The purpose of the student conduct system is to promote honesty, fairness, respect, and accountability within the university community and to provide a fair and effective mechanism for resolving situations in which a student (or group) is alleged to have violated the standards or policies of the university.

All reports of student behavior may be submitted to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. Staff within the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards will determine the most appropriate means by which to handle a report. Resolutions may include an Administrative Conference, Adaptable Resolution, Administrative Hearing or Conduct Board Hearing.

Any alleged violation of university policy is within the scope of the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards. If the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards determines that another office is more appropriate to handle the situation, the case may be referred to that office. The student conduct system is an educational process and is separate and distinct from a court of law. As such, the student conduct system is not subject to the same rules of procedure nor standard of evidence as a court of law. Additionally, the student disciplinary process described does not constitute contractual rights.

Organization

  • The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards is designated to oversee the conduct system for undergraduate students for allegations of academic and non-academic misconduct matters under the Duke Community Standard, excluding misconduct alleged under Duke's Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment, and Related Misconduct (PPDHRM). The Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) is the designated office to oversee the process and procedures for all Title IX, sexual misconduct, and gender-based harassment allegations under the PPDHRM.
  • When the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards receives reports alleging sexual misconduct, a Dean of Students representative will contact the complainant to outline support options and inform the complainant about their option to contact the Office of Institutional Equity for more informations on the OIE procedures to review, evaluate, investigate, and resolve allegations under the PPDHRM.
  • Hearing officers are designated by the Office of Student Conduct & Community Standards to resolve disciplinary matters through informal or formal disciplinary resolution.
  • The Conduct Board (CB) is designated to resolve formal disciplinary matters that involve complicated circumstances, serious infractions of university policy, and/or repeated misconduct. The CB is comprised of students, faculty, and staff. Consideration shall be given to the appointment of a board reflective of the population of the university community.
  • The Appellate Board considers appeals of students/groups found responsible and sanctioned through a panel hearing of the Conduct Board, and/or complainants in harassment-related cases. The Vice President/Vice Provost for Student Affairs appoints  the chair and other members of the Appellate Board, consisting of faculty, staff, and students.
  • Community Standard Advisors are available to assist students/groups through the conduct process. Advisors include students and staff who have been trained and are familiar with the conduct system. Students may request a Community Standard Advisor by sending an email to conduct@duke.edu.

Scope

  • The university may respond to any complaint of behavior that occurred within a student’s career, from application to graduation and will endeavor to resolve all pending conduct matters prior to graduation. In certain circumstances, the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards may not be able to resolve all pending conduct matters prior to a student's graduation date.
  • Any student is subject to disciplinary action. This includes students who have matriculated to, are currently enrolled in, are on leave from, or have been readmitted (following a dismissal) to programs of the university.
  • The accused (also referred to as the respondent) may also be a cohesive unit of the university, such as a living group, athletic team, or other recognized organization.
  • The university reserves the right to respond to any report of alleged misconduct on or off campus.
  • Student group leaders most directly responsible may be held accountable for acting as an accomplice through action or negligence to the commission of prohibited acts at a group- identified event.
  • In cases of alleged policy violations by a student enrolled in a joint degree program or interdisciplinary coursework within Duke, each school or unit (the home unit and the host unit) may have a stake in the adjudication. Thus, an ad hoc process shall be developed and an ad hoc panel may be formed with representatives from both institutions/units to handle the case. The outcomes may be different for each school or unit.
  • For students doing inter-institutional coursework at other institutions, whether domestic or international, or for visiting students enrolled in classes at Duke, the home and the host institutions should confer and decide the process to be followed, which may include combined or separate elements. The outcomes may be different for each institution.
  • The Office for Institutional Equity (Smith Warehouse, Bay 8, 919-684-8222) receives reports and handles complaints alleging Title IX sexual misconduct for students, staff, faculty, and all other non-Duke students, as well as complaints alleging discrimination and harassment by any member of the Duke community (including students), under the Duke Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct (PPDHRM).

