Student Code

This policy applies to all students at Golden Gate University.

Questions concerning the Student Code should be forwarded to the Dean of Student Affairs. Alleged violations of the Student Code should be brought immediately to the attention of the Dean of Student Affairs. The University reserves the right to suspend or dismiss a student for violation of its policies or regulations or for conduct inimical to the best interest of the University or to other students in attendance.

Golden Gate University exists to prepare students for successful professional careers. As members of the academic community, educators and students are encouraged to develop the capacity for critical judgment and to engage in a sustained and independent search for truth. Freedom to teach and freedom to learn are inseparable facets of academic freedom. The freedom to learn depends upon appropriate opportunities and conditions in the classroom, on the campus, and in the larger community. As members of an academic community, educators, staff members and students should exercise this freedom with responsibility.

To promote teaching, learning, research, and service, and to maintain an environment conducive to the intellectual and personal development of its students, Golden Gate University expects reasonable conduct by every student who is a member of its community. To further these objectives, and to recognize students as members of the Golden Gate University community, the University has adopted the following.

1. Golden Gate University does not discriminate, within the meaning of applicable law, on the basis on race, color, national origin, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disabled veteran status or Vietnam Era veteran status in employment, in its educational programs, or in the provision of benefits and services to its students.
2. Students shall be evaluated according to stated course objectives and requirements, not on personal or political beliefs.
3. Students have the right to express reasoned and non-disruptive exception to information presented or views offered in any course. However, they are responsible for learning the content of courses and for demonstrating stated competencies for courses and programs in which they enroll.
4. Students are responsible for maintaining standards of academic performance established for each course in which they enroll.
5. The educator-student relationship within a learning environment is confidential, and disclosure of a student's personal or political beliefs expressed in connection with course work will not be made public without the explicit permission of the student.
6. Students shall be informed of all rules, rates, and regulations deriving from contractual arrangements with the University before signing any such contracts.
7. Students will be secure against any unreasonable invasion of privacy, search, or seizure, but are responsible for compliance with all University regulations.
8. Students are free to use University facilities for meetings of registered and officially recognized organizations, subject as to time and manner governing the facilities.
9. Students' records may be released only according to the provisions of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Public Law 93-380.
10. Students are free, individually or in association with other individuals, to engage in non-university-sponsored activities, provided they do not purport to represent the University.
11. Students will have their views and welfare considered in the formation of University policy. They will be consulted or represented on University councils and committees that affect them as members of the University community.
12. Students are free to assemble, to demonstrate, to communicate, and to protest, recognizing that freedom requires order, discipline and responsibility and further recognizing the right of faculty, staff, administration, and other students to pursue their legitimate goals without interference.
13. Students will be exempt from disciplinary action or dismissal from the University except for academic ineptness, lack of reasonable progress, failure to pay University debts, or violation of student or University rules and regulations.
14. Students are free to be present at the University and to attend classes pending action on criminal or civil charges, except reasons relating to their physical or emotional safety and well-being, or for reasons relating to the safety and well-being of students, faculty, staff, or University property. Students are subject to local, state, and federal statutes.
15. All members of the University community have the responsibility to conduct themselves in a way that does not violate the rights, property, and freedoms of others.
16. Students have the right to establish and maintain duly-constituted governments, associations, and organizations.
17. The membership, policies, and actions of a student organization usually will be decided by vote of those persons who hold bona fide membership in the University community.
18. Affiliation with an extramural organization will not of itself disqualify a student organization from institutional recognition.
19. Student organizations are free to choose their own advisers; institutional recognition will not be withheld or withdrawn solely because of the inability of a student organization to secure an advisor. Advisors may advise organizations in the exercise of responsibility and should not control the policy of such organizations.
20. Student organizations, including those affiliated with an extramural organization, are open to all students without respect to race, creed, or national origin.
21. Students and student organizations are free to examine and discuss all questions of interest to them, and to express opinions publicly and privately. They are free to support causes by orderly means that do not disrupt the regular and essential operation of the University. However, such actions and expressions do not represent the University, but belong to the students or student organizations.
22. Students may invite and hear speakers of their own choosing provided the routine procedures for securing events and activities are followed and the sponsoring student or student organization make clearly that the views expressed by the speaker does not necessarily imply approval or endorsement of the views expressed, either by the sponsoring group or by the University.
23. Editorial freedom in student publications and media shall be governed by the following guidelines.

• Students shall be governed by the canons of responsible journalism, such as the avoidance of libel, indecency, undocumented allegations, attacks on personal integrity, and the techniques of harassment and innuendo.
• The student press shall be free of censorship and advance approval of copy. Editors shall be free to develop their own editorial policies and news coverage.
• All University published and/or financed student publications should explicitly state on the editorial page that the opinions there expressed are not necessarily those of the University or the student body.
• Editors shall be protected from arbitrary suspension and removal because of student, faculty, staff, administrative or public disapproval and editorial policy or content. Only for proper and stated causes shall editors be subject to removal and then by orderly and prescribed procedures and by that proper agency responsible for their appointment.

