When You Are Notified

How the Process Begins

Judicial procedures begin when a formal concern is filed with the Office of Community Standards (OCS) alleging that a Stanford student has violated the Honor Code, Fundamental Standard or other applicable university student conduct policies.

Notification

OCS typically notifies the responding student within a week of the formal concern being filed. The notification from OCS will provide information about the nature of the concern and next steps in the process.

Begin by reviewing the concern, the Overview of Judicial Panel Hearings for Responding Student presentation, and the Student Judicial Charter of 1997.

Meeting with the Judicial Advisor

Contact OCS to schedule an appointment with your assigned Judicial Advisor (JA) where you will review the judicial process and your rights therein. As a responding student, you should complete the Judicial Advisor Checklist before meeting with your JA. You are encouraged to ask the JA questions about the process in general and specifically as it relates to your situation.

Preparing Your Response and Documentation

Because memories can fade, a good first step is to write down everything you can recall about the incident described in the concern. 

For Honor Code concerns, keep all of your work from the class (e.g., notes, research, other work, exams, etc.).  Write down everything you can remember about how, when, where, and with whom you completed the work in question. Include information about potential witnesses (e.g., if the concern is about an in-class exam, try to remember where you sat, who sat around you, etc.).

Common Concerns

Advisers and Support Person(s)

You have a right to have a person of your choice (e.g., friend, family member, attorney, etc.) accompany you throughout the investigative and adjudicative process (i.e., to join you at any meetings or hearings).

Confidentiality

The Office of Community Standards is committed to maintaining students' confidentiality in judicial processes. One of the rights of the responding student is "to be assured that their identity and the circumstances of allegations against them will be kept confidential, except in specific circumstances identified in the bylaws of the Board on Judicial Affairs." Likewise, the Office of Community Standards has hearing accommodations available to protect the privacy of individuals who have brought forward a concern, to the greatest extent possible. Students with specific questions about the policies regarding confidentiality should talk with a Judicial Advisor.

The Office of Community Standards maintains a confidential file on cases that are found by a Judicial Panel, the Early Resolution Option (ERO), or Alternate Review Process (ARP) Reviewers and the Student Title IX Process to constitute a violation. Limited information pertaining to a student's disciplinary record may need to be disclosed without the student's permission under specific circumstances. Otherwise, the contents of this file are disclosed only with the student's signed consent. Additionally, the Charter stipulates that responding students have the right "to be assured that no record of any violation or alleged violation will be placed on their transcript. Where the sanction of an Honor Code violation is modification of a grade, no reference will be made to the cause of the grade change."