Your Student Life: When Student Conduct is Trying to Reach You

September 17, 2024

You just received a letter from Student Conduct. You do not remember anyone saying you were in trouble or having any run ins with Ohio State University Police…what do you do now? 

First, take a deep breath and relax. Student Conduct reaches out to students, faculty and staff for many reasons other than violations of the Code of Conduct. In fact, most of the outreach that comes from the office is sent to witnesses of incidents or reporters of code violations. 

Next, read the letter carefully. The initial e-mail from Student Conduct will require you to sign in using your OSU credentials to view the encrypted message. This ensures that your privacy is protected from others who may attempt to view your FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act) protected information. You will have access to this letter for 30 days. 

Be mindful of the deadline listed in the letter. Most letters from Student Conduct include a request to meet with a staff member within a certain number of days of notice being sent. The letter will contain booking information for the Student Conduct staff member who requested to speak with you. Follow the bookings link to set up an appointment prior to the deadline. (Please note, you do not need to have participated in a preliminary meeting by the deadline, only followed through with the direction to schedule the meeting.)  

If you do not schedule a meeting by the deadline or communicate a reason for the delay with the investigator, they may move forward in the process without you. If you are being called into the meeting as respondent to allegations, this could lead to your Ohio State account being placed on hold until you have followed through with directives. 

The goal of the preliminary meeting is to learn more about what you witnessed or reported. By the time the preliminary meeting has been scheduled, the investigator has likely already received any police reports or incident reports regarding the incident, but your experience and perspective are necessary for important context. Just share your perspective to the best of your ability. 

While preliminary meetings are not meant to be contentious, some people feel more comfortable attending with an advisor. While not required, Student Conduct encourages students to utilize an advisor if they would feel more comfortable. The only prerequisite for an advisor is that they must not be an involved party in the case already. Parents, attorneys, mentors and more are welcome. Please share information on the role of an advisor in the conduct process with your chosen advisor prior to the meeting. 

For general information about the student conduct process or to submit an incident report, please visit the Student Conduct website. If you have received a letter from Student Conduct and have specific questions about your case, please reach out to the staff member’s contact information listed in your notice.

 

Student Conduct
Office of Student Life