Colorado State Announces Disciplinary Actions
Colorado State University officials today announced that three students have been dismissed from the university and one student has been placed on probation after the first week of hearings following the recent disturbances in a neighborhood north of campus.
In addition to these decisions, the university also re- scheduled one student hearing for next week and a decision on disciplinary action against another student is pending.
Students dismissed from the university are barred from re- applying for a set period of time and also must meet conditions set by the hearing officer before re-applying. These conditions can include:
- Alcohol counseling, and alcohol abuse treatment if treatment is recommended;
- Community service in addition to any required by the court system; and
- Anger management counseling and treatment.
A student on probation must meet certain conditions to have that probationary status removed. If the student violates the terms of probation, the student can face additional disciplinary actions.
Mark Denke, assistant vice president for student affairs at Colorado State, said this week’s hearings represented the most serious of the cases involving students. He said there are five hearings set for next week, including one hearing that had been scheduled for this week. He said as many as 10 additional cases could be heard in the next two weeks. The university is announcing disciplinary actions in a group to ensure the privacy of those students involved and in adherence to strict privacy laws governing release of student information. Each student in the judicial process has a hearing before a hearing officer in the university’s judicial affairs office. The hearing officer’s decision can be appealed to a panel of three faculty members and two students.
"We have a hearing officer that listens to each of these cases one at a time, so we can ensure the university is acting appropriately," Denke said. "To dismiss a student is something that we don’t do lightly, so we work to make sure we take the time to understand the situation before rendering any decision."
Dismissal is different from expulsion in that an expelled student can never re-apply to the university. Expulsion is rare at Colorado State and is only used in extreme circumstances of student misconduct.