Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0240-02-03-.02 - DISCIPLINARY OFFENSES
(1) Disciplinary
measures shall be imposed according to these rules and the institution's
restatement of these rules, procedures, and processes implementing these rules.
Institutions shall use the standard of evidence contained in the Tennessee
Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, T.C.A. §§
4-5-101 et seq.
("UAPA") and Department of State Rule 1360-0401. These rules shall not be used
to violate rights guaranteed under the constitution of the State of Tennessee
or the constitution of the United States.
(2) Both students and student organizations
may be subject to disciplinary action for the following disciplinary offenses
identified in these rules:
(a) Threatening
Conduct. Any conduct, threatened conduct, or attempted conduct that poses a
threat to a person's safety, health, or personal well-being, including, but not
limited to, endangering the health, safety, or welfare of any person; engaging
in conduct that causes a reasonable person to fear harm to his or her health,
safety or welfare; or making an oral or written statement that an objectively
reasonable person hearing or reading the statement would interpret as a serious
expression of an intent to commit an act of unlawful violence to a particular
individual or group of individuals;
(b) Disruptive Conduct. Any conduct,
threatened conduct, or attempted conduct that is disruptive to the
institution's learning environment, including, but not limited to, engaging in
any action that interferes with the ability of the instructor to teach or other
students to learn. Disruptive conduct in the classroom includes, but is not
limited to, behavior that obstructs or disrupts the learning environment (e.g.,
offensive language, harassment of students and instructors, repeated outbursts
from a student that disrupt the flow of instruction or prevent concentration,
failure to cooperate in maintaining classroom decorum, etc.), text messaging,
and the continued use of any electronic or other noise or light emitting device
which disturbs others;
(c) Hazing.
Hazing, as defined in T.C.A. §
49-7-123(a)(1),
means any intentional or reckless act on or off the property of any higher
education institution by an individual acting alone, or with others, which is
directed against any other person(s) that endangers the mental or physical
health or safety of that person(s), or which induces or coerces a person(s) to
endanger such person's mental or physical health or safety. Hazing does not
include customary athletic events or similar contests or competitions, and is
limited to those actions taken and situations created in connection with
initiation into or affiliation with any organization;
(d) Disorderly Conduct. Any individual or
group behavior which is abusive, obscene, lewd, indecent, (including, without
limitation, public exposure of one's sex organs, public urinating, and public
sexual acts), violent, excessively noisy, disorderly, or which unreasonably
disturbs institutional functions, operations, classrooms, other groups or
individuals;
(e) Obstruction of or
Interference with Institutional Activities or Facilities. Any intentional
interference with or obstruction of any institutional program, event, or
facility including but not limited to the following:
1. Any unauthorized occupancy of facilities
owned or controlled by an institution or blockage of access to or from such
facilities;
2. Interference with
the right of any institution member or other authorized person to gain access
to any activity, program, event or facilities sponsored or controlled by an
institution;
3. Any obstruction or
delay of a security officer, public safety officer, police officer,
firefighter, EMT, or any official of an institution, or failure to comply with
any emergency directive issued by such person in the performance of his or her
duty;
4. Participation in a
demonstration that substantially impedes institutional operations; or
5. Obstruction of the free flow of pedestrian
or vehicular traffic on property owned, leased or controlled by an institution
or at an institutional activity.
(f) Misuse of or Damage to Property. Any act
of misuse, vandalism, malicious or unwarranted damage or destruction, defacing,
disfiguring or unauthorized use of property belonging to the institution or a
member of the TBR community including, but not limited to, any personal
property, fire alarms, fire equipment, elevators, telephones, institution keys,
library materials and/or safety devices;
(g) Theft, Misappropriation, or Unauthorized
Sale of Property;
(h) Misuse of
Documents or Identification Cards. Any forgery, alteration of or unauthorized
use of institutional documents, forms, records or identification cards,
including the giving of any false information, or withholding of necessary
information, in connection with a student's admission, enrollment or status in
the institution;
(i) Weapons.
