Student Rights and Resources

We recognize that not all Students have an individual who can serve as an Advisor in the conduct process; therefore, they can seek out the assistance via:

• Osprey Student Conduct Advisors (OSCA), an agency of Student Government, provides free, trained advisors for students to gain peer assistance through the Student Conduct process. If you are interested in connecting with them, please contact OSCAdir@unf.edu or visit their website. All Advisor requirements through the Student Conduct process still apply when utilizing OSCA services.

• Student Conduct Advisors (faculty/staff/graduate students familiar with and trained in the Student Conduct Process).  To receive a list of available advisors, please email universityconduct@unf.edu. 

A Student can request a list of active Advisors via email, in-person, or over the phone. The Advisor can be included or excluded from the process in whatever ways the Student deems fit and will not serve in a decision-making capacity for the entirety of the Student's case. We believe the Student Advisor role is beneficial to any and all students; however we strongly recommend an Advisor to students who may feel intimidated by the process, want their questions answered before their Conduct Review, or have questions that were not answered on this website. Please note that advisors are not allowed to speak on your behalf.

Advisor Notification Form: Students are required to complete this form if they wish to utilize the assistance of an advisor. Please review the information carefully and submit at least five (5) days prior to your disciplinary hearing.

Advisor Confidentiality Agreement: An advisor must complete this form prior to accompanying a student to any meeting throughout the disciplinary process. 

Role of Advisor

The term “advisor” refers to any one person chosen by the respondent, alleged victim, or a witness to assist them throughout the disciplinary process. The term “advisor” includes an advocate or legal representative. An advisor may directly participate in all aspects of the proceeding, including the presentation of relevant information and questioning of witnesses, but may not testify. Any advisor serves at the requestor’s own expense and initiative. A person may not serve in this capacity if their service would unreasonably conflict with the fair administration of the disciplinary process, as determined by the Director of University Conduct, or designee. The advisor may not serve in any other role, including as a witness, an investigator, decider of fact, hearing officer, member of a committee or panel convened to hear or decide the charge, or hear any appeal.

Except in Sexual Misconduct cases, the University is not responsible for providing an advisor for anyone navigating the disciplinary process. It is the individual’s responsibility to make appropriate arrangements for their advisor to attend meetings, which will not be delayed due to scheduling conflicts of the chosen advisor.

Advisors may question witnesses and parties directly. Except in Sexual Misconduct cases, students without advisors will have the ability to question parties and witnesses indirectly by submitting their questions to the Hearing Administrator to facilitate. Should a student appeal their Conduct decision, the student may bring an advisor to the appeal hearing.

Rules of Decorum

Purpose of These Rules:

The University of North Florida is committed to fair, impartial, and equitable proceedings in determining responsibility for alleged violations of the University’s Student Code of Conduct. The University recognizes that the hearing and questioning process may be a difficult and potentially traumatizing experience for any person. These Rules of Decorum aim to allow the truth-seeking value and function of hearings while minimizing the discomfort or traumatic impact of answering questions about the potential violations. As a result, it expects all to adhere to these Rules. These Rules apply equally regardless of sex, gender, or other protected characteristics, and regardless of whether the individual is in the role of complainant, respondent, witness, advisor, or another participant.

Civility: 

1. Participants will refer to other individuals using the name and gender preferred by the person and shall not intentionally misname or misgender another. 
2. Participants may not talk over one another and must defer to and follow the order of presentation set forth by the Hearing Administrator. If an individual desires to speak outside of their turn, they should raise their hand and not speak until recognized. 
3. Participants may not harass others or act abusively or disrespectfully. 
4. Participants may not yell, threaten, intimidate, or physically encroach on another. 
5. Participants may not use profanity (unless describing conduct or speech that occurred) or resort to irrelevant ad hominem attacks.

Participation of Advisor: 

All advisors must behave in a professional manner. During cross-examination, an advisor must ask questions in a respectful manner. An advisor may not antagonize or mock a witness by asking insulting or derisive questions, continue with questions that that the decision-maker has determined to be irrelevant, or ask repetitive, cumulative questions. This includes questions to the individual that have already been asked by another participant. If an advisor asks a relevant question but in a manner that violates these Rules, the decision-maker may ask the advisor to ask the question in a respectful, non-abusive manner, or may ask the question directly of the individual. Relevant questions may not be deemed irrelevant simply because the manner of questioning violated these Rules. If there is a need to confer with an advisor, it should be done in a manner that is not disruptive to the proceedings. Upon request, a short recess may be taken if there is need for a conversation between a party and their advisor. Such recesses may not be abused to unduly delay or prolong a hearing. If an advisor is disruptive or otherwise fails to comply with these Rules, then they may be dismissed from the proceeding and the University will, at its discretion, appoint a replacement advisor or adjourn the proceeding to enable the party to obtain another advisor. For multiple, continual, or conspicuously offensive and intentional violations of this Rule, in one or more proceedings, advisors may be prohibited from participating in future proceedings at the institution in the advisor role on a temporary or permanent basis.

Consequences of Violations:

Generally, if a participant violates these Rules, they will first be given a warning. If they violate these Rules a second time, the proceeding will be adjourned for ten minutes, during which time the decision-maker will give the offender a second, final warning, and time to cool off. If the participant continues to violate these Rules after receiving a final warning, they will be removed from the proceeding, which may continue in their absence. In the event of an egregious violation (for example, a threat of physical harm), the offending individual may be immediately removed. The Hearing Administrator has sole discretion to determine whether the Rules have been violated and the consequence for a violation.

In addition to Student Advisors, we also partner with several campus resources to assist our students in navigating our process. A non-exhaustive list has been provided below, and we encourage students to explore these resources to understand how they relate to and are impacted by our office:

• General Counsel's Office
• Ombuds
• Care Services
• Victim Advocate
• Equal Opportunity and Inclusion
• Counseling Center
• Housing and Residence Life
• Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life
• UPD