This procedure should be read in line with the Conduct Regulations. Where there is any doubt, the Conduct Regulations take precedence.
This Procedure will normally apply to alleged incidents of serious misconduct between two or more students of the University. The University reserves the right to vary the procedure as and when circumstances warrant such a deviation.
This procedure can be used by QUB students and members of staff. Members of the public or external organisations may raise allegations of misconduct against QUB students; however it will be for the University to decide how it will deal with these allegations. Where the University decides to invoke the Conduct Regulations, there shall be no further involvement on the part of the member of the public or external organisation in this procedure, beyond raising the allegations. Members of the public and external organisations will not be advised of the outcomes of any conduct investigation, cannot challenge University decisions and cannot participate in the provisions set out in this Procedure.
It is necessary that all parties feel able to engage fully with the procedure without concern for the wider sharing of information disclosed within the investigation process. Following the conclusion of the procedure, those involved may discuss their personal experience of the procedure with others. However, regardless of the outcome, parties should not identify or provide details that might identify any individual involved in the investigation. This does not constitute a non-disclosure agreement.
1. Definitions
1.1 In this Procedure:
- A student or member of University staff who brings an allegation of misconduct against another student shall be referred to as “the Reporting Person”.
- A student against whom an allegation of misconduct is brought shall be referred to as “the Responding Student”.
- Serious misconduct may relate, but is not limited, to behaviour set out at section 6.2 of the Conduct Regulations. Definitions and examples of sexual misconduct, and bullying and harassment are set out at section 2.
- A student or member of staff who submits an appeal under section1.1 or 10.1.2 of this Procedure shall be referred to as “the Appealing Person”.
2. Serious Misconduct
2.1 As set out at section 6.2 of the Conduct Regulations, Serious Misconduct may include allegations of sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment, discrimination and hate crime.
2.2 Sexual Misconduct
2.2.1 Sexual misconduct includes on and off-campus conduct, as well as actions through social media. Sexual misconduct is defined as follows:
Any unwelcome behaviour of a sexual nature that is committed without consent or by force, intimidation or coercion. Sexual misconduct can be committed by a person of any gender and it can occur between people of the same or different gender. Such behaviour will usually also constitute a criminal offence.
2.2.2Sexual misconduct may be committed in person and also by letter, email, text or by postings on social media sites. This list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive and other forms of behaviour may be regarded as sexual misconduct. Examples of sexual misconduct include the following:
- Sexual intercourse or engaging in a sexual act without consent.
- Attempting to engage in sexual intercourse or a sexual act without consent.
- Sharing private sexual material of another person without consent.
- Kissing without consent.
- Touching inappropriately without consent.
- Inappropriately showing sexual organs to another person.
- Making unwanted remarks, suggestive sounds or gestures of a sexual nature.
- Visual displays of posters, graffiti, pictures or other offensive material.
- Spreading rumours about another person’s sexuality, name-calling or jokes about sex or gender.
The University considers that any student who has been the victim of an incident of sexual misconduct should consider reporting the incident to the Police. The University will support the student to do so; however, the decision whether or not to make a report to the Police rests with the student concerned.
2.3 Bullying / harassment
2.3.1 Harassment includes causing another person alarm or distress. Harassment on grounds of gender (including gender re-assignment), race, religion or belief, political opinion, disability, sexual orientation or age may also breach the University’s Equality and Diversity Policy if it involves discrimination against an individual in the way they are treated in relation to the provision of services, including teaching and supervision, assessment, progression and award and support services. Harassment may also breach other legislation, for example Equality legislation or Health and Safety legislation.
2.3.2 Although harassment normally implies that there have been several incidents of unwanted behaviour, students may also raise concerns relating to a single incident and should do so if the behaviour of the other person is serious.
2.3.3 Many forms of behaviour can constitute bullying and/or harassment; the list below is neither exclusive nor exhaustive and other forms of behaviour may be regarded as harassment:
- Oral or written derogatory remarks, jokes, insults, offensive language, gossip and slander. Written harassment includes, but is not limited to, letters, emails, postings on websites and texts.
- Visual displays of posters, graffiti, obscene gestures, flags, bunting, pictures, emblems or any other offensive material (including the use of email or mobile devices to send or view such material).