Definitions

1. The term "University" means Golden Gate University.
2. The term "student" includes all persons taking courses at the University (full-time, part-time, non-degree, and unclassified or those pursuing undergraduate, graduate, or professional studies). Persons who are not officially enrolled for a particular trimester but who have a continuing relationship with the University are considered "students."
3. The term "faculty member" means any person hired by the University to conduct classroom activities.
4. The term "University official" includes any person employed by the University, performing assigned administrative or professional responsibilities.
5. The term "member of the University community" includes any person who is a student, faculty member, University official or any other person employed by the University. The Dean of Student Affairs will decide whether a person is a member of the University community and in what manner a person is categorized for purposes of such incidents that fall under the Student Hearing and Appeal System.
6. The term "University premises" includes all land, buildings, facilities, and other property in the possession of or owned, used, or controlled by the University.
7. The term "organization" means any number of persons who have complied with the formal requirements for University recognition.
8. The term "judicial body" means any person or persons authorized by the Dean of Student Affairs to decide whether a student has violated the Student Code and to recommend imposition of sanctions.
9. The term "judicial advisor" means a University official authorized on a case-by-case basis by the Dean of Student Affairs to impose sanctions upon students found to have violated the Student Code. The Dean of Student Affairs may authorize a judicial advisor to serve simultaneously as a judicial advisor and the sole member or one of the members of a judicial body. Nothing shall prevent the Dean of Student Affairs from authorizing the same judicial advisor to impose sanctions in all cases.
10. The term "appeals board" means any person or persons authorized by the Dean of Student Affairs to consider an appeal from a judicial body's determination that a student has violated the Student Code or from the sanctions imposed by the judicial advisor.
11. The term "shall" is used in the imperative sense.
12. The term "may" is used in the permissive sense.
13. The Dean of Student Affairs is that person designated by the University President to be responsible for the administration of the Student Code.
14. The term "policy" is defined as the written regulations of the University as found in, but not limited to, the Student Code, the Student Handbook, the University Bulletin, regional campus publications, and program handbooks.
15. The term "academic dishonesty" is the failure to maintain academic integrity. It includes both cheating and plagiarism.
16. The term "cheating" is the act of obtaining or attempting to obtain, or helping in obtaining, credit for academic work through any dishonest, deceptive, or fraudulent means. It includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying, in part or in whole, from another student's test or other evaluation instrument; use of any unauthorized assistance in taking quizzes, tests, or examinations.
• Submitting work previously presented in another course, unless specifically authorized by the course instructor.
• Using or consulting during an examination sources or materials not authorized by the instructor.
• Altering or interfering with grading or grading instructions.
• Obtaining or giving aid, in writing or orally, on an examination, unless specifically authorized by the instructor.
• Obtaining unauthorized prior knowledge of an examination.
• Doing work for another student or having one's work done by another person.
• Any other act committed by a student in the course of his/her academic work that defrauds or misrepresents, including aiding or abetting in any of the actions defined above (see Policy on Academic Honesty).

1. The term "plagiarism" is intentional or negligent presentation of another person's idea or product as one's own. It includes, but is not limited to:

• Copying verbatim all or part of another person's written work without proper citation or attribution.
• Paraphrasing ideas, theories, cases, conclusions, or research without proper attribution.
• Using equations, charts, figures, illustrations, or mathematical or scientific solutions without citing the source.
• Representing as one's own the original ideas (theories, models, principles, etc.), phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or parts thereof, or the specific substance of another person's work without giving appropriate credit.
• Representing another person's scholarly works, computer programs, case studies or artistic works as one's own.

Judicial Authority

1. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs shall determine the composition of judicial bodies and appeal boards and determine which judicial body, judicial advisor, and/or appeal board shall be authorized to hear each case.
2. The Associate Dean of Student Affairs shall develop policies for the administration of the judicial program and procedural rules for the conduct of hearings that are not inconsistent with provisions of the Student Code.
3. Decisions made by a judicial body and/or judicial advisor shall be final, pending the normal appeal process.
4. A judicial body may be designated as arbiter of disputes within the student community in cases that do not involve a violation of the Student Code. All parties must agree to arbitration, and to be bound by the decision with no right of appeal.

Proscribed Conduct

Jurisdiction of the University - Generally, University jurisdiction and discipline shall be limited to conduct which occurs on University premises or which adversely affects the University Community and/or the pursuit of its objectives.

Conduct (Rules and Regulations) - Any student found to have committed the following misconduct is subject to the disciplinary sanctions outlined in Article IV:

1. Acts of dishonesty, including but not limited to the following:
2. Cheating, plagiarism, or other forms of academic dishonesty.

2. Furnishing false information to any University official, faculty member or office. 3. Forgery, alteration, or misuse of any University document, record, or instrument of identification. 4. Tampering with the election on any University-recognized student organization.