Outside the Scope

  • Issues that are outside the scope of the Office of the Student Conduct and Community Standards at Duke University includes but it is not limited to landlord and/or civil, financial disputes.
  • Any allegations covered under Title IX regulations and Duke's PPDHRM

Frequently Asked Questions

You've probably clicked on this page because you have been documented (or "written up" as many students say) by a Resident Assistant. Or perhaps you've had an interaction with Duke Police and been told that a report of what happened is being forwarded to the dean's office. Maybe you have been accused by another student of engaging in inappropriate conduct. Or, maybe one of your faculty members has accused you of cheating on an exam or plagiarizing a paper.  If you are seeking information about a sexual misconduct incident, please review Procedures for Responding to Sex-Based Harassment Reports and Complaints Involving Student Complainants or Student Respondents to learn more.  

Whatever your situation, this page is designed to help you identify resources available to give you more information about what happens next, your rights under the university's disciplinary process, and other information available to make you best prepared to respond to an inquiry of your alleged behavior. Please note that there is no assumption that you are responsible for any allegation made against you; rather, the presumption is that there is no violation of university policy unless you accept responsibility for the allegation and/or the threshold for a finding of responsibility of a violation is met ("preponderance of the evidence").

Preparing for your Administrative Hearing

If you are contacted for an administrative conference or hearing, you will be invited to meet one-on-one with a University staff member that serves as a Hearing Officer regarding your alleged involvement in the reported behavior. The University staff member is interested in hearing your perspective on what may have happened and will discuss with you how the matter might be resolved. For more information, please click the Administrative Hearing link.

Preparing for your Conduct Board Hearing

You may have received a letter stating that the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards is launching an in inquiry into your role in (a) possible violation(s) of university policy. The letter outlines the situation in question, the date it occurred, and the applicable university policy that pertains to this incident. For more information, review the Conduct Board page.

Resources

Support. A student may seek advice from anyone he/she wishes. If a student has been charged criminally, we recommend that the student seek professional legal advice. The North Carolina State Bar has resources to help find an appropriate licensed attorney.

For students going through the university's conduct process, the use of community standards  advisors -- staff and students trained specifically in helping students through the on-campus process -- is strongly encouraged.

A student, though, may bring any advisor with him/her to a hearing before the Conduct Board, but the advisor must be a member of the university community (current faculty, staff, or student)]. Experience has shown that students who tap into the services of the university's trained peer advisors are well-prepared for a hearing and have a much better experience. 

Possible Outcomes. What can happen to you if you are found responsible for a policy violation? Learn about outcomes.

Disciplinary Records. Become familiar with how violations of university policy are recorded and kept on file here.

There are a number of steps you can take as an instructor to cultivate and sustain a climate of academic integrity in your course.

Let students know the extent to which collaboration is permitted and the degree to which resources may be used in completing assignments. 

A good rule of thumb is that students will interpret more liberally than you intend in deciphering what acceptable rules for collaboration and outside resource use are.  Therefore, be as granular as you can-- perhaps with explicit examples from your course-- for acceptable parameters. Also, be explicit about what happens in terms of grading if a student is academically dishonest in your class-- will the student fail the assignment at issue?  Fail the course? 

Tips to Promote Academic Integrity in the Classroom

On the Written Syllabus

  • Include the text of the Academic Dishonesty Policies
  • Set expectations for academic integrity in all aspects of the course
  • Provide specific guidelines for collaboration
  • Note standards for use of data, electronic translators, etc, specific to your discipline

In the Classroom

  • Be a role model (cite sources in lectures, etc.)
  • Highlight issues of academic integrity through ongoing discussion
  • Require students to write and sign a pledge on all assignments that their work was completed honestly
  • Instruct about proper research techniques, including note-taking strategies and citation methods
  • Inform students of such resources as the Writing Studio, Academic Resource Center Learning Consultations, reference texts, websites, etc.
  • Thank students for their honesty in taking an exam as you pass it out.  Research suggests that "priming" students in this regard reduces instances of dishonesty.
  • Have students put all electronic devices (including watches) in their bag off to the side of the room/their desk during an exam.  While most classrooms have a clock, it is a good idea to periodically announce (or write visibly) the time and how much time is left for the exam.  
  • Give different versions of an exam (even as simple as reordering questions) to reduce opportunities for looking on another's test during the exam.
  • If you give students an opportunity to submit a request for a re-grade, scan the exams prior to returning them-- and better yet, tell students that you do so.  This not only reduces student temptation to change answers, but also makes it easy to identify should it occur.

