts, consult the Ethical Use of Computing Resources Policy found in this handbook.

Note: For further information concerning regulations in effect for students living in university Residence Halls, contact the Department of Student Residential Life, 114 Agnew Hall, or the Residence Hall Director.

Note: Attempting, abetting or being an accessory to any act prohibited by these Student Code of Conduct Regulations will be considered a violation.

Note: For further information concerning university policies and procedures in effect for sexual harassment, consult the policy in this student handbook.

Discipline Procedures
The disciplinary process at FHSU strives to provide students with positive reinforcement for living within the guidelines for acceptable behavior. The standards of behavior are set forth in the Student Code of Conduct. The intent is to make discipline educational and not punitive.

The encouragement and development of self-discipline is a primary goal of the educational process. The judicial system established hereby is designed to further this process and, therefore, is not comparable to or a substitute for jurisprudence under the criminal code. Only under extreme circumstances will the process be viewed as a method of terminating the student’s relationship with FHSU.

Students facing possible disciplinary action are assured that due process will be provided. This means they are told how the disciplinary process of the university functions, they will be made aware of the conduct alleged to have been in violation, they will have the opportunity to defend themselves by having witnesses appear on their behalf, they may have an advisor help them, and they may appeal the decision. Appealing a disciplinary action must be done within a defined span of time, but usually the disciplinary action will not go into effect until the appeal is heard. The exception to this practice occurs only when delaying action until after an appeal would significantly compromise the safety and well-being of the university community.

Procedurally, discipline is handled as close to the level of the problem as is possible and reasonable. In other words, residence hall behavior concerns are nor-mally handled by the Residence Hall staff and/or Residence Hall Judicial Boards; Greek conduct questions are handled by the chapter of which the accused is a member, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, Greek Standards Review Board, etc. Local law enforcement authorities generally handle off-campus law violations. The university reserves the right to make a case-by-case determination as to whether some conduct which occurs off of the premises of the university may be addressed under this policy.

Violations of the Student Code of Conduct that do not fall under the jurisdiction of the judicial bodies listed above are normally handled by the Office of Student Affairs. This office also serves as the appellate body for Residence Hall Boards and the Greek Standards Review Board. The Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs is responsible for the coordination of administrative judicial programs and proceedings as later described.

In extraordinary circumstances having a detrimental impact on the university community, the Vice President for Student Affairs or his/her designee may determine that summary administrative suspension or dismissal is appropriate. If such a determination is made, the student will be so informed and provided with the opportunity to meet with the Vice President or his/her designee. After investigation and consideration of information presented by the student, if any, the vice president or his/her designee will decide whether a sanction is warranted. This decision can be appealed to the President or his or her designee, whose decision will be final.

1. Reporting Violations
Incident reports describing the alleged violation will be sent to the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs, a designee of the Vice President for Student Affairs. (The Assistant Vice President is hereafter known as the Administrative Officer). The Administrative Officer will review and investigate the complaint in order to make a determination concerning whether the university will charge the student(s) with a Code of Conduct violation.

2. Student Conference
If the student is charged with a Code of Conduct violation, he or she will be sent a notice (or called when necessary) to report to the Administrative Officer in order to discuss the charges and disciplinary procedures. If the Administrative Officer and the charged student can agree upon the facts and sanctions concerning the charges, the matter will be considered initially settled. The matter will be considered resolved once the terms of the sanctions have been completed. The terms of the sanctions may range from dropping all charges to suspension (see Sanctions on the following page). The Administrative Officer will follow up the student conference with a letter to the student.

In all cases where the facts and sanctions concerning the charges cannot be agreed upon, the Administrative Officer will determine whether the student(s) facing possible disciplinary action will have their case heard by a Student Hearing Panel or an Administrative Hearing.

3. Administrative Hearing or Student Panel
a. Student Hearing Panel
The Administrative Officer will assemble the Student Hearing Panel, which consists of five students and a panel chair. Members of the Hearing Panel and the chair are selected at the beginning of the fall semester by a committee comprised of representatives from the Office of Student Affairs and the Student Faculty Court. The Administrative Officer will serve as an advisor to the panel. The hearing will consist of the following procedures:

1) The hearing will be closed, and all proceedings will be confidential. An exception will be allowed if both the charged student and the complainant agree to an open hearing.

2) The student charged may bring an advisor or legal counsel for assistance but must speak for himself or herself. The role of the advisor or legal counsel will be restricted solely to advising the student.

3) The complainant and the charged student will have the opportunity to call and examine witnesses and to present and question other evidence. The student is responsible for having his or her witnesses at the hearing. The university can assist in obtaining the attendance of students and university personnel.

4) The panel chair will exercise control over the hearing. Rules of evidence as used in courts will not be applied in this type of hearing. Any person who disrupts the hearing may be asked to leave the hearing. Repetitious or irrelevant evidence may be excluded.

