Student Rights and Responsibilities: A Code of Student Behavior
4.0 Violations of the Law
Alleged violations of federal, state, and local laws may be investigated and addressed under the Code of Student Conduct. When an offense occurs over which the University of Southern Indiana has jurisdiction, the USI conduct process will usually go forward notwithstanding any criminal complaint that may arise from the same incident.
The University of Southern Indiana reserves the right to exercise its authority of emergency suspension upon notification that a student is facing criminal investigation and/or complaint (additional grounds for emergency suspension are outlined in Section 7.3.A. Sanctions). Emergency suspensions are imposed until a hearing can be held, typically within two weeks. Within that time, the suspended student may request an immediate hearing from the Dean of Students to show cause why the emergency suspension should be lifted. This hearing may resolve the allegation or may be held to determine if the emergency suspension should be continued. The emergency suspension may be continued if a danger to the community is posed and the University of Southern Indiana may be delayed or prevented from conducting its own investigation and resolving the allegation by the pendency of the criminal process. In such cases, USI 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.
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This Student Rights and Responsibilities was approved on August 14, 2023, by Dean Laurie Berry, and implemented on August 15, 2023.