Student Guide to University Policies

In order to promote the finest educational experience possible, the University of Delaware has established high standards of conduct for its students and student organizations. This Student Guide to University Policies explains standards of behavior and procedures for responding when behavior which appears to violate these standards are reported. Individual students and student organizations are expected to know and comply with the policies in the Code of Conduct. When behavior is reported that appears to violate these policies, a variety of actions may be taken, which include both formal and informal processes. Decisions on which course of action to take will be made after considering the natrure of the behavior, the impact on the community and its members and the needs of the participants.

Students are not only members of the University community (which also consists of faculty, staff, guests and visitors to campus) but also of the Newark community (which also consists of residents in the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses within the city), and the state of Delaware and serve as representatives of all these communities. Therefore, students are expected to comply with all the policies within this Student Guide, as well as all applicable laws, in all settings and locations. Students who violate, attempt to violate, or aid others in violating policies may face may sanctions for their actions.

The University conducts regular reviews and updates to this Student Guide to University Policies. This is done on an annual basis, with input solicited from various campus and community partners and constituencies. At any time a member of University or surrounding community may contact the Director of the Office of Student Conduct if they have feedback or concerns. The University may, due to legal or institutional need, make changes to the Student Guide at any time as deemed appropriate by University officials. The Student Guide posted online at www.udel.edu/stuguide is the current and active version.

It may be useful to students to know how several commonly used terms used in the Student Guide are officially defined.

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct describes the behavior expected of all students, both on and off campus. Policies are listed alphabetically and establish standards of behavior for students and student organizations at the University.

Student Conduct Process

The Student Conduct Process section desribes the University’s procedures for addressing and resolving reports of possible violations of the Code of Conduct. Separate sections describe the process for undergadute and graduate students.

Sanctions

The Sanctions section describes the range of sanctions that may be applied for violations of the Code of Conduct. These include both educational sanctions (to help students learn from their incident and make positive changes in the future) and administrative (to hold students accountable for their actions in the incident). The University administration reserves the absolute discretion to determine appropriate sanctions to be applied for any infraction of the Code of Conduct

Grievance Procedures and Special Problems

The Grievances Procedures and Special Problems section describes the process by which students may bring certain grievances to the attention of the University. It also provides students with information about assistance with special problems, such as medical leaves of absence, military service and missing students.

Contact the Office of Student Conduct