5) The standard of proof that will be used is the preponderance of evidence standard. In other words, a student will be found in violation of the Code of Conduct only when the evidence demonstrates that it is more likely than not that the student committed the violation.

6) The Student Hearing Panel will deliberate in closed session in order to render a decision.

7) Witnesses (other than the accused) will be present only during the time they are testifying.

8) The panel chair will be responsible for rendering the decision in writing to the accused student. The decision shall nclude a summary of the findings and the sanctions imposed.

9) The decision of the Student Hearing Panel shall be final unless the student files an appeal as provided in this handbook.

b. Administrative Hearing
The Administrative Officer will be the hearing official and may invite student(s), faculty, staff or other experts whose knowledge may be beneficial to serve as the hearing panel. The hearing will consist of the following procedures:

1) The hearing will be closed, and all proceedings will be confidential. An exception will be allowed if both the charged student and the complainant agree to an open hearing.

2) The student charged may bring an advisor or legal counsel for assistance but must speak for himself or herself. The role of the advisor or legal counsel will be restricted solely to advising the student.

3) The university and the charged student will have the opportunity to call and examine witnesses and to present and question other evidence. The student is responsible for having his or her witnesses at the hearing. The university can assist in obtaining the attendance of students and university personnel.

4) The hearing official will exercise control over the hearing. Rules of evidence as used in courts will not be applied in this type of hearing. Any person who disrupts the hearing may be asked to leave the hearing. Repetitious or irrelevant evidence may be excluded. Witnesses (other than the accused) will be present only during the time they are addressing the panel.

5) The standard of proof that will be used is the preponderance of evidence standard. In other words, a student will be found in violation of the Code of Conduct only when the evidence demonstrates that it is more likely than not that the student committed the violation.

6) The hearing official panel will deliberate in closed session in order to render a decision.

7) The hearing official will be responsible for rendering a decision in writing to the accused student. The decision shall include a summary of the findings and the sanctions imposed.

8) The decision of the hearing official shall be final unless the student files an appeal as provided below.

4. Appealing a Decision
An administrative action of a decision of an Administrative/Student Panel Hearing may be appealed to the Student/Faculty Court by delivering a letter of appeal to the designated representative of the court within the time period specified in the decision (no less than five class days). The procedures of the Student/Faculty Court are available on request from the Student Government Office in the Memorial Union.

The decision of the Student/Faculty Court is final unless the student files an appeal to the President of FHSU. The procedures for filing an appeal with the President are available upon request.

Sanctions
When a student admits to being or is found to have been in violation of the FHSU Student Code of Conduct Regulations, the following responses and sanctions are possible:

Reprimand-Official censure
Restitution-Repayment of any monetary damages
Specifically Defined Sanction- Specific conditions or assignments given to the student; examples include but are not limited to:
• Community service
• Research papers/personal essays
• Workshop attendance
• Loss of privileges and exclusion from activities
• Exclusion from specified areas of campus
• Special projects or assignments

Disciplinary Probation-Period of review and observation during which the student is warned that the misconduct was very serious and that further violations of the code of conduct may result in more serious sanctions

Deferred Suspension or Dismissal- Denial of enrollment, attendance and/or privileges for aspecified period of time

Permanent Suspension-Dismissal from the university

Expulsion-Immediate and permanent removal from the institution (used only when it is believed that the presence of the student will have a detrimental impact on the university community)

All sanctions may be imposed singularly or in combination. Sanctions are designed to promote
the educational mission of FHSU. The severity of the sanction(s) imposed is intended to correspond with the severity or frequency of violations, as well as the student’s willingness to recommit him or herself to good citizenship through behaviors that fall within the conduct regulations of the institution.

Greek Houses
FHSU sororities and fraternities are located off campus and fall under the jurisdiction of the Hays City Police Department. Student and student organization criminal activities are included in, but not limited to, the Hays Police Department’s annual crime analysis report submitted to the Kansas Bureau of Investigation.

The FHSU Student Handbook should be consulted for information regarding the following policies:
• FHSU: A Place to be Alcohol and Drug Free
• policy regarding the possession, use and sale of alcohol beverages and enforcement of state underage drinking laws
• policy regarding the possession, use and sale of illegal drugs and enforcement of federal and state drug laws
• FHSU Sexual Assault Policy

STUDENT RIGHT-TO-KNOW AND CAMPUS SECURITY ACT
In compliance with 20 USC Sec. 1092 (The Students Right-To-Know and Campus Security Act), universities are required to publish an annual security report. This section of the Student Handbook describes Fort Hays State University’s report and gives directions on gaining access to the report.

Fort Hays State University’s annual security report includes statistics for the previous three years concerning reported crimes that occurred on campus. The report also includes institutional policies concerning campus security, such as policies concerning alcohol and drug use, crime prevention, the reporting of crimes, sexual assault and other matters. A copy of this report may be obtained by contacting the Office of Student Affairs (208 Sheridan Hall, (785) 628-4276) or by visiting http://www.fhsu.edu/judicial/security.shtml.