Stephen F. Austin State University

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Student Conduct Code (D-34.1)

Original Implementation: January 1998
Last Revision: July 10, 2007

A student enrolling in the university assumes an obligation to conduct him/herself in a manner compatible with the university's function as an educational institution. To fulfill its functions of imparting and gaining knowledge, the university retains the power to maintain order within the university and to exclude those who are disruptive of the educational process. This code shall apply to any and all land owned or leased by the university, as well as to any location where a student is engaged in an officially recognized university activity. Examples of such coverage include, but are not limited to, university teams traveling to events off campus, classes attending field trips, distance learning and satellite locations, clinical settings necessary for academic programs, experimental stations, farms, Pineywoods Conservation Center and the university observatory.

Misconduct for which students and student organizations are subject to discipline falls into the categories below. Where such conduct also violates federal, state or local law, the student or student organization may be brought before the appropriate criminal and/or civil magistrate for adjudication while at the same time be subject to the disciplinary proceedings of the university. University proceedings may precede any actions taken by off-campus authorities. The determinations and any sanctions resulting from university disciplinary proceedings will be independent of any off-campus adjudication. The following list of possible acts is either prohibited by federal, state, or municipal law or by university rules or regulations.

1. Hazing
Also see Policy D-16, Hazing)

Stephen F. Austin State University is unequivocally opposed to any activity by an organization or individual(s) within the organization that is herein defined as hazing. Hazing is defined as any intentional, knowing or reckless act occurring on or off-campus by one person alone or acting with others, that endangers the mental or physical health or safety of a currently-enrolled or prospective student for the purpose of new member intake, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in that organization.

Hazing acts include but are not limited to:
1. any type of physical brutality such as whipping, beating, striking, branding, electronic shocking, placing a harmful substance on the body, or similar activity;
2. any type of physical activity such as sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, calisthenics or other activity that subjects the student to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the student;
3. any activity involving consumption of a food, liquid, alcoholic beverage, liquor, drug or substance which subjects the student to unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental health of the student;
4. any activity that intimidates or threatens the student with ostracism, that subjects the student to extreme mental stress, shame or humiliation or that adversely affects the mental health or dignity of the student or discourages the student from entering or remaining registered at the institution, or that may reasonably be expected to cause a student to leave the organization or the institution rather than to submit to the acts described in this policy;
5. any activity that induces, causes, or requires the student to perform a duty or task, which involves a violation of the Penal Code.
Any organization and/or any individual involved in any hazing activity will be subject to both university disciplinary sanctions and criminal prosecution. An offense is committed by (a) engaging in hazing; (b) soliciting, encouraging, aiding or directing another engaging in hazing; (c) intentionally, recklessly, or knowingly permitting hazing to occur, or (d) having first-hand knowledge that a specific hazing incident is being planned or has occurred and failing to report said knowledge in writing to the judicial officer.

It is not a defense to prosecution of an offense that the person against whom the hazing was directed consented to or acquiesced in the hazing activity.

Individual penalties relative to criminal prosecution range from a fine of $2,000 and 180 days in jail for failure to report a hazing incident to a fine of $10,000 and two years in jail for an incident which causes the death of a student. Further, an organization may be penalized with a fine up to $10,000 or double the expenses due to the injury, damages or loss.

Penalties relative to university sanctions range from probation to expulsion for any individual committing an offense. Student organizations committing an offense may be placed on university probation and are subject to withdrawal of university recognition.

Sanctioned Student Organizations

In compliance with state law, any student organization found responsible of hazing through regular university disciplinary procedures will be listed for three (3) years in any university publication containing the hazing policy. The three-year publication will begin as soon as an organization's name can be placed in the first available publication containing the policy. A date in parenthesis following an organization's name will indicate the last year the organization's name will be included.
2. Illegal Drugs


(Also see Policy D-19, Illicit Drugs and Alcohol Abuse)