1. Disruption or obstruction of teaching, research, administration, disciplinary proceedings, other University activities, including its public-service functions on or off campus, or other authorized non-University activities, when the act occurs on University premises.
2. Physical abuse, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation, harassment, coercion and/or other conduct that threatens or endangers the health or safety of any person.
3. Attempted or actual theft of and/or damage to property of the University or property of a member of the University community or other personal or public property.
4. Hazing, defined as an act that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a student, or which destroys or removes public or private property, for initiation, admission into, affiliation with, or as a condition for continued membership in, a group or organization.
5. Failure to comply with directions of University officials or law enforcement officers acting in performance of their duties and/or failure to identify oneself to these persons when requested to do so.
6. Unauthorized possession, duplication or use of keys to any University premises or unauthorized entry to or use of University premises.
7. Violation of published University policies, rules, or regulations.
8. Violation of federal, state or local law on University premises or at University sponsored or supervised activities.
9. Use, possession or distributions of narcotic or other controlled substances, except as expressly allowed by law (see policy on Alcohol and Other Drugs).
10. Use, possession, or distributions of alcoholic beverages except as expressly allowed by the law and University regulations, or public intoxication (see policies on Alcohol and Other Drugs and Serving Alcohol and University-sponsored/Hosted Events).
11. Illegal or unauthorized possession of firearms, explosives, other weapons, or dangerous chemicals on University premises. Participation in a campus demonstration that disrupts the normal operations of the University and infringes on the rights of other members of the University community; leading or inciting others to disrupt scheduled and/or normal activities within any campus building or area; intentional obstruction that unreasonably interferes with freedom of movement, either pedestrian or vehicular.
12. Obstruction of the free flow of pedestrian or vehicular traffic on University premises or at University-sponsored or supervised functions.
13. Conduct that is disorderly, lewd, or indecent; breach of peace; or aiding, abetting, or procuring another person to breach the peace on University premises or at functions sponsored by, or participated in by, the University.
14. Theft or other abuse of technology/computer time, including but not limited to:

• Unauthorized entry into a file, to use, read, or change the contents, or for any other purpose.
• Unauthorized transfer of a file.
• Unauthorized use of another individual's identification and password.
• Use of computing facilities to interfere with the work of another student, faculty member or University official.
• Use of computing facilities to send obscene or abusive messages.
• Use of computing facilities to interfere with normal operation of the University computing system.
• Unauthorized use of facsimile machines, media equipment, phone equipment (including voicemail).

1. Abuse of the judicial system, including but not limited to:

• Failure to obey the summons of a judicial body or University official.
• Falsification, distortion, or misrepresentation of information before a judicial body.
• Disruption or interference with the orderly conduct of a judicial proceeding.
• Institution of a judicial proceeding knowingly without cause.
• Attempting to discourage an individual's proper participation in, or use of, the judicial system.
• Attempting to influence the impartiality of a member of a judicial body before, and/or during, the judicial proceeding.
• Harassment (verbal or physical) and/or intimidation of a member of a judicial body before, during, and/or after a judicial proceeding.
• Failure to comply with the sanction(s) imposed under the Student Code.
• Influencing or attempting to influence another person to commit an abuse of the judicial system.

Violation of Law and University Discipline

1. If a student is charged only with an off-campus violation of federal, state, or local laws, but not with any other violation of this Code, disciplinary action may be taken and sanctions imposed for grave misconduct that demonstrates flagrant disregard for the University community. In such cases, no sanction may be imposed unless the student has been found guilty in a court of law or has declined to contest such charges, although not actually admitting guilt (e.g., "no contest" or "nolo contendere").
2. University disciplinary proceedings may be instituted against a student charged with violation of a law that is also a violation of this Student Code, for example, if both violations result from the same factual situation, without regard to the pendency of civil litigation in court or criminal arrest and prosecution. Proceedings under this Student Code may be carried out before, simultaneously with, or following civil or criminal proceedings off campus.
3. If a violation of law that also would be a violation of this Student Code is alleged, proceedings under this Student Code may go forward against an offender who has been subjected to civil prosecution only if the University determines that its interest is clearly distinct from that of the community outside the University. Ordinarily, the University should not impose sanctions if public prosecution of a student is anticipated, or until law enforcement officials have disposed of the case.
4. When a student is charged by federal, state or local authorities with a violation of law, the University will not request or agree to special consideration for that individual because of his or her status as a student. If the alleged offense is also the subject of a proceeding before a judicial body under the Student Code, however, the University may advise off-campus authorities of the existence of the Student Code and of how such matters will be handled internally within the University community. The University will cooperate fully with law enforcement and other agencies in the enforcement of criminal law on campus and in the conditions imposed by criminal courts for the rehabilitation of student violators. Individual students and faculty members, acting in their personal capacities, remain free to interact with governmental representatives as they deem appropriate.