Possessing, carrying, using, storing, or manufacturing any weapon on
institution controlled property or in connection with an institution affiliated
activity, unless federal or state law provides a student with an affirmative
right to possess or carry a weapon on institution controlled property or in
connection with an institution-affiliated activity;
(j) Explosives, Fireworks, Flammable and
Hazardous Materials. The unauthorized possession, ignition, or detonation of
any object or article that represents a potential danger to the TBR community,
including, but not limited to, explosives, fireworks, flammable materials,
ammunition, hazardous liquids, chemicals, or hazardous materials;
(k) Alcoholic Beverages and Alcohol-Related
Conduct. The use, possession, distribution, or sale of alcoholic beverages on
institution owned or controlled property or in connection with any
institutional activity unless expressly permitted by the institution;
(l) Drugs. The unlawful possession, use,
distribution, sale, or manufacture of any drug or controlled substance
(including, but not limited to, any stimulant, depressant, narcotic or
hallucinogenic drug, or marijuana). This offense includes using or possessing a
prescription drug if the prescription was not issued to the student, as well as
the violation of any local ordinance, state, or federal law concerning the
unlawful possession or use of drugs;
(m) Drug Paraphernalia. The use, possession,
distribution, sale, or manufacture of equipment, products or materials that are
used or intended for use in manufacturing, growing, using or distributing any
drug or controlled substance. This offense includes the violation of any local
ordinance, state, or federal law concerning the unlawful possession of drug
paraphernalia;
(n) Public
Intoxication. Appearing on institution owned or controlled property or at an
institutional sponsored event while under the influence of alcohol, a
controlled substance or of any other intoxicating substance;
(o) Gambling. Unlawful gambling in any
form;
(p) Financial
Irresponsibility. Failure to meet financial responsibilities to the institution
promptly including, but not limited to, knowingly passing a worthless check or
money order in payment to the institution;
(q) Unacceptable Conduct Related to
Disciplinary Proceedings. Any conduct at any stage of an institutional
disciplinary proceeding or investigation that is contemptuous, threatening,
retaliatory, or disorderly, including false complaints, false testimony or
other falsification of evidence, and attempts to influence the impartiality of
a member of an adjudicatory body, verbal or physical harassment or intimidation
of an institutional official, hearing panel member, complainant, respondent, or
witness;
(r) Failure to Cooperate
with Institutional Officials. Failure to comply with reasonable directions of
institutional officials acting in the performance of their duties. This
includes, but is not limited to, failing to respond to a request to report to
an institutional administrative office, failing to cooperate in an
institutional investigation, failing to appear at an institutional hearing,
including, without limitation, a disciplinary hearing;
(s) Attempts, Aiding, and Abetting. Any
attempt to commit any of the offenses listed under this section or the aiding
or abetting of the commission of any of the offenses listed under this section.
(An attempt to commit an offense is defined as the intention to commit the
offense coupled with the taking of some action toward its commission.) Being
present during the planning or commission of any, offense listed under this
section without having made an immediate report to the institution prior to the
commission of the planned offense will be considered as aiding and abetting.
Students who anticipate or observe an offense must remove themselves from the
situation and are required to report the offense to the institution;
(t) Violation of State or Federal Laws. Any
violation of state or federal laws, rules, or regulations prohibiting conduct
or establishing offenses;
(u)
Violation of Imposed Disciplinary Sanctions. Intentional or unintentional
violation of a disciplinary sanction imposed through an institutional
disciplinary proceeding;
(v) Sexual
Misconduct. Committing any act of sexual assault, rape, sexual battery,
domestic violence, or dating violence as defined by state or federal
law;
(w) Harassment, Stalking, or
Retaliation. Any conduct that falls within T.C.A. §
39-17-308
(Harassment) or T.C.A. §
39-17-315
(Stalking) or "student-on-student harassment," which means unwelcome conduct
directed toward a person that is discriminatory on a basis prohibited by
federal, state, or local law, and that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively
offensive that it effectively bars the victim's access to educational
opportunity or benefit. Engaging in "retaliation," which is an act or omission
committed by a student because of another person's participation in a protected
activity that would discourage a reasonable person from engaging in protected
activity. Retaliation violates these standards regardless of whether the
underlying allegation of a violation of a rule is ultimately found to have
merit. Retaliation can include, without limitation: an act or omission
committed against a person's family, friends, advisors, and or other persons
reasonably expected to provide information in connection with an institutional
investigation or hearing, and an act or omission committed by a student through
a third party;
(x) Discrimination.