- Physical conduct ranging from the invasion of personal space to serious assaults.
- Offensive, malicious or insulting behaviour, open aggression, threats, shouting.
- Persuading someone to do something against their will or better judgment by using force, threats, duress or undue influence.
- Intrusion by pestering, spying, following and/or repeatedly following another person without good reason.
- Subjecting another person to unwanted conduct which has the purpose or effect of violating that person’s dignity or humiliating, intimidating or undermining that individual or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
- Unjustifiable exclusion e.g. withholding information, isolation or non-co-operation of colleagues, exclusion from classroom and social activities.
- Misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient.
3. Raising Allegations of Serious Misconduct Against a Student
3.1 A Reporting Person, member of the public or external organisation may formally raise allegations of serious misconduct against a student by contacting the relevant University department and/or the Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Team.
3.2 Reporting Persons are recommended (where possible) to complete and submit the Formal Statement of Allegations Form. In line with regulation 6.1 of the Conduct Regulations, the Reporting Person should (as far as possible) submit all of their supporting evidence (including witness statements and any other evidence (e.g. police evidence) that the Reporting Person obtains) when raising the allegations. The University is not obliged to seek out additional information/evidence to support a case against a Responding
3.3 The University recognises that it may not always be possible or appropriate for a Reporting Person to complete and submit the Formal Statement of Allegations form, given the sensitive nature of alleged serious misconduct. In order to support a Reporting Person to make a report of serious misconduct should they chose to do so, a brief summary of the alleged serious misconduct, together with the names of the Responding Student(s) and any witnesses, can be provided to the University, in place of the Formal Statement of Allegations form.
3.4 Upon receipt of the brief summary of the alleged serious misconduct, the Reporting Person will be invited to an information gathering meeting, normally with a member of University staff or with an external investigator who has been trained in trauma informed interviewing.
3.5 The meeting record of the information gathering meeting will be sent to the Reporting Person for approval following the meeting, and this record, together with the initial brief summary of the alleged serious misconduct, will form the basis of the Reporting Person’s allegation of misconduct to the University.
4. Triage Process
4.1 Upon receipt by the University of an allegation of misconduct, it may be necessary to triage the allegation to determine whether the allegation of misconduct should be considered under the Serious Misconduct Procedure, or the Standard Misconduct Procedure. In such circumstances, the Student Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Manager (or nominee) and the Head of Academic Affairs (or nominee) will triage the allegation. Matters to consider at triage will vary depending on the allegation and will include determining the appropriate University procedure under which to progress the allegation. The decision is made on the basis of the evidence presented at the time, where only the opinion of the Student Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Manager (or nominee) and the Head of Academic Affairs (or nominee) will suffice.
5. Screening Process for Allegations of Serious Misconduct
5.1 Where:
- a Formal Statement of Allegations Form is submitted; or
- where a brief summary of the alleged serious misconduct is submitted, and the record of the information gathering meeting as noted at section 3.5 has been agreed, and it is not clear that sufficient evidence has been presented to warrant investigation under the Conduct Regulations, the case will be sent to a Screening Panel for consideration.
5.2 The Screening Panel, comprising two senior members of University staff (which may include two members of staff from Academic Affairs), will consider the allegation and supporting evidence and will determine either:
- That the evidence presented is sufficiently compelling to warrant investigation, and which University regulations or procedure should be followed; or
- That the evidence presented is not sufficiently compelling to warrant investigation.
5.3 The decision of the Screening Panel may relate to the entirety of the allegation(s) of misconduct, or to specific elements of the allegation(s) only.
5.4 If the Screening Panel determines that the evidence presented is not sufficiently compelling to warrant investigation, the allegation and supporting evidence will be reviewed by the Review Panel, comprising two senior members of University staff, who will either confirm or overturn the screening decision. No further documentation will be accepted at this stage and the decision of the Review Panel shall be final. The decision is made on the basis of the evidence presented at the time, where only the opinion of the Review Panel suffices.
5.5The decision of the Review Panel will be communicated to the Reporting Person within eight working days of the decision being made. The outcome letter will explain the reasons for the decision and will advise that there is no further internal right of appeal; signposting to their right to submit a complaint of maladministration in the procedure to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) within six months of notification of the final decision.
