Administrative Hearing Process Information
Pre-Administrative Hearing Meetings
Pre-Administrative Hearing Meeting
The Pre-Administrative Hearing meeting is designed to educate students about the Bentley student conduct process prior to their Administrative Hearing with a Hearing Officer. A Pre-Administrative Hearing meeting is not mandatory and is intended to provide support and education about the conduct process to students prior to their mandatory Administrative Hearing. Once the Office of Student Conduct has determined that a student will have an Administrative Hearing for allegedly violating campus policy they will be sent an email with instructions for how to sign up for a Pre-Administrative Hearing meeting, as well as notified that a Hearing Officer will reach out separately to schedule the Administrative Hearing.
Pre-Administrative Hearings will be conducted by Student Conduct Assistants (SCAs), which are student employees in the Office of Student Conduct. SCAs are well-trained and experienced within the Office of Student Conduct as they help to staff the front desk in our office space, serve on the Student Conduct Board, and support all initiatives within the Office of Student Conduct. SCAs will explain the conduct process, answer questions a fellow student may have, explain campus policies and potential sanctions, and be able to refer questions to a student’s Hearing Officer/Office of Student Conduct.
**Information shared with SCAs is private but not confidential. SCAs will take notes during the meeting and all information will only be shared with the student’s Hearing Officer and the Office of Student Conduct**
Whether a student participates in a Pre-Administrative Hearing does not impact the decision of their conduct case. It is solely intended to support students through the conduct process and ensure they are successful by offering an opportunity to learn more about what to expect during the conduct process. The Office of Student Conduct encourages students to take advantage of this opportunity!
Administrative Hearing Process
Sanctions and General Policies (from Student Handbook)
Administrative Hearing
Administrative Hearing Process
In this process, the student meets with a Hearing Officer. The Hearing Officer will review the student’s rights, the alleged policy violations, read the incident report and allow the student time to share their perspective on the incident. In addition, the Hearing Officer may discuss other aspects of the student’s life, such as roommate issues, academics, and campus involvement to make any other appropriate referrals. There student has the right to make one of the two following choices in an Administrative Hearing:
- Admit responsibility to the alleged violation(s) and receive sanctioning from the Hearing Officer. (Students have 5 business days to appeal sanctions)
- Deny responsibility to the alleged violation(s) and request the case be sent back to the Office of Student Conduct for further review.
If the Hearing Officer finds the student not responsible for campus policy violations, then the case will be closed and no sanctions will be assigned. The record will remain on the student's conduct history but will show that they were not responsible for any campus policy violations.
In many cases, most students will meet with a single hearing officer to discuss the alleged conduct/alleged policy violation, and impact on the student and community. It is the administrative hearing officer’s responsibility to notify the student that an alleged violation has been filed, give a summary of the complaint, explain the conduct process to the student and either resolve the matter administratively or refer the case to the Office of Student Conduct. For the case to be resolved administratively, a student must freely admit to the alleged violation and request that the administrative hearing officer take appropriate action. Moreover, the administrative hearing officer must be of the opinion that the administrative process is the most effective means of resolving the case. If any of these criteria are not met, the administrative hearing officer will refer the case to the Office of Student Conduct. In any case, all records of conduct proceedings are kept within the Office of Student Conduct to be kept on file. Should the student fail to respond to the notification from the hearing officer or if the student fails to attend the scheduled administrative hearing, the case may be resolved in their absence at the administrative hearing. All information regarding the conduct process will be communicated via Bentley email. Appeals of decisions made by administrative hearing officers can be submitted via the ADVOCATE STUDENT PORTAL.
Hearing Officers
Hearing Officers are professional staff members within the Division of Student Affairs at Bentley University who are well-trained in adjudicating student conduct cases. Hearing Officers will coordinate the Administrative Hearing Process under the supervision and management of the Office of Student Conduct. Please see below for a list of Hearing Officers for the Administrative Hearing Process.
- John Piga, Associate Dean of Student Affairs, jpiga@bentley.edu
- Liz Humphries, Director of Student Development, Conduct, and Care, ehumphries@bentley.edu
- Anthony Majer, Assistant Director of Student Conduct, amajer@bentley.edu
- Justin Woodard, Director, Residential Center, jwoodard@bentley.edu
- Sabrina Cruz, Associate Director, Residential Center, scruz@bentley.edu
- Jeff Funk, Assistant Director of Housing Operations, Residential Center, jfunk@bentley.edu
- Alex Matos, Assistant Director, Residential Center, amatos@bentley.edu
- Otis Johnson, Assistant Director, Residential Center, ojohnson@bentley.edu
- Jared Berman, Assistant Director, Residential Center, jberman@bentley.edu
- Melissa Henriquez, Residence Director, Residential Center, mhenriquez@bentley.edu
- Brendan O'Connor, Residence Director, Residential Center, boconnor@bentley.edu
- Caitlyn Aborn, Housing Operations Specialist, Residential Center, caborn@bentley.edu
- Cole Taylor, Residence Director, Residential Center, coletaylor@bentley.edu
- Keliana Doyle, Residence Director, Residential Center, kelianadoyle@bentley.edu
- Joel Madru, Residence Director, Residential Center, jmadru@bentley.edu
Appeals Process
Appeals of conduct decisions must be made in writing, and must explain in detail the reason(s) for the appeal. In order for an appeal to be considered, an appeal must be submitted no later than five (5) working days from the date of the decision online via the ADVOCATE student portal.
A student may appeal the outcome of either the administrative hearing or the student conduct board hearing for one or more of the following reasons:
- There has been a failure of fair process
- New, relevant information that was unavailable at the time of the hearing
- The sanctions impose undue hardship
The appeals process is the final step a student may make in the conduct system. The decision rendered as to whether or not an appeal will be granted is final. If an appeal is denied, the student cannot appeal the decision for that case again. The student will be notified within a reasonable amount of time as to whether or not an appeal is granted.
Sanctions given by the administrative hearing officer or conduct board will stand until the decision on the appeal is made. If an appeal is granted, the case either will be resolved administratively or forwarded to the appropriate personnel. If the case is to be heard again, the student will be notified within a reasonable amount of time as to the date and time of the hearing. If the appeal is denied, the conduct process concludes.
For Title IX appeals, please review our Title IX policy.