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2020-2021 Catalog and Student Handbook

Jurisdiction

The Marietta College Student Handbook is housed electronically within the College Catalog on the Marietta College website, and students are responsible for having read and abiding by the provisions in the Student Code of Conduct.

The Student Code of Conduct and the student conduct process apply to the conduct of individual students, both undergraduate and graduate, and all College-affiliated student organizations. For the purposes of student conduct, the College considers an individual to be a student when an offer of admission has been extended and thereafter as long as the student has a continuing educational interest in the College.

The College retains conduct jurisdiction with regard to students who choose to take a leave of absence, withdraw or have graduated for any misconduct that occurred prior to the leave, withdrawal or graduation. If sanctioned, a hold may be placed on the student’s ability to re-enroll, and/or graduate, and all sanctions must be satisfied prior to re-enrollment. In the event of serious misconduct committed while enrolled but reported after the accused student has graduated, the College may invoke these procedures. Should the former student be found responsible, the College may revoke that student’s degree.

The Student Code of Conduct applies to behaviors that take place on the campus and at College sponsored events and may also apply off-campus when the Associate Dean of Students/Director of Campus Involvement or designee determines that the off-campus conduct affects a substantial College interest.

A substantial College interest is defined to include:

  • Any situation where it appears that the student’s conduct may present a danger or threat to the health or safety of self or others; and/or
  • Any situation that significantly impinges upon the rights, property or achievements of self or others or significantly breaches the peace and/or causes social disorder; and/or
  • Any situation that is detrimental to the educational mission and/or interests of the College.

The Student Code of Conduct may be applied to behavior conducted online, via email or any other electronic medium. Students should also be aware that online postings such as blogs, web postings, chats and social networking sites are in the public sphere and are not private. These postings can subject a student to allegations of conduct violations if evidence of a policy violation is posted online. The College does not regularly search for this information but may take action if and when such information is brought to the attention of College officials. However, most online speech by students not involving College networks or technology will be protected as free expression and not subject to this Code, with two notable exceptions:

  • A true threat, defined as “a threat a reasonable person would interpret as a serious expression of intent to inflict bodily harm upon specific individuals”;
  • Speech posted online about the College or its community members that causes a significant on-campus disruption.

The Student Code of Conduct applies to guests of community members whose hosts may be held accountable for the misconduct of their guests. The Code may also be applied to resident non-students, campers and high school bridge/extension/partner/dual-credit and continuing education programs by contractual agreements. Visitors to and guests of the College may seek resolution of violations of the Student Code of Conduct committed against them by members of College community.

There is no time limit on reporting violations of the Student Code of Conduct; however, the longer someone waits to report an offense, the harder it becomes for College officials to obtain information and witness statements and to make determinations regarding alleged violations. Reports of violations of the Student Code of Conduct can be made online, using the Incident Reporting Form.

Though anonymous complaints are permitted, doing so may limit the College’s ability to investigate and respond to a complaint. Those who are aware of misconduct are encouraged to report it as quickly as possible to the Office of Community Standards, Rights, and Responsibilities using the Incident Reporting Form or to the Marietta College Police Department by calling (740) 376-3333.

College email is the College’s primary means of communication with students. Students are responsible for all communication delivered to their College email address.

Violations of the Law

Alleged violations of federal, state and local laws may be investigated and addressed under the Student Code of Conduct. When an offense occurs over which the College has jurisdiction, the College conduct process will usually go forward regardless of any criminal complaint that may arise from the same incident.

The College reserves the right to exercise its authority of interim suspension upon notification that a student is facing criminal investigation and/or complaint (additional grounds for interim suspension are outlined below, in the section Student Conduct Process). Interim suspensions are imposed until a hearing can be held, typically within two weeks. This hearing may resolve the allegation, or may be held to determine if the interim suspension should be continued. The interim suspension may be continued if a danger to the community is posed and the College may be delayed or prevented from conducting its own investigation and resolving the allegation by the pendency of the criminal process. In such cases, the College will only delay its hearing until such time as it can conduct an internal investigation or obtain sufficient information independently or from law enforcement upon which to proceed. This delay will be no longer than two weeks from notice of the incident unless a continuation requested in writing by the complaining victim to allow the criminal investigation to proceed before the College process. Students accused of crimes may request to take a leave from the College until the criminal charges are resolved. In such situations, the College procedure for voluntary leaves of absence is subject to the following conditions:

  • The responding student must comply with all campus investigative efforts that will not prejudice their defense in the criminal trial; and
  • The responding student must comply with all interim actions and/or restrictions imposed during the leave of absence; and
  • The responding student must agree that, in order to be reinstated to active student status, they must first be subject to, and fully cooperate with, the campus conduct process and must comply with all sanctions that are imposed.