Student Code of Conduct
(Adopted July 2015/Revised August 2024)
Purpose
The Student Code of Conduct serves as a foundation for fostering a positive and productive educational community, emphasizing the values of respect, responsibility, and accountability among students.
Illinois Central College wants students to learn and grow, both academically and personally. The college has the authority and responsibility to make sure the campus is a safe and supportive place for everyone's education. When students choose to go to Illinois Central College, they need to adhere to college expectations, including how they behave.
Illinois Central College students and student organizations are expected to act in accordance with the policies, rules, regulations, laws, and requirements of Illinois Central College, municipalities and counties, the State of Illinois, and the United States. The policies and procedures in this document are designed to be educational, fundamentally fair, and to provide students with the procedural protections that are appropriate for campus conduct proceedings. Students should be aware that they are responsible not only for the intent of their behavior, but also for the impacts of their actions. The student conduct policies and procedures are designed to provide an educational and developmental process that balances the interests of individual students with the interests of the Illinois Central College community.
Authority
The Student Code of Conduct outlines the behavioral expectations for students and the procedures for determining and addressing violations. The Dean of Students (or designee) has the ultimate authority for the interpretation of this Student Code of Conduct, including the determination of a person’s status with the institution in a particular situation. The Dean of Students serves as the primary investigator and hearing officer for reports of student misconduct. The Dean of Students may also serve and designate additional College officials to perform one or more roles in the student conduct process, including investigator, hearing officer, appeals officer, and/or advisor. No college official designated by the Dean of Students will serve as both an investigator and a hearing officer in the same case. In the event that the Dean of Students is not available, their designee assumes the authority described for the duration of unavailability.
Jurisdiction
Discipline may be imposed for conduct which occurs on College premises, or Campus Housing, in or out of the classroom setting, while using College technology, at off-campus instructional sites, during off-campus College- sponsored events and for off-campus conduct which materially and substantially interferes with the College’s operational and educational programs.
Each student is responsible for their conduct from the time of application for admission to the College through the award of a degree/certificate or such other time as there is a formal termination of the student relationship.
Each student is responsible for conduct occurring during the academic year and during periods between terms of enrollment of an academic year.
Definitions
The term “college” means Illinois Central College.
The term “student” includes all persons taking courses at Illinois Central College both full-time and part-time, credit or non-credit. Persons who are not officially enrolled for a particular term but who have a continuing relationship with the college or who have been notified of their acceptance for admission are considered “students.”
The term “faculty member” means any person hired by the college to conduct classroom or teaching activities or who is otherwise considered by the college to be a member of its faculty.
The term “college official” includes any person employed by the college, performing assigned administrative or professional responsibilities.
The term “member of college community” includes any person who is a student, faculty member, college official or any other person employed by the college.
The term “college premises” include all land, buildings, facilities, and other property in possession of or owned, used, or controlled by the college (including adjacent streets and sidewalks). This includes on-campus housing, which is owned and controlled by the Educational Foundation Student Residence, LLC.
The term “college sponsored or supervised activities” includes, but is not limited to: field trips, off-campus social activities organized by the college, official activities of college clubs, any time a student is serving as a representative of the college, etc.
The term “organization” means any number of persons who have complied with the formal requirement for college recognition as a student club or organization.
The term “Student Conduct Committee” means any person or persons authorized by the Dean of Students to determine whether a student has violated the Student Code of Conduct and to recommend sanctions that may be imposed when a rules violation has been committed.
The term “chair of the Student Conduct Committee” means a college official authorized on a case-by-case basis by the Dean of Students to impose sanctions upon any student(s) found to have violated the Student Code of Conduct. The Dean of Students may authorize a college administrator to serve simultaneously as the chair of the Student Conduct Committee, either as the sole member or one of the members of the Student Conduct Committee. The Dean of Students may authorize the same chair of the Student Conduct Committee to impose sanctions in all cases.
The “Dean of Students” is the person designated by the college Vice President of Student Success to be responsible for the administration of the Student Code of Conduct.
The term “policy” refers to the written regulations, procedures, and policies of the college as found in, but not limited to, the Student Code of Conduct, the college website and catalog.
The term “complainant” means any person who submits a charge alleging that a student violated the Student Code of Conduct. When a student believes that she/he has been a victim of another student’s misconduct, the student who believes she/he has been a victim will have the same rights under the Student Code of Conduct as are provided to the complainant, even if another member of the college community submitted the charge itself.
“Academic honesty” is expected of all students. Academic honesty is ethical behavior in which students produce their own work and do not represent others’ work as their own, either by plagiarism, by cheating, or by helping others to do so.
“Plagiarism” is the use, by paraphrase or direct quotation, of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials.
“Cheating” may include, but is not limited to:
The use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests or examinations.
The use of sources beyond those authorized by the instructor in writing papers, preparing reports, solving problems or carrying out other assignments.
The acquisition, without permission, of tests or other academic materials belonging to a member of the college faculty or staff.
Engaging in any behavior specifically prohibited by a faculty member in the course syllabus or class discussion.
Allowing or participating in cheating by other students.
Copying from someone else’s work.
Submitting others’ work as your own or submitting your work for others.
Altering graded work and falsifying data.
The term “respondent” is a student who is alleged of violating the Student Code of Conduct and provided with the opportunity to respond to the complaint.
An “Advisor” is a person who supports a complainant or respondent as they participates in the conduct process. The advisor’s supporting role is limited to conferring with and advising the student directly. The advisor may attend, but may not actively participate in the conduct process as a representative or advocate for the student. The College also reserves the right to have an advisor present to advise the College officials during the student conduct process. Students seeking an advisor may request a list from the Dean of Students of potential advisors who have received training about the campus conduct process.
The term “sanction” means a consequence imposed as a result of a finding of responsibility.
The term “outcome” means the finding of responsible or not responsible for each alleged violation, as well as any sanction(s) imposed.
The term “separation” which applies to College Suspension and College Expulsion means that student is denied access to the campus (including classes), to off-campus instructional sites, and/or to all other college activities or privileges for which the student might otherwise be eligible.
The term “threat” means any expression of intent to do harm or act out violently against someone or something. A threat can be spoken, written, or symbolic.
The term “responsibility” means that the student has been found to be responsible for the alleged action at some level based on the preponderance of the evidence standard.
“Preponderance of evidence” is simply defined by Black’s Law dictionary as “more probable than not.” Different standards of proof are used by various college and university tribunals. At Illinois Central College, the Student Code of Conduct process utilizes a preponderance of evidence. Colleges are not required to prove beyond a reasonable doubt in the same manner as criminal charges must be proven.