University Housing

Student Affairs

Conduct Process and Procedures

Conduct Process and Procedures

All Auburn students living on campus are expected to know and abide by all residence hall policies and procedures and to inform their guests of relevant policies prior to hosting them on campus. Residents have a responsibility to report violations of Auburn rules and regulations to a Housing staff member or may report using an online form. Housing staff members are expected to report violations of residential policies or procedures and/or University policies.

When a student living on campus is documented for possible violation(s) of Auburn policies, usually through an incident report, a Housing staff member reviews the report and determines next steps. Depending on the nature of the possible violation(s), the student may be referred to an administrator outside of University Housing for investigation and/or administrative resolution. These administrators include the Office of Student Conduct for alleged violations such as hazing, theft, illegal drugs, weapons, or violations of probation or the Title IX Office for alleged violations of sexual misconduct or harassment.

A Housing staff member is assigned to meet with a student based on the severity of the situation, the student’s previous conduct record, and/or the residential neighborhood where the alleged violation(s) occurred. In cases where the student is involved in a minor and/or first time policy violation, an in-person meeting requirement may be waived and a Housing staff member will send the student an outcome letter to their Tigermail account. The student may choose to accept the Housing staff member’s decision and complete the assigned sanctions or meet with the Housing staff member to discuss the alleged violations(s) and/or sanction(s). In all other instances, the student is expected to meet in person with the appropriate Housing staff member to discuss the report in a conduct meeting.

A conduct meeting is a one-on-one discussion between the student and a Housing staff member. The Housing staff member reviews the alleged policy violation(s) involving the student, listens to the student’s recollection of events, and gathers information necessary to determine make a decision on the case. The Housing staff member may meet with other students involved in the incident to gather additional information before making a decision. The standard for determining whether or not a student has violated a policy is the preponderance of evidence (i.e., enough information is provided to determine that it is more likely than not that a policy was violated). The student has the right to appeal the decision and/or sanctions of the Housing staff member.

Failure to schedule and attend a conduct meeting or to complete a sanction by the required date may result in a hold being placed on the student’s academic record. An academic hold prevents the student from registering for or dropping or adding classes, obtaining transcripts, withdrawing, and/or graduating from Auburn University. Failure to attend a scheduled conduct meeting may result in the Housing staff member making a decision without the student’s input and/or additional sanctions.

Students who are found responsible for violating University policies may receive a range of restrictive, educational, corrective or restorative sanctions, interventions and/or referrals. These sanctions may be issued in addition to any fines or fees imposed by Property Management. When considering the sanctions or outcomes, the Housing staff member may consider a range of factors, including:

  • the nature and severity of the incident
  • the conduct history of the student
  • the developmental needs of the student
  • the level of accountability and responsibility taken by the student
  • the level of cooperation from the student
  • the interests of the community and those impacted by the conduct
  • any other aggravating, mitigating or relevant factors

Possible sanctions include but are not limited to, apology letter, community service, educational follow up and/or presentation, financial restitution, housing relocation, housing termination, loss of privileges, no contact, parent/guardian notification, probation, reflection paper, warning, residential education seminars and interventions, and Tiger Education Screening Intervention (TESI).

When a student is found responsible for violating Auburn policies, one or more of the following sanctions may be imposed

Apology Letter: This restorative sanction is issued when the student has done something that warrants an apology to another person or persons.

Community Service: Depending on the nature of the policy violation, students will be assigned to complete a specified number of hours with a local service agency.

Educational Follow up: After a period of time, the student is required to meet with the hearing officer to reflect on their policy violation(s) and discuss if and how their behavior has changed since sanctions were imposed.

Educational Presentation: The student is required to create and present an educational program, usually to peers, on a subject related to the policy violation.

Financial Restitution: The student is required to pay for damage caused to University property or personal property of another student.

Housing Relocation: A student is required to move from their current room assignment to another residential community.

