Internal Review Policy

Purpose

The Columbia College Student Code of Conduct states that students should “fulfill their obligations through honest and independent effort and integrity in academic and personal conduct.” Columbia College has adopted a policy and procedure that is to be used when dishonesty is suspected and that is based on the Student Code of Conduct. This policy and procedure is in place to ensure that students are complying with college expectations and federal regulations governing the honest and ethical completion of documents and forms related to admission, financial aid and federal and/or state support.

Scope

This policy applies to all students at Columbia College.

Policy

It is understood that in a community of scholars committed to truth, dishonesty and/or fraudulent behavior is a violation of the code of ethics by which we live and is therefore considered a serious offense subject to strong disciplinary actions. Violations of the Student Code of Conduct as related to this subject include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Knowingly furnishing false or misleading information.
• Falsification, alteration or misuse of college forms or records, or willfully aiding another in a similar act.

Internal Review Procedures

The Columbia College Internal Review Office will begin a review of an individual’s account when a college official has reason to believe that there has been a violation of the Student Code of Conduct as it relates to the honest and ethical completion of documents and forms which are not academic course work.

The investigator, or other appropriate college official, who suspects that an individual has violated the Student Code of Conduct will conduct a review of student records and information to determine if there is incorrect or inappropriate information within the record.

• The investigator, or other appropriate college official, will inform the student that a review is being conducted.
• During this investigation there will be a restriction placed upon the account under review. This restriction prevents the individual from registering for courses and prevents disbursement of any future financial aid funds.
• Columbia College reserves the right to leave this restriction in place on an account until all requested documents have been provided by the individual.

If it is determined that the individual under investigation is found to have not violated the Student Code of Conduct as it relates to the honest and ethical completion of documents and forms which are not academic course work, the restriction may be removed from their account. At this point, the matter will be dropped.

Violations of the Student Code of Conduct fall under the student conduct process, which is not a court of law and therefore does not use the same evidentiary standard for disciplinary procedures. The preponderance of evidence standard will be used in all student conduct cases to determine what most likely happened. View additional information regarding the student conduct process.

The investigator, or other appropriate college official, will notify the Office of Student Conduct in writing of the determination and recommendation.

The Office of Student Conduct will review the determination and recommendation and choose to either uphold or reassess the provided recommendation.

The Office of Student Conduct will notify the individual of the outcome of the review and the ability to appeal the outcome.

• If the student is not satisfied with the outcome of the review, the Dean for Student Affairs should be contacted within three (3) business days of the notification.
• The Dean for Student Affairs or designee will review the request and determine if there are sufficient grounds for reconsideration of the decision and notify all parties of the final outcome.

The investigator, or other appropriate college official, will notify and refer the case to the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General per U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General guidance.