5.6 Where the final decision is that the allegation(s) of serious misconduct will not be investigated, and where deemed appropriate, the Responding Person will be notified accordingly.
6. Informal Resolution
6.1 As per regulation 7 of the Conduct Regulations, and in accordance with the Informal Resolution Procedure, where it is deemed appropriate, or where it is sought by the Reporting Person, an informal resolution to the allegations of misconduct raised may be reached. This may include a Future Conduct Requirement between the Reporting Person and the Responding Student e.g. to minimise any contact. The University acknowledges that in cases of serious misconduct, informal resolution may only be appropriate in a very small number of cases.
7. Investigation Process
7.1 An Investigating Officer will be appointed by the Director of Academic Services (or nominee) as appropriate. Normally, this appointment will be made within ten working days of receipt of the Formal Statement of Allegations Form / summary of the alleged serious The Investigating Officer may be a member of University staff, or may be an external investigator, contracted by the University to carry out an investigative service.
7.2 The Investigating Officer should consult with the Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Team with regards to:
- Setting the parameters and timescales for the investigation; and
- Providing guidance on the application of the Conduct Regulations and Procedure under which the investigation is being conducted.
7.3 The Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Team is not involved in decision making as regards establishing a finding of guilt/imposing a penalty but rather will provide a supportive service for the Investigating Officer in these cases.
7.4 The Investigating Officer shall initiate an investigation into the allegations This will normally include the examination of all relevant documentation and evidence submitted by both the Reporting Person and Responding Student. The Investigating Officer is not obliged to seek out additional information / evidence to support or challenge a case against a Responding Student.
7.5 The Reporting Person and the Responding Student will be informed that they should not make contact with each other during the course of the investigation unless otherwise instructed by the Investigating Officer. Guidance on how to mitigate any potential contact will be provided to both parties through a Future Conduct Requirement. Further interim measures may be implemented as deemed
7.6 The Investigating Officer will normally meet with the Reporting Person and/or any named witnesses. The Responding Student will be required to meet with the Investigating Officer. The individual invited to meet with the Investigating Officer will be notified of the date and time of this The meeting invitation will explain the purpose of the meeting. Meetings may be carried out by telephone, face-to-face, or remotely.
7.7 The order of meetings will be at the discretion of the Investigating Officer, but will normally be as follows: (i) Reporting Person, (ii) any witnesses identified by the Reporting Person if deemed appropriate, (iii) Responding Student (iv) any witnesses identified by the Responding Student if deemed appropriate.
7.8 The Responding Student will be notified of the alleged serious misconduct offences that have been raised against them, including the standard penalties for each offence.
7.9 In advance of the meeting with the Investigating Officer, the Responding Student will be provided with:
- A copy of the Conduct Regulations; and
- Details of the alleged incident(s) giving rise to the allegation(s) of misconduct. This may include but is not limited to relevant details regarding the alleged incident(s) giving rise to the allegation(s) of misconduct such as date(s) and times of the alleged incident(s), the location(s) of the alleged incident(s), name(s) of individual(s) involved in the alleged incident(s).
7.10 Following the meeting with the Investigating Officer, the Responding Student will be provided with:
- A redacted copy of the Formal Statement of Allegations form or redacted copy of the meeting record with the Reporting Person (as appropriate); and
- Any additional documentation or evidence submitted by the Reporting Person, including witness statements, or records of investigating meetings with witnesses as appropriate.
7.11 The Investigating Officer will set a deadline for the Responding Student to provide a response to the allegations raised; this includes collating and presenting all evidence (including witness statements) in support of their Documentation submitted after this deadline, without good cause and/or prior approval for the delay, may not be considered.
7.12 Should the Reporting Person and/or Responding Student include witness statements within their investigation submission, the witnesses will be required to confirm the accuracy of the statement and will be advised that their name and the details of their statement will be disclosed to the Reporting Person and Responding Student. If a witness does not confirm the accuracy of their statement, it will not be used in evidence. In confirming the accuracy of their witness statement, the witness confirms that they are content for their statement to be included and shared as part of the investigation. Student witnesses may be asked to adhere to a Future Conduct Requirement and will be advised of the potential consequences of failing to respect the confidentiality of the process.