Any conduct prohibited by any federal or state law, rule, or regulation related
to discrimination, harassment, or retaliation;
(y) Academic Misconduct. Any action or
attempted action designed to provide an unfair academic advantage or
disadvantage for oneself or others. Academic misconduct includes a wide variety
of behaviors such as plagiarism, cheating, fabrication, and other academic
dishonesty. For purposes of these rules the following definitions apply:
1. Plagiarism. The adoption or reproduction
of ideas, words, statements, images, or works of another person as one's own
without proper attribution. Examples include but are not limited to copying of
passages from works of others into one's own work without acknowledgment;
summarizing or paraphrasing ideas from another source without proper
attribution, unless such information is recognized as common knowledge; and
using facts, statistics, graphs, representations, or phrases without proper
attribution;
2. Cheating. Using or
attempting to use unauthorized materials, information, or aids in any academic
exercise or test/examination. Examples include but are not limited to copying
another's work; obtaining or giving unauthorized assistance; unauthorized
collaboration or collusion with another person; having another person take a
test for a student; and the use of unauthorized materials or devices. The term
academic exercise includes all forms of work submitted for credit or hours;
and
3. Fabrication. Falsifying,
fabricating, or misrepresenting data, research results, citations or other
information in connection with an academic assignment. Unauthorized
falsification or invention of any information or citation in an academic
exercise.
(z)
Unauthorized Duplication or Possession of Keys. Making, causing to be made or
the possession of, with the intent to use or make available for use by others,
any key for an institutional facility without proper authorization;
(aa) Litter. Dispersing litter in any form
onto the grounds or facilities of the institution;
(bb) Pornography. Public display of
literature, films, pictures or other materials which an average person applying
contemporary community standards would find, (1) taken as a whole, appeals to
the prurient interest, (2) depicts or describes sexual conduct in a patently
offensive way, and/or (3) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic,
political or scientific value;
(cc)
Abuse of Computer Resources and Facilities. Misusing and/or abusing
institutional computer resources including, but not limited to the following:
1. Use of another person's identification to
gain access to institutional computer resources;
2. Use of institutional computer resources
and facilities to violate copyright laws, including, but not limited to, the
act of unauthorized distribution of copyrighted materials using institutional
information technology systems;
3.
Unauthorized access to a computer or network file, including but not limited
to, altering, using, reading, copying, or deleting the file;
4. Unauthorized transfer of a computer or
network file;
5. Use of computing
resources and facilities to send abusive or obscene correspondence;
6. Use of computing resources and facilities
in a manner that interferes with normal operation of the institutional
computing system;
7. Use of
computing resources and facilities to interfere with the work of another
student, faculty member, or institutional official; or
8. Unauthorized peer-to-peer file
sharing.
(dd)
Unauthorized Access to Institutional Facilities and/or Grounds. Any
unauthorized access and/or occupancy of institutional facilities and/or grounds
is prohibited, including, but not limited to, gaining access to facilities and
grounds that are closed to the public, being present in areas of campus that
are open to limited guests only, being present in academic buildings after
hours without permission, and being present in buildings when the student has
no legitimate reason to be present;
(ee) Providing False Information. Giving any
false information to, or withholding necessary information from, any
institutional official acting in the performance of his or her duties in
connection with a student's admission, enrollment, or status in the
institution;
(ff) Observation
Without Consent. Observation Without Consent, which is prohibited by T.C.A.
