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The Salem College student conduct process is designed to hold students accountable for academic and non-academic violations of college policy, which flow from Salem’s Honor Code. The disciplinary process is designed to be educational in nature so that students recognize their mistakes and learn from them. There are three processes by which cases may be heard:

The Honor Council

The Honor Council will investigate and act upon alleged Honor Code infractions. The Honor Council also will handle cases related to test and examination procedures, unauthorized removal of library materials and election contestations. The Honor Council has the right to turn over any case to the dean of students.The Honor Council acts as a neutral hearing body that is supportive of the student. The Council does not judge the accused student as a person, but rather judges the student’s actions as they relate to the preservation of honesty, integrity and civility within the honor community. The Honor Council is composed of the chair and the secretary (both elected by the student body), one representative from each class, one representative from the Off Campus Association, one representative from the Fleer Center program, the president of the Student Government Association and the chair of the Judicial Council. A non-voting faculty representative from the Faculty Advisory Board must be present at all Honor Council hearings. The dean of students or her designee from the student affairs staff serves in an advisory capacity to the Honor Council and must be present at all Honor Council hearings.

Procedures for Reporting Honor Code Infractions

  1. Self-reported infractions

    Acknowledging an Honor Code violation is the first step in reconciling one’s responsibility to the honor community. A student who wishes to acknowledge her violation should report the violation to the Honor Council by way of the chair of the Council.
  2. Infractions reported by a student

    A student who witnesses a violation of the Honor Code by another student is expected to confront the student and reveal the nature of the infraction observed to the student before she contacts the Honor Council chair. She also should encourage the accused student to contact the Honor Council chair to report her violation.
  3. Infractions reported by a faculty or staff member

    All faculty members are to report suspected violations of the Honor Code to the Honor Council chair. The faculty member should contact the chair after explaining the nature of the alleged infraction to the student.

Judicial Council

The Judicial Council will hear cases such as alleged violations of the following Social Responsibility and Residence Life policies: alcohol, event/party policy, fire safety and major visitation violations. The Judicial Council has the right to turn over any case to the dean of students.The Judicial Council is made up of the chair (elected by the student body), secretary (elected by the student body), Honor Council chair, SGA president, off-campus representative and a representative of each class. The assistant dean of students or designee from the student affairs staff must be present in an advisory capacity at all Judicial Council hearings.

College Administration

The Residential Coordinators will handle first-time and minor alleged violations of Residence Life policy such as visitation and quiet hours infractions. The administration (student affairs deans) will hear cases of the most serious nature including alleged violations of the following policies: weapons, drugs, hazing, harassment and other cases of an urgent nature, such as when there is immediate danger to one or more students.

Rights of an Accused Student

An accused student has the following rights:

  1. To be notified in writing of any accusation made against her.
  2. To have a hearing.
  3. To have an advisor who is either a Salem College fulltime faculty member or member of the administration. The role of the advisor is to provide advice to the student throughout the judicial process. The advisor may only counsel the student, not speak with the Council or the accuser(s) or witness(es) during a judicial hearing.
  4. To appeal the decision of the hearing body.
  5. Fleer students: To have a Fleer student representative sit on the Honor Council or Judicial Council when a case concerns a Fleer student as the accused.