7.13 Where deemed appropriate by the Investigating Officer, the Responding Student may, through the Investigating Officer, put questions to the Reporting Person or to any witness. Such questions must be submitted in writing to the Investigating Officer, and must not be made directly to the Reporting Person from the Responding Student.
7.14 Reporting Persons, Responding Students and any witnesses who meet with the Investigating Officer, will be sent a copy of the record of the meeting and provided with the opportunity to identify any inaccuracies in the record.
7.15 Once the Investigating Officer has concluded their investigation, the Investigating Officer will make a written report of their findings to the Conduct Officer, providing copies of all supporting evidence.
8. Conduct Officer Process
8.1 The Conduct Officer may consult with the nominee of the Director of Academic Services in accordance with regulation 2 of the Conduct Regulations.
8.2 If on consideration of the Investigating Officer’s report, the Conduct Officer requires additional information prior to making a decision on the case, the Conduct Officer will refer the case back to the Investigating Officer for further investigation. Where the Conduct Officer identifies a separate misconduct offence which the Responding Student has not previously been notified about, the matter will be referred back to the Investigating Officer for investigation of that misconduct offence. This may result in a referral under the Standard Misconduct Procedure.
8.3 After consideration of the Investigating Officer’s report, the Conduct Officer will make a decision in line with regulation 8.2 of the Conduct Regulations.
8.4 Both the Reporting Person and the Responding Student will be advised of the decision of the Conduct Officer, along with a rationale for the decision by email to their University email accounts normally within eight working days of the decision being made. The Responding Student will also be provided with a copy of the investigation report. Where the Reporting Person has confirmed that they are content to receive it, they will also be provided with a copy of the investigation The decision of a Reporting Person not to receive the Investigation Report cannot subsequently be used as grounds to appeal the decision of the Conduct Officer.
8.5 Where the decision of the Conduct Officer is that a serious misconduct offence has not been committed, the Reporting Person will be advised of their right to appeal the decision to the Conduct Committee (section 9.5.1).
8.6 In cases relating to multiple allegations of serious misconduct, where the Conduct Officer finds that some offences have not been committed and that in relation to others, there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate that they have been committed, the Reporting Person will be advised of their right to appeal the relevant elements of the Any appeal by the Reporting Person will be considered by the Conduct Committee prior to the Conduct Committee considering the referral made under regulation 8.2(i) of the Conduct Regulations.
9. Conduct Committee
9.1 When convened, the Conduct Committee will normally consist of three senior members of University staff and a Students’ Union Sabbatical At all meetings of the Conduct Committee, three members shall constitute a quorum.
9.2 Where the Responding Student is studying at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, membership of the Conduct Committee will also include one member of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland and one member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland nominated by the Council of Legal Education.
9.3 Member(s) of the Academic Services Directorate shall normally act as Secretary to the Conduct The Secretary shall be responsible for:
- Oversight of the administration of the Committee’s proceedings;
- Circulating any written submissions and other relevant documents ahead of and during the Committee meeting;
- Drafting and (once approved) circulating Committee outcome letters; and
- Producing minutes as a formal record of the Committee meeting.
9.4 Referrals to Conduct Committee in Serious Misconduct Cases
9.4.1 If the Chair of the Committee considers the circumstances warrant it (e.g. the facts of the case are not contested), they may deal with the case summarily (on the paperwork alone).
9.4.2 Where it is not appropriate to deal with the case summarily, the Responding Student will be required to attend the next available Conduct Committee meeting, and will be given five working days’ notice of the date, time and venue of the meeting.
9.4.3 The Responding Student will be provided with copies of the documentation to be considered by the Committee, and will be informed of the Committee membership.
9.4.4 The Reporting Person will not be required to attend the Committee meeting.
9.4.5 The Conduct Officer (or nominee) will normally attend the Committee meeting to explain the reason for their The Responding Student and Conduct Officer (or nominee) shall each be present while the other is speaking. The Committee meeting may continue in the absence of the Conduct Officer (or nominee).