§
39-13-607
(a criminal statute) for purposes of these rules, means knowingly spying upon,
observing, or otherwise viewing an individual, regardless of whether a photo,
video, or recording is made, when the individual is in a place where there is
reasonable expectation of privacy, without the prior effective consent of the
individual, if the viewing would offend or embarrass an ordinary person if the
person knew the person was being viewed. This includes, but is not limited to,
taking video or photographic images in shower/locker rooms, living quarters,
and restrooms, and storing, sharing, and/or distributing of such unauthorized
images by any means;
(gg) Smoking
Violations. Smoking or tobacco use in any institution building or facility, in
any state-owned vehicle, or on any institution grounds or property, unless in a
designated smoking or tobacco use area. For the purposes of these rules,
"tobacco use" includes, but is not limited to, the personal use of any tobacco
product, whether intended to be lit or not, which includes smoking tobacco or
other substances that are lit and smoked, as well as the use of an electronic
cigarette or any other device intended to simulate smoking, and the use of
smokeless tobacco, including snuff; chewing tobacco; smokeless pouches; any
form of loose-leaf, smokeless tobacco; and the use of unlit cigarettes, cigars,
and pipe tobacco;
(hh) Maintenance
of Ethical and Professional Standards. Failure to maintain the high ethical and
professional standards of the various disciplines of the health professions may
subject a student to suspension from a program, dismissal from a program, or
other appropriate remedial action.
1. A
student enrolled in a program leading to a degree or certificate in a health
profession is subject to disciplinary action up to and including suspension and
dismissal from a program for engaging in the following acts of misconduct,
regardless of location:
(i) Commission of an
offense classified as a felony by Tennessee or federal criminal
statutes;
(ii) Unlawful use,
possession, or sale of drugs or narcotics, whether or not felonious;
(iii) Other unprofessional or unethical
conduct that would bring disrepute and disgrace upon both the student and
profession and that would tend to substantially reduce or eliminate the
student's ability to effectively practice the profession in which discipline he
or she is enrolled; or
(iv) Conduct
that is in violation of either a relevant Tennessee statute establishing
professional standards or a rule or regulation of a Tennessee regulatory board
or other body responsible for the establishment and enforcement of professional
standards.
2. A person
applying for admission to a health profession program may be denied admission
to the program on the basis of his or her violation of the aforementioned
ethical and/or professional standards;
(ii) Traffic and Parking Fines. Receiving
$100.00 or more in traffic and/or parking violations on institution property or
institution-controlled property during any semester.
(jj) Indecent Exposure. Indecent exposure,
which is prohibited by T.C.A. §
39-13-511 (a
criminal statute), for purposes of these rules means in a public place
intentionally exposing one's genitals or buttocks to another or engaging in
sexual contact or sexual penetration where the person reasonably expects that
the acts will be viewed by another, and the acts will offend an ordinary viewer
or are for the purpose of sexual arousal and/or gratification.
(3) Disciplinary holds
(a) An institution may place a hold on a
student record when the student has:
1.
Withdrawn from the institution while a disciplinary meeting and/or proceeding
is pending;
2. Not responded to an
institutional official's request for a meeting or hearing; or
3. Been suspended or expelled.
(b) A disciplinary hold may remain
on a student's record until final resolution of a disciplinary meeting and/or
disciplinary hearing.
(c) An
institution will not confer a degree when a student record has been placed on
hold, or when a student has a pending disciplinary meeting and/or disciplinary
proceeding.
(4) Except
for cases involving Academic Misconduct, an institution will not revoke a
degree or credential based on conduct occurring while a person was a student,
but not discovered until after the awarding of a degree or
credential.
Notes
Authority: T.C.A. §§ 4-5-101, et seq., 49-7-123(a)(1), and 49-8-203.
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