Housing Termination: When a student’s Lease Agreement is terminated, the student must remove all personal belongings from the assigned room by the effective date. The student is responsible for the full cost of the residence hall space for the remainder of the semester in which the termination occurs. Housing prepayments for the following academic year also may be forfeited according to established cancellation deadlines. In addition to termination of the Lease Agreement, the student may be banned from entering any on campus residence hall. Unless otherwise noted, this ban includes non-residential areas included within the confines of a residential complex, including, but not limited to, fitness centers, dining centers, mail rooms, study spaces, and community centers.

Loss of Privileges: For a period of time, the student loses specific privileges such as visitation (i.e., the ability to host guests).

No Contact: For a period of time, students are not permitted to contact each other.

Parent/Guardian Notification: The hearing officer sends a letter regarding the policy(ies) the student was found responsible for violating to the student’s parent(s) or guardian(s).

Probation: During the probation period, the student is on notice that involvement in any further incidents may or will result in more severe sanctions, including, but not limited to, housing termination, suspension, and/or expulsion.

Reflection Paper: The student is required to write a personal reflection regarding their behavior and lessons learned that will be applied to future behavior. The hearing officer provides the student with guidelines and a required submission date.

Warning: A warning is written notification that the student’s behavior was not consistent with University policy.

Residential Education Seminars: Residential Education Seminars help students learn about the behavior that is expected of them in the residence halls. The seminars are not intended to be punitive or to serve as “busy work”. Conducted by Housing staff members, the seminars are offered throughout the semester and students are expected to register for the first available seminar that fits their schedule. During the seminar, students who are disruptive or inattentive will be dismissed, must register for another seminar time, and may be subject to additional sanctions. Students may be assigned to one of the following Residential Education Seminars:

Fire Safety Seminar: In this interactive seminar, students will learn about residence hall fire safety policies, the rationale behind the policies, and how to make more informed decisions about living on campus and fire safety.

Community Values and Ethical Decision Making Seminar: In this interactive seminar students will explore their personal values, Auburn’s community values – as expressed in the Auburn Creed – and a framework for making sound, ethical decisions.

Tiger Education Screening Intervention (TESI): Facilitated by staff from Health Promotion and Wellness Services, TESI is an educational intervention designed to help students make better decisions regarding their use of alcohol and/or other drugs to reduce their risk for substance related harm. There is a $125 attendance fee for each student required to complete this sanction.

Housing staff will contact a student’s parents or legal guardians when a student is found responsible for violations of the Residence Hall Alcohol Policy. Parents and guardians will only be contacted regarding alcohol related incidents when the student is under the age of 21 at the time of the incident. Read more about the policy on parent notification of alcohol and drug incidents.

A written report regarding conduct violations will be filed in Student Conduct for seven years after which they are destroyed. This information is considered confidential. Access to these records will be limited as indicated by applicable law and university policy as outlined in the Student Policy handbook.

The student may request a final review a decision of a Housing staff member and/or sanction(s). The student will receive a link to the review request form in their outcome letter. The review request form must be submitted within three business days of the decision of the Housing staff member. Failure to submit the review request form within three business days will render the Housing staff member’s decision final and conclusive. The final reviewer is usually a Housing senior leader.

Reviews requests must address one of the following conditions:

  1. A procedural error so substantial that the student did not receive a fair treatment during the conduct process
  2. Significant information has become available that was not available previously for the original review
  3. The decision was completely unsupported by the information gathered by the case
  4. The sanction was arbitrary or grossly disproportionate to the violation(s)

Upon receipt of a properly filed review request, the final reviewer may do one or more of the following:

  • Review the record and render a written decision to the student
  • Request that the original case reviewer provide clarifying information about their decision and then render a written decision to the student
  • Meet with the student to discuss the incident and/or appeal and render a written decision to the student

The final reviewer has the option to uphold, dismiss, or amend the Housing staff member’s decision and/or sanctions. The decision of the final reviewer is final and conclusive.

Last modified: May 16, 2023