9.4.6 Should the Responding Student fail to attend the Committee meeting without providing valid reason for their absence in advance, the Committee reserves the right to consider the case and make a decision on the basis of the paperwork alone.
9.4.7 The Responding Student will be permitted to submit any additional evidence in support of their case. The onus is on the Responding Student to collate and present this evidence at least two working days prior to the Committee meeting. Documentation submitted after this deadline, without good cause and/or prior approval for the delay, may not be considered.
9.4.8 If two or more students are alleged to have been involved in the same incident of serious misconduct, the decision may be taken to hear their cases A student may object to having their case heard with another student’s case.
9.4.9 The Conduct Committee will make a decision in line with regulation 9.1 of the Conduct Regulations.
9.4.10 The Responding Student will be advised of this outcome and a rationale for the decision by email to their University email account within eight working days of the decision being made. The Responding Student will be advised of their right to appeal to the Student Conduct Appeals Committee (see section 10.1).
9.4.11 The Reporting Person will be advised of this outcome and a rationale for the decision within eight working days of the decision being made. The Reporting Person will be advised of their right of appeal, as set out at section 10.1, as appropriate.
9.5 Appeal to the Conduct Committee in Serious Misconduct Cases
9.5.1 The Reporting Person shall have the right to appeal the decision of the Conduct Officer as set out at sections 8.5 and 8.6. Appeals must be submitted on the Serious Misconduct Appeal to Conduct Committee Form together with all supporting evidence to the Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Team (appeals@qub.ac.uk) within 10 working days of notification of the Conduct Officer Evidence submitted after the deadline may not be considered.
9.5.2 At the point that an appeal to the Conduct Committee is accepted, the Responding Student will be informed that an appeal has been made, along with the timeline to be informed of the outcome.
9.5.3 Where an appeal is made under section 9.3.3.2(ii) of the Conduct Regulations, and following review by the Student Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Manager (or nominee) and the Head of Academic Affairs (or nominee), it is clear that a procedural irregularity in the conduct of the investigation has occurred, and that this had a material effect on the investigation findings, making the decision of the Conduct Officer unsound, there will be no requirement for the Conduct Committee to consider the appeal. The matter may be immediately referred back to the original Investigating Officer for continued investigation in light of new evidence or a new investigation may be carried out by a different Investigating Officer or for elements of the investigation impacted by procedural irregularity to be carried out by a different Investigating Officer.
9.5.4 Late Appeals
9.5.4.1 As per section 14 of the General Provisions Relating to Academic Appeals, Conduct, Academic Offences, Student Complaints and Fitness to Practise, appeals received after the deadline will not normally be accepted. If the Reporting Person can demonstrate that they were unable to submit their appeal before the deadline due to circumstances beyond their control (e.g. hospitalisation), the appeal may be accepted. The Reporting Person must submit a written statement to this effect, along with any supporting evidence. This statement and any supporting evidence must be submitted at the same time as their appeal documentation, and should relate to the entire period from notification of the Conduct Officer’s decision until submission of the late appeal. Failure to submit this documentation will result in the late appeal not being accepted.
9.5.4.2 The statement and supporting evidence detailing the reasons for the late appeal will be considered by the Head of Academic Affairs (or nominee), who will determine:
- That the Reporting Person has evidenced sufficient cause for their late appeal to be accepted for consideration; or
- That the Reporting Person has not evidenced sufficient cause for the late appeal to be accepted for consideration, and the appeal will not progress.
9.5.4.3 The decision of the Head of Academic Affairs (or nominee) will be communicated to the Reporting Person within eight working days of the decision being made. In the case of the late appeal not being accepted for consideration, the outcome letter will explain the reasons for the decision and will advise that there is no further internal right of
9.5.4.4 The Reporting Person will be signposted to their right to submit a complaint of maladministration in the procedure to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) within six months of notification of the final decision.
9.5.5 Screening Process for Appeals
9.5.5.1 As per section 3.1 of the Conduct Regulations, where on receipt of an appeal, it is not clear that sufficient evidence has been presented to warrant consideration of the appeal, the case will be sent to a Screening Panel for consideration.
