Student Judicial Committee members accept the essential responsibility to enforce, further develop, and foster community standards at Oklahoma State University. The Student Judicial Committee is made up of a minimum of 30 members: 10 students, 10 faculty, and 10 staff.
The students, faculty and administration of OSU have all come together to form an academic community where learning can be enhanced. To maintain this community, its members have established standards of acceptable behavior in the form of a conduct code. This conduct code was developed within the framework of University Policies and external laws that govern the community’s relationship with local, city, county, state and federal authorities.
When students enroll at OSU, they voluntarily choose to associate with the University. When they become members of the academic community, they not only accept certain rights, but they also take on certain responsibilities. These responsibilities may involve the limitation of some individual freedoms for the common good of the entire community. Every student has responsibility for maintaining the citizenship standards of the OSU community and for protecting the rights of other members in this community. The committee's task is to balance the needs and interests of the University community and individual students or student organizations in cases involving student behavioral misconduct.
The Committee adjudicates student non-academic misconduct and responsibilities include the following:
1. Student disciplinary cases in which suspension or expulsion from the University for conduct reasons is a possibility;
2. Unusual student disciplinary cases in which the student is adamant about his/her position, or believes that the hearing officer is biased, or for whom the hearing process in itself would be a valuable educational experience;
3. Greek group discipline cases in which suspension of the group from the University is a possibility; and
4. Student discrimination grievance hearings.
For a given hearing, a panel of two faculty, one staff, and two students is drawn. A faculty member, designated by the Vice President for Student Affairs, serves as the chair of the hearing panel.
Committee members are expected to attend a general orientation covering the general legal and procedural issues regarding student discipline. In addition, members are asked to participate in specialized sessions covering such topics as hazing, sexual misconduct, discrimination issues, sexual harassment, and alcohol/drug issues. Mock Hearings and additional training sessions will be scheduled to prepare members to serve on a hearing panel.
In order to accommodate the majority of panel members, training sessions are generally scheduled either from 2:30 – 4:30 or 3:00 to 5:00 on Thursdays or Fridays.
Hearings generally last anywhere from one to three hours. The primary way we will communicate with you is through e-mail. Normally, our graduate assistant, Matthew Sullivan, will e-mail to ask about your availability for a hearing and then schedule you. Your task is indeed important and critical to ensuring that community standards are recognized and followed at Oklahoma State University.
If you are interested in serving on the Student Judicial Committee, please contact Tawny Taylor at 744-5470 or tawny.taylor@okstate.edu.
Student Judicial Committee Student Application Form