It is the policy of Stephen F. Austin State University that any unlawful manufacture, possession, use or delivery of any controlled substance or illegal drug is strictly prohibited. Moreover, it is the policy of the state of Texas and of this university that this institution will be as free of illegal drugs as it can possibly be. Therefore, in accordance with state law and university policy, any student who is determined, through the regular disciplinary procedures of the university, to have violated this policy will be suspended from the university for no more than two years and no less than the remainder of the current semester. At the discretion of the vice president for university affairs, a student suspended under this policy may, under certain conditions, remain enrolled at the university on disciplinary probation for the remainder of the current or subsequent semester, pending in position of a suspension at a later date.
3. Committing any criminal offense or other unlawful act under any federal, state, or municipal law, including, but not limited to: a. arson; b. robbery; c. burglary; d. theft; e. disruptive activity; f. forgery; g. gambling; h. disorderly conduct; i. trespassing; j. possession of stolen property; k. unlawful use, possession, or storage of firearms or unlawful weapons on university property; l. entering or remaining on campus after withdrawal of consent to remain on campus; m. refusing to leave a university building closed to the public; n. possession of drug paraphernalia.
4. Unauthorized use, possession, or storage of explosives or ammunition on university property.
5. Causing physical or psychological harm, or causing reasonable apprehension of physical harm, to any person on university property or at university-sponsored activities. This includes, but is not limited to, phone harassment, verbal or written threats, and physical and sexual assaults.
6. Making or causing any false report, warning, or threat of fire, explosion, or other emergency on university property or at university-sponsored activities.
7. Interfering with fire, police or emergency service. This also includes failure to evacuate university facilities or willfully disregarding any emergency or fire alarm signal.
8. Misusing or damaging fire or safety equipment on university property.
9. Interfering with normal university or university-sponsored activities, including, but not limited to, studying, teaching, research, and university administration. Disruptions in classrooms or other instructional areas will be seen as interference with a university activity.
10. Violating the terms of any disciplinary sanction imposed in accordance with these policies.
11. Furnishing false information to the university.
12. Giving false testimony or other fraudulent evidence at any university disciplinary proceeding.
13. Unauthorized alteration or use of any university documents or records.
14. Failing to comply with the directions of a university official, including university police officers and residence hall staff, acting in the performance of their duties.
15. Violating any university policy, rule, or regulation. Such policies, rules, and regulations may include, but not be limited to, the residence hall contract, as well as those policies, rules, and regulations relating to the use of university facilities, handbills and petitions, solicitation, signs, guest speakers, and parades and demonstrations.
16. Interfering with the freedom of expression of others on university property or at university-sponsored activities.
17. Advocating, orally or in writing, the conscious and deliberate violation of any federal, state, or local law. For the purposes of this section, "advocacy" means preparing the group addressed for imminent action and steeling it to such action, as opposed to the abstract espousal of the moral propriety of a course of action.
18. Damaging, defacing, or destroying the property of others on university property or at university-sponsored activities.
19. Damaging, defacing, or destroying university property, including, but not limited to, buildings, statues, monuments, library and teaching materials, memorials, trees, shrubs, grasses, and flowers.
20. Wrongful utilization of university goods, services or information including, but not limited to, unauthorized possession or use of university keys, security codes, long distance phone access codes or calling cards, cable service and sale or use of university property for personal gain.
21. Improper use of student identification card (also see Policy F-27, Student ID Cards). This includes allowing use of card by another to obtain services such as, but not limited to meals, event admission, and library services.
22. Unauthorized or illegal use of alcoholic beverages (also see Policy D-19, Illicit Drugs and Alcohol Abuse) or products on university property or at university-sponsored activities, including, but not limited to, intercollegiate and intramural athletic events on university grounds and academic and administrative buildings. Housing policies dictate use of alcohol in residence halls and on-campus apartments.
23. Unauthorized use, possession, or storage of fireworks on university property.
24. Unauthorized throwing of any object in or from a university facility.
25. Littering on university property or at university-sponsored activities.
26. Unauthorized use of university computing equipment, services or facilities. Such unauthorized usage may include, but not limited to, improperly accessing or altering academic or administrative records, and/or information contained in an instructional or research account, harassment through e-mail, possession of unauthorized passwords, destruction of hardware or software, unauthorized copying of software, activities related to personal for-profit ventures unrelated to the educational mission of the university or illegal activities such as copyright infringement resulting from unauthorized file sharing.
27. The unauthorized use of the emergency exit doors of the university shuttle buses. (Use is authorized in an emergency endangering the life and safety of passengers and driver).
28. Sexual harassment by a student of any member of the university community as delineated in Policy E-46, Discrimination Complaints/Sexual Harassment, and Policy E-11, Discipline and Discharge, of the SFA Policy Manual on the SFA website.
29. Selling or distributing course lecture notes, handouts, readers or other information provided by an instructor, or using them for any commercial purpose without the express permission of the instructor.
30. Violating any rule, regulation, or law for which the university could be penalized including but not limited to fire, safety, or environmental codes.
31. Disrupting the normal university community living environment to the extent that the rights and/or safety of others are denied.

Cross Reference: Hazing (Policy D-16); Illicit Drugs and Alcohol Abuse (Policy D-19); Student ID Cards (Policy F-27); Digital Millennium Copyright (Policy D-42); Discrimination Complaints/Sexual Harassment (Policy E-46); Discipline and Discharge (Policy E-11)

Responsible for Implementation: Vice President for University Affairs

Contact for Revision: Judicial Office

Forms: None