You don’t have to bring anything or anyone. It may help to bring the notice letter you received from Conflict Resolution and Student Conduct Services requesting the hearing, as well as the incident report. You can also bring any other information related to your situation. You may bring a support person with you to the hearing, but it is not required. You may even bring an attorney. Your guest is limited to providing support and counsel to you, and may not represent you or speak on your behalf.
CSU students are bound by the Student Conduct Code, and Student Conduct Services is responsible for enforcing that Code. The court system enforces criminal and civil laws. An incident may violate both a law or laws and the Student Conduct Code. Our disciplinary process may work in parallel with the legal process.
Because CSU’s conduct process is separate from the court process, Student Conduct Services holds hearings regardless of the court’s timeline. University hearing officers make decisions based on incident reports and what the student shares in a hearing, and not on the court’s findings. Likewise, CSU’s decision regarding the conduct code violation has no effect on the court process or outcome.
Instead of the strict "beyond a reasonable doubt" burden of proof used in court, universities may use a lower standard in determining responsibility for Student Conduct Code violations. CSU uses the standard of "preponderance of the evidence." A student can be found responsible for the charges if it is more likely than not, based on all the evidence, that the student committed the violations. Hearings are not required to follow Federal Rules of Evidence or courtroom procedure. Universities may restrict the participation of legal counsel in hearings. CSU students may bring a lawyer to a hearing as a support person. During the hearing, the role of counsel is restricted to consultation.