9.5.5.2 The Screening Panel, comprising two senior members of University staff, will consider the appeal and supporting evidence and will determine:
- That the evidence presented is sufficiently compelling and / or a sufficiently compelling case has been presented to warrant consideration of the appeal, and will advise which University regulations or procedure should be followed; or
- That the evidence presented is not sufficiently compelling and / or a sufficiently compelling case has not been presented to warrant consideration of the appeal.
9.5.5.3 If the Screening Panel determines that the evidence presented is not sufficiently compelling or that a sufficiently compelling case has not been presented to warrant consideration of the appeal, the appeal will be reviewed by the Review Panel, comprising two senior members of University staff, who will either confirm or overturn the screening decision. No further documentation will be accepted at this stage and the decision of the Review Panel shall be final. The decision is made on the basis of the evidence presented at the time, where only the opinion of the Review Panel suffices.
9.5.5.4 The decision of the Review Panel will be communicated to the Reporting Person within eight working days of the decision being made. The outcome letter will explain the reasons for the decision made and will advise that there is no further internal right of appeal.
9.5.5.5 The Reporting Person will be signposted to their right to submit a complaint of maladministration in the procedure to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) within six months of notification of the final decision.
9.6 Conduct Committee Meeting to Consider Appeal
9.6.1 Where it is considered that the evidence presented is sufficiently compelling, the Reporting Person will be invited to attend the next available Conduct Committee meeting.
9.6.2 The Conduct Committee will only consider the grounds for appeal submitted by the Reporting Person and will not carry out a re-hearing of the case.
9.6.3 Subject to section 9.6.5, the Reporting Person will be required to attend the Committee meeting, and will be given five working days’ notice of the date, time and venue of the meeting.
9.6.4 The Reporting Person will be provided with copies of the documentation to be considered by the Committee, and will be informed of the Committee membership.
9.6.9 The Reporting Person may request that the Conduct Committee deals with their case summarily (on the paperwork alone). However, the Chair of the Conduct Committee reserves the right to request additional information from the Reporting Person and/or the Conduct Officer (or nominee) or to require the Reporting Person to attend in person, should this be deemed necessary in order to make an informed decision on the case.
9.6.10 The Conduct Officer (or nominee) will attend the Committee meeting to explain the reason for their decision. The Reporting Person and Conduct Officer (or nominee) shall each be present while the other is The Committee meeting may continue in the absence of the Conduct Officer (or nominee).
9.6.11 Should the Reporting Person fail to attend the Committee meeting without providing valid reason for their absence in advance, the Committee reserves the right to consider the case and make a decision on the basis of the paperwork alone, or not to consider the case and to dismiss the appeal in its entirety.
9.7 Decision of the Conduct Committee
9.7.5 The Conduct Committee will make a decision in line with regulation 9.3.3.4 of the Conduct Regulations. The Reporting Person will be advised of this outcome and a rationale for the decision by email to their University account normally within eight working days of the decision being made.
9.7.6 The Responding Student will be informed of the decision of the Conduct Committee normally within eight working days of the decision being made, by email to their University email account.
9.7.7 The Reporting Person will be advised that there is no further right of appeal, and signposted to their right to submit a complaint of maladministration in the procedure to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) within six months of notification of the final decision.
10. Student Conduct Appeals Committee
10.1 Appeals to Student Conduct Appeals Committee
10.1.1 Where the Conduct Committee makes a decision in accordance with regulation 9.1.1(i) of the Conduct Regulations, the Responding Student shall have the right to appeal the decision to the Student Conduct Appeals Committee.
10.1.2 Where the Conduct Committee makes a decision in accordance with regulation 9.1.1(ii) of the Conduct Regulations, the Reporting Person shall have the right to appeal the decision to the Student Conduct Appeals Committee.
10.1.3 Students wishing to appeal must submit an Appeal to a Student Conduct Appeals Committee form and all supporting evidence to the Appeals, Conduct and Complaints Team (appeals@qub.ac.uk) within ten working days of the notification of the decision of the Conduct Committee. Evidence submitted after the deadline may not be
10.1.4 As per section 13 of the General Provisions Relating to Academic Appeals, Conduct, Academic Offences, Complaints and Fitness to Practise, appeals received after the deadline will not normally be accepted. Appeals to the Student Conduct Appeals Committee submitted after the specified deadline will be considered in line with the late appeals procedure detailed in section 9.5.4.