Should you encounter potential academic dishonesty in undergraduate courses, please complete this form. The OSCCS will be in touch with you within three business days to discuss the allegation and advise on next steps.

It is imperative that faculty/instructors follow through on each and every possible instance of academic dishonesty encountered? Yes! Why?

  • To ensure consistency of response across departments 
  • To protect faculty/instructors by ensuring due process 
  • To verify that a student has no prior incidents 
  • To identify resources for students who may need assistance.  Academically dishonest behavior may indicate an (additional) signal that a student has other underlying issues motivating the behavior. 
  • As a gauge for evaluating the academic integrity climate on campus. 

Read more about our policies regarding Academic Dishonesty. For more information about the Faculty-Student Resolution (FSR), a one-time adaptable resolution process, for eligible undergraduate students regarding cases of academic dishonesty, please read the Faculty Student Resolution Page.

Welcome to our graduate and professional students!

The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards is responsible for responding to allegations of misconduct in which an accused student is an undergraduate (for social and/or academic misconduct), and for graduate students who are accused of sexual misconduct or hate/bias-related misconduct.  

Do you wish to report student misconduct? You may do so by completing an incident report. The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards will follow-up with you and determine the most appropriate means of resolution.

Are you serving as an instructor or teaching assistant? Encounter academic dishonesty? Call us at 919-684-6938 or email us to discuss how to address it.

Graduate & Professional students volunteer to serve as members of the Conduct Board. If you may be interested in serving as a hearing panelist on the Conduct Board, reach out to conduct@duke.edu.

Welcome to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards! If you are navigating to this page, chances are you never thought that your son or daughter's Duke experience would include an interaction with our office. Students interact with our office in a myriad of ways. Your student may have been selected to serve as an intern with our office. Interns gain diverse experience in helping to establish campus behavior norms, serving as hearing panelists or community standard advisors, educating the campus community, and much more. This part of our website is designed to help answer some of the questions you may have about our disciplinary process and give you information that can help you best support your student.

First, we recognize that our students (like all of us) make mistakes. Sometimes this involves the consumption of alcohol. Other times it may involve a rash decision made at a late hour while writing a term paper. The competitive environment at Duke, in which students want to excel both academically and personally (i.e., be socially accepted and liked by their peers) can sometimes lead to decisions and behaviors that students later regret. Through our conduct process, we hope to help students learn where they could have made different decisions and offer them strategies for making better choices should they face a given situation again.

The expectations (or policies) we have in place for our students flow from the philosophy of the Duke Community Standard, which is the university's honor code. As you know from your own experience, actions carry consequences. This is no different at Duke. When students are found responsible for violating a university policy, they may face a set of outcomes. This may include community service, disciplinary probation, reflection papers, and, sometimes, separation from Duke, either for a period of time (suspension) or permanently (expulsion). These are not consequences that we take lightly. We recognize that any sanction imposed upon a student is a burden. However, we also feel strongly that our process and sanctions play an important role in a student's education at Duke -- not just for here in the Duke community, but in life beyond Duke.

We encourage students to talk with their parents immediately upon finding themselves in a tough situation that may involve violation of a university policy. Parents of students under the age of 21 will be notified of alcohol-related disciplinary violations and/or when a student's health or safety has been/is at risk (including when a student is granted "amnesty"). We require students to inform their parents about what happened and then ask their parents to follow up with us with a phone call. We have found that students are often fearful to talk with their parents about their situation because of the reaction they think they will receive. While you will understandably be concerned about what may have happened, you will undoubtedly want to show support to your student. Listen to their perspective. Encourage them to accept responsibility for the role they played in a situation. And show that you still stand behind them.

