The Notification Conference:

Members of the Preliminary Hearing are the Honor Council Faculty Advisor as chair, the two honor council members as representatives, and the president of the class or program of the accused student. If a first year student is accused before the election of the class president, the sophomore class president will substitute. The members of the Notification Conference do not have a vote in the Formal Hearing. This structure allows the accused student to have a fair and objective hearing based solely on the evidence presented.

The purpose of the Notification Conference is to determine whether the charges against the accused student have sufficient factual support and represent sufficiently serious misconduct to warrant a Formal Hearing before the honor council. The Notification Conference will be taped and transcribed in a non-identifying manner (i.e., deleting all direct name references) by the dean's office of that college. The investigating council members will gather relevant evidence and present their findings during the Notification Conference in a timely manner after the initial complaint. The accused student may be present at this meeting but will not be required to enter a plea, as the purpose of the Notification Conference is not to establish guilt or innocence but to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to pursue a Formal Hearing before the honor council.

Following presentation of evidence, the members at the Notification Conference vote. The Honor Council Faculty Advisor does not vote in these proceedings. The accused will not be present during the voting. If the vote is unanimous against pursuing a Formal Hearing, all pertinent evidence will be destroyed, and the case will be dismissed. If any member feels the case presents sufficient doubt of the accused student's compliance with the Honor Code, the case will proceed to the honor council for a Formal Hearing. If the case is to be pursued, the Honor Council President must inform the accused student in writing within three business days of the Notification Conference. The notification includes a concise summary of the charges and a reminder that failure to appear at the hearing will cause the hearing to proceed in the student's absence. The student will also be given a list of University Honor Council members to provide the accused the opportunity to identify potential personal conflicts. In addition, the dean must be advised in writing of any action to proceed. The Formal Hearing by the honor council must take place within ten working days of the student's notification of the results of the Notification Conference . The time limits may be extended if there are unanticipated problems and/or by mutual agreement of all parties.