Were you cited by the Athens Police Department?
Community Standards and Student Responsibilities (CSSR) receives reports when a student is cited by the Athens Police Department (APD). CSSR receives APD reports on a monthly basis and often does not receive a report until the criminal/court process has concluded. This may cause a delay between when an incident took place and when CSSR receives the report. There is no statue of limitations in the community standards process and CSSR will address all APD reports when they are received.
Why does CSSR address behavior that takes place off campus?
As stated in the Student Code of Conduct , "As we like to remind students, they are Bobcats no matter where they are. This means that each member of the OHIO community is responsible for their behavior, both on and off campus".
When occasions arise where members of the community engage in behavior that may violate the Student Code of Conduct the community standards process is initiated. This process exists to protect the community and to challenge those whose behavior is not in accordance with our expectations of members of the Ohio university community.
Criminal Process and Community Standards Process Differences
Students may have to go through the criminal process and the community standards process for the same alleged conduct. There are significant differences between the criminal justice system and the community standards proess.
- To find a violation, we use the "preponderance of evidence" standard, which is not as high as the standard used in criminal justice proceedings.
- When deciding what evidence to use to reach a decision, we do not follow rules of evidence that one would find in a civil or criminal court. Rather we ask only that the evidence be relevant to the allegations at issue.
- Overall, students should find our process to be less formal, more engaging and more individually tailored than the criminal justice system.
- In some cases, students risk separation from the university as a result of a hearing. Even though our process is not as formal as a criminal justice proceeding, students should nonetheless take it seriously and conduct themselves in a respectful and professional manner.
Questions
If you have been cited by the Athens Police Department and have questions about the community standards process, please contact CSSR at 740-593-2629 or communitystandards@ohio.edu .