A common reaction from parents is that their student could not have possibly engaged in the behavior of which they are accused. Or, at worst, the behavior of their son or daughter was unintentional and simply a mistake. We strive for a fair and thorough process in determining the extent to which a student was involved in a situation. Intent -- or lack thereof -- is most often not considered in a determination of responsibility, but in a determination of the sanctioning. We have high expectations for our students, and this includes seeking appropriate help when facing a difficult decision (for example, not turning in a paper and seeking an extension from an instructor versus making the decision to cut and paste from a source on the Internet).

So what if your student faces disciplinary action, including separation from the university? How does this impact his or her record or chances of gaining admission into a graduate/professional program? Parents have many questions about how disciplinary action may affect their child's future. Please feel free to explore our pages to learn more.

What if you want to intervene on behalf of your student? Sometimes the best support you can provide -- and the most growth-enabling for your student -- is to support him or her while they work with university processes to resolve the situation at hand. Of course, we are happy to address questions or concerns you may have, but we encourage you to speak with your student to exchange information firsthand. Feel free to contact us at Conduct@duke.edu or call us at 919-684-6938.

The university hopes that students will keep their parents informed of their lives at Duke. The Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards will not routinely contact parents when their student has violated university rules. Parents may also be contacted by Trinity College or the Pratt School of Engineering if a student is suspended as a result of a disciplinary infraction. 

FERPA

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), 20 U.S.C § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99, is a federal law that guides the release of students’ education records, of which disciplinary records are a part. Generally, the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards will not disclose information about a student without consent from the same student.  Duke University adheres to a policy of compliance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. The policy (1) permits students to inspect their education records, (2) limits disclosure to others of personally-identifiable information from education records without students' prior written consent, and (3) provides students the opportunity to seek correction of their education records where appropriate.  You can find out more about Duke’s obligations pursuant to FERPA here:  https://registrar.duke.edu/student-records-resources/ferpa.  For additional information about FERPA, see www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/ferpa/index.html. 

Current or former students may be asked to self-report their disciplinary history as part of an application process.  Most often this occurs in the admissions process for transferring to another institution; seeking admission to law school, medical school, and some MBA programs; and, when applying to work for the federal government or sensitive industries.  You may be required to give Duke University permission to release your disciplinary record as part of your application. 

If you are applying for admission to a state bar and that state has an online form for Duke to complete, send the request to complete to the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards Authorization to Release Form. 

If you do not have a form that has as part of it a signed release giving Duke permission to release this information; and, you no longer have access to your Duke email account from which you can email your request, you must complete this Authorization to Release Form.

Note that disciplinary records are maintained by the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards and kept in accordance with FERPA. Individual disciplinary records are kept on file until a student graduates or three years from the date of the student’s matriculation (whichever occurs first), except in cases resulting in suspension or expulsion, in which disciplinary records are kept indefinitely.

We will respond to the questions asked on the form.  If you need a generic letter describing your disciplinary history, please complete the Authorization to Release Form. If we no longer have any information on file for a student, we will send a letter stating that we are unable to confirm or deny that the (former) student/alumnus has a record.

Our intent with these letters is not to prevent students/alumni from achieving whatever goals they may have. We will place any incidents noted on the disciplinary record in context and describe the university response. If students had an isolated incident during their time at Duke, with no further disciplinary actions, we will note that.

It is critically important for students/alumni to be honest in sharing information about their disciplinary history.  Perhaps the worst thing one can do is minimize or even lie about an incident in which one was involved. Often, a student's forthrightness about an incident, and an explanation of what the student has learned from the incident, can be a plus factor for a student.

The letter below is sent with Dean's Certification forms. It details the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards policy for reporting students' disciplinary histories.

Duke Undergraduate Disciplinary Record Reporting Policy

Have questions? Feel free to contact us at Conduct@duke.edu or 919-684-6938.