Student Code of Conduct

Student Code of Conduct

Highland Community College is committed to fostering a campus environment conducive to academic inquiry, a productive campus life, and thoughtful study and discourse. The Highland Community College Student Code of Conduct (hereinafter referred to as “the Code of Conduct” or “the code”) student conduct program within the Office of Student Conduct is committed to an educational and developmental process that balances the interests of individual students with the interests of the HCC community.

A community exists on shared values and principles. At HCC, student members of the community are expected to uphold and abide by certain standards of conduct that form the basis of the Code of Conduct. These standards are embodied within a collection of policies built upon Shared Performance Expectations.

Each member of the HCC community bears responsibility for their conduct and assumes reasonable responsibility for the behavior of others. When members of the community fail to exemplify these expectations by violation of the following rules, Student Conduct proceedings are used to assert and uphold the Code of Conduct.

The HCC student conduct process is not intended to punish students; rather, it exists to protect the interests of the community and to challenge those whose behavior is not in accordance with our policies. Sanctions are intended to challenge students’ moral and ethical decision-making and to help them bring their behavior into accord with our community expectations. When a student is unable to conform their behavior to community expectations, the student conduct process may determine that the student should no longer share in the privilege of participating in this community, however, taking away this privilege is never done lightly.

Students should be aware that the student conduct process is quite different from criminal and civil court proceedings. Procedures and rights in student conduct procedures are conducted with fairness to all, but do not include the same protections of due process afforded by the courts. Due process, as defined within these procedures, assures written notice and a hearing before an objective decisionmaker. No student will be found in violation of HCC policy without information showing that it is more likely than not that a policy violation occurred, and any sanctions will be proportionate to the severity of the violation and to the cumulative conduct history of the student. A student’s assigned official Highland Community College email is HCC’s primary means of communication with students. Students are responsible for all communication delivered to their HCC email address.

All HCC students are provided with a copy of the Student Code of Conduct annually in the form of a link on the College’s website. Hard copies are available upon request from the Vice President of Student Affair’s Office located on the first floor of the David Reist Administration Building.

GLOSSARY OF TERMS

  • Advisor means a person chosen by a party or appointed by the institution to accompany the party to meetings related to the conduct process, to advise the party on that process, and to accompany the party to the hearing, if any.
  • Day means any weekday (Monday – Friday) when the College is open.
  • Complainant means an individual who has alleged to have been impacted by conduct that could constitute a violation of this Policy.
  • Finding is a conclusion by the standard of proof that the conduct did or did not occur as alleged. A finding confirms that it took place.
  • Investigator means the person authorized by HCC to gather facts about an alleged violation of this Policy, assess relevance and credibility, synthesize the evidence, recommend findings, and compile this information into an investigation report.
  • Parties means the Complainant(s) and Respondent(s), collectively.
  • Preponderance of the Evidence Standard means whether the evidence supports that it is more likely than not that the Respondent violated the Policy as alleged.
  • Respondent means a student who has been reported to have engaged in conduct that could constitute a violation of this Policy.
  • Sanction means a consequence imposed on a Respondent who is found to have violated a policy.
  • Student means any individual who has accepted an offer of admission, or who is registered or enrolled for credit or non-credit bearing coursework, and who maintains an ongoing relationship with the College. 

 

Quick Links

Jurisdiction

The Student Code of Conduct and the student conduct process apply to the conduct of individual students, HCC affiliated-student groups, and HCC affiliated-student organizations. For the purposes of student conduct, the College considers an individual to be a student when an offer of admission has
been extended and thereafter if the student has a continuing educational interest in the College.

The College retains conduct jurisdiction over students who choose to take a leave of absence, withdraw, or have graduated for any misconduct that occurred prior to the leave. If sanctioned, a hold may be placed on the student’s ability to re-enroll and all sanctions must be satisfied prior to re-enrollment eligibility. In the event of serious misconduct committed while a student is still enrolled but reported after the accused student has graduated, the College may invoke these procedures and should the former student be found responsible, the College may revoke that student’s degree.