10.1.5 At the point that an appeal to the Student Conduct Appeals Committee is accepted, the other party will be informed that an appeal has been made, along with the timeline to be informed of the outcome.
10.2 Screening Process for Appeals to a Student Conduct Appeals Committee
10.2.1 As per regulation 1 of the Conduct Regulations, where on receipt of an appeal to the Student Conduct Appeals Committee, it is not clear that sufficient evidence or a sufficiently compelling case has been presented to warrant consideration of the appeal, the case will be sent to a Screening Panel for consideration. The case will be considered in line with the Screening Process for Appeals detailed in section 9.5.5.
10.3 Notice of Meeting of Student Conduct Appeals Committee
10.3.1 Where it is considered that the evidence presented is sufficiently compelling, and subject to section 10.4, the Appealing Person will be required to attend the next available Student Conduct Appeals Committee The Appealing Person will be provided with five working days’ notice of the date and time of this meeting. Prior to the meeting, the Appealing Person will be provided with a copy of the paperwork to be considered.
10.4 Request to Deal with Case Summarily
10.4.1 The Appealing Person may request that the Student Conduct Appeals Committee deals with their case summarily (on the paperwork alone). However, the Chair of the Student Conduct Appeals Committee reserves the right to request additional information from the Appealing Person and/or the Chair of the Conduct Committee (or nominee) or to require the Appealing Person to attend in person, should this be deemed necessary in order to make an informed decision on the case.
10.5 Student Conduct Appeals Committee Meeting
10.5.1 When convened, the Student Conduct Appeals Committee will normally consist of senior members of University staff (which may include a Pro-Vice Chancellor, Dean, senior member of Professional Services staff, Head of School, Director of Education), and a Students’ Union Sabbatical Officer.
10.5.2 Where the Appealing Person is studying at the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, membership of the Conduct Committee will include one member of the Inn of Court of Northern Ireland and one member of the Law Society of Northern Ireland nominated by the Council of Legal Education.
10.5.3 At all meetings of the Student Conduct Appeals Committee, three members shall constitute a quorum.
10.5.4 Member(s) of the Academic Services Directorate shall normally act as Secretary to the Student Conduct Appeals The provisions of section 9.3 shall apply in this regard.
10.5.5 The Chair of the Conduct Committee (or nominee) will normally attend this meeting to explain the reason for the decision, and to respond to the grounds of appeal. The Appealing Person and the Chair of the Conduct Committee (or nominee) shall each be present while the other is speaking. The Committee meeting may continue in the absence of the Chair of the Conduct Committee (or nominee), and the Chair of the Student Conduct Appeals Committee may seek a statement from the Chair of the Conduct Committee (or nominee) in advance of the meeting, if they are unable to attend.
10.5.6 The Student Conduct Appeals Committee will only consider the grounds of appeal submitted by the Appealing Person and will not carry out a re-hearing of the case.
10.5.7 Subject to section 10.4, should the Appealing Person fail to attend the meeting of the Student Conduct Appeals Committee without providing valid reason for their absence in advance of the meeting, the Committee reserves the right to consider the case on the paperwork alone or not to consider the case and to dismiss the appeal in its entirety.
10.6 Decision of the Student Conduct Appeals Committee
10.6.1 The Student Conduct Appeals Committee will make a decision in line with regulation 11.4.5 of the Conduct Regulations. The Appealing Person will be advised of this outcome and a rationale for the decision by email to their University account within eight working days of the decision being made. The Appealing Person will be advised that there is no further right of appeal and will be signposted to their right to submit a complaint of maladministration in the procedure to the Northern Ireland Public Services Ombudsman (NIPSO) within six months of notification of the final decision.
10.6.2 The other party will be informed of the outcome of the procedure, in accordance with section 3.3 of the Conduct Regulations.
11. Templates, Forms and Guidance
The relevant templates, forms and guidance can be found at: https://www.qub.ac.uk/directorates/AcademicStudentAffairs/AcademicAffairs/AppealsComplaintsandMisconduct/StudentConduct/