The Student Code of Conduct applies to behaviors that takes place on the campus, at HCC sponsored events and may also apply off-campus when the Dean of Students or designee determines the offcampus conduct affects a substantial HCC interest.2 A substantial College interest is defined to include:

  • Any situation where it appears that the student’s conduct may present a danger or threat to the health or safety of themselves or others; and/or
  • Any situation that significantly impinges upon the rights, property or achievements of self or others or significantly breaches the peace and/or causes social disorder; and/or
  • Any situation that is detrimental to the educational mission and/or interests of Highland Community College;


The code applies to online misconduct, via email, social media, or through other electronic means. Students should be aware that online postings are not always private and can be subject to allegations of conduct violations if evidence of policy violations is posted online. The College does not regularly search for this information but may act if and/or when such information is brought to the attention of HCC officials.

While most online speech by students not involving College networks or technology is protected as free expression and not subject to this Policy, two narrow exceptions exist when the conduct:

  1. constitutes a true threat,3 or
  2. is speech posted online about the College or its community members that causes a significant oncampus disruption to the mission or operations of the College.

Members of the HCC community are responsible for the behavior of their guests. If a guest’s behavior violates the code and/or other college policies, the community member will be held accountable. Visitors and guests of the College may seek resolution of violations of the Student Code of Conduct committed against them by members of the College community provided the behavior is within the jurisdiction of the College.

There is no time-limit on reporting violations of the HCC Student Code of Conduct; however, the longer someone waits to report an offense, the harder it becomes for HCC officials to obtain information and witness statements and to make determinations regarding alleged violations.

Anonymous complaints are permitted but they limit HCC’s ability to investigate and respond to a complaint. Those who are aware of misconduct are encouraged to report it as quickly as possible to via the Silent Witness Reporting Form or by calling Student Conduct at (785) 442-6093 and/or Campus Security at (785) 741-2206 or email security@highlandcc.edu.

2 Adapted, with gratitude, from Penn State University
3 For purposes of this Policy, "true threat" is defined as a threat a reasonable person would interpret as a serious expression of intent to inflict bodily harm upon specific individuals. 

Arrets and Violations of the law

Alleged violations of federal, state, and local laws may be investigated and addressed under the Code of Conduct. When an offense occurs over which the College has jurisdiction, the College conduct process will generally go forward notwithstanding any criminal complaint that may arise from the same incident.

HCC reserves the right to exercise its authority of interim suspension upon notification that a student is facing criminal investigation and/or complaint and objectively determines the action is necessary to prevent or remedy an ongoing or imminent significant danger of harm to the health, education, or safety of members of the campus community. This responsibility is taken seriously and with careful consideration of the impact on the student and the community. (additional grounds for interim suspension are outlined below).

Interim 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 Student Conduct and Compliance Officer to show cause why the interim suspension should be lifted. This hearing may resolve
the allegation or may be held to determine if the interim suspension should be continued. The interim suspension may be continued if a danger to the community is posed, and the College may be delayed or prevented from conducting its own investigation and resolving the allegation by the pendency of the criminal process. In such cases, the College 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. This delay will be no longer than two weeks from notice of the incident unless a longer delay is requested in writing by the complaining victim to allow the criminal investigation to proceed before the College process.

Students accused of crimes may request to take a leave from the College until the criminal charges are resolved. In such situations, the College procedure for voluntary leaves of absence is subject to the following conditions:

  • The responding student must comply with all campus investigative efforts that will not prejudice their defense in the criminal trial; and
  • The responding student must comply with all interim actions and/or restrictions imposed during the leave of absence; and
  • The responding student must agree that to be reinstated to active student status, they must first be subject to, and fully cooperate with, the campus conduct process and must comply with all sanctions that are imposed.


Working With Law Enforcement

HCC does not have a formal agreement with any law enforcement agencies. However, the College works with law enforcement agents as needed (or required by law), as determined by the appropriate HCC staff members, and in consideration of the totality of facts for a given situation. HCC staff may contact law enforcement agents for assistance with conduct issues but does not do so with the express purpose of acting as agents of the police, nor for the purpose of bringing criminal charges against any individual, though criminal charges may arise.

HCC will cooperate with law enforcement agents, including cooperation with the investigation and/or prosecution of criminal activities, but will do so within the confines of legal and ethical boundaries respective to individual rights and protections under both the U.S. and Kansas State Constitutions. In all
cases, HCC will maintain its autonomy, acting as its own agent in the interest of the institution’s mission/purpose and with respect for the needs and rights of its students.