Sanctions

Four (4) general categories of sanctions exist at Marymount University:

  1. status;
  2. educational/restorative;
  3. restrictive; and
  4. housing

Most violations will result in a status sanction and one or more educational/restorative sanctions. Sanctions are determined based upon the severity of the violation, past conduct history, and other aggravating or mitigating factors. One or more of following sanctions may be imposed upon any student for any single violation of the Student Community Conduct Code:

Status Sanctions

Status sanctions are an indication of the student’s relationship with the University. Status sanctions typically escalate with each offense. It is not necessary that a first sanction be a warning, and at the discretion of the hearing officer(s), a student may remain at the same status. Marymount University’s status sanctions are warning, final warning, disciplinary probation, suspension, and expulsion.

Educational and Restorative Sanctions

Marymount University designs educational and restorative sanctions to enhance the educational and learning outcomes of the student conduct program. Educational and restorative sanctions are used to repair harm to individuals or communities, provide additional education on a given subject, or aid students in considering their academic and personal goals and priorities.

Engage Marymount University’s Offerings

Answer
  • Description: Encourage students to experience the various activities Marymount University offers. The University’s intention is to use the conduct process to connect students with new experiences.
  • Note: Students assigned the Engage Marymount University’s Offerings sanction will be required to complete an assessment for each event required to receive credit for the event(s).
  • Instructions to student: “By [DEADLINE] you are to select and attend [NUMBER OF EVENTS] official Marymount University-sponsored event(s), such as an Association for Campus Events (ACE) program, a Resident Assistant program, a group exercise class, a campus lecture, or other similar events. The event must be one that you would not ordinarily have attended, must be at least one (1) hour long, and cannot fulfill a requirement for any other program or class. For example, if you regularly attend the ACE comedy nights, you could try attending an athletic event. If you regularly attend athletics events, you could try attending a poetry slam. The event(s) also cannot be previous events that you have attended and must be completed after your responsible finding. Immediately following the event(s), you should meet the organizer(s), thank them for hosting the event, and ask about similar events that are being offered in the future. Please take note of this information as you will be asked in the assessment which is required to mark the sanction as complete. Immediately following the event(s), please complete the assessment linked here: https://rebrand.ly/EngageMU. You must complete the assessment for each event in order to receive credit for the event.”

Restorative Action within the Marymount Community

Answer
  • Description: Students will help to support and organize an event on campus.
  • Note: Students assigned the Restorative Action within the Marymount Community sanction will be required to complete a Verification form to receive credit for the event(s).
  • Instructions to student: “Marymount University believes that violations of its code are breaches in the relationship and trust between the student, the community, and the university. Marymount University believes that the best manner in which to reconcile and restore this relationship is through a recommitment to the community and from the community. In practice, this means that students will help to support and organize an event on campus.

You may easily find events on campus that meet your deadline by utilizing Engage. You can log in to Engage on the Marymount Portal with your credentials (https://marymount.campuslabs.com/engage/). You must select an event on or before [DUE DATE]. If there are no available events or the available events fall outside the designated time frame, you must promptly contact the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution at sconduct@marymount.edu. It may be possible to extend the deadline or resolve an alternative event.

You are responsible for reaching out to the hosting organization/Office to determine their need for volunteers. You can find the host organization for events on Engage and contact them directly. You should share your due date with these individuals.

The University does not consider your service complete until you submit the Restorative Action in the Marymount Community Verification Form, which is attached. The Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution encourages you to take this form to the event(s) to ensure you receive the correct information for completion. As a reminder, you must complete your service and turn in your Verification Form to sconduct@marymount.edu or BERG 1001 by [DUE DATE].”

Restorative Action within the Arlington Community

Answer
  • Description: Students will perform acts of service within the Arlington and greater DC community. Through acts of service, students rebuild trust with the community through committing to serving others, a core mission of our founding order, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.
  • Note: Students assigned the Restorative Action within the Arlington Community sanction will be required to complete a Verification form to receive credit for the event(s).
  • Instructions to student: “Marymount University believes that violations of its code are breaches in the relationship and trust between the student, the community, and the university. Marymount University believes that the best manner in which to reconcile and restore this relationship is through a recommitment to Marymount University and the Arlington Community. In practice, this means that students will perform acts of service within the Arlington and greater DC community. Through acts of service, students rebuild trust with the community through committing to serving others, a core mission of our founding order, the Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary.

You are required to complete [NUMBER OF HOURS] hours of service in the Arlington community. You are to contact the Saints Center for Service at scs@marymount.edu in order to schedule a service intake meeting by [DUE DATE]. At this meeting, a member of the Saints Center for Service will discuss your interests, goals, and possible service opportunities in the Arlington Community. Following the meeting, you will need to contact one of the recommended service opportunities and complete your hours by [DUE DATE]. If you have difficulty scheduling your service hours, you must promptly contact the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution. It may be possible to extend the deadline or find an alternative solution.

You must log your hours using the attached Restorative Action in the Arlington Community Verification Form. The University does not consider your service complete until you complete this form and return it to the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution at sconduct@marymount.edu or BERG 1001. As a reminder, you must complete your service and the Verification Form by [DUE DATE]. Please plan accordingly.”

Restorative Action with Physical Plant or Housekeeping

Answer
  • Description: The student provides service to physical plant for violations that involve damage to Marymount University property or Housekeeping for violations that involve significate clean-up by Housekeeping staff.
  • Note: Students will be required to keep a log of their sanctioned hours and will be provided contact information for service hours scheduling.
  • Instructions to student: “Since your actions impacted the staff of physical plant/ housekeeping, you are being assigned to work with the physical plant/housekeeping team in order to repair the impact of these actions and restore your relationship with the staff. You are assigned to complete [NUMBER OF HOURS] hours of work with Physical Plant/Housekeeping by [DUE DATE]. These hours must be worked between 8am and 6pm and must be completed in a minimum of a four-hour block (e.g. 8am – 12pm, 10am – 2pm, etc.) each session. You must contact [CONTACT NAME] in order to arrange to complete these hours. You are solely responsible for the completion of these hours. If you have difficulties arranging the hours, it is on you to follow up with the appropriate staff or make any arrangement necessary in your schedule to complete these hours.”

Restitution

Answer
  • Description: Financial compensation for damaged, destroyed, or stolen property belonging to the University or to a member of the community
  • Note: The student is instructed to deliver restitution to the Student Accounts Office in Rowley Hall, not to any other office or party.
  • Instructions to student: “Since your violation involved damage to university property, the amount of [DOLLAR AMOUNT] will be billed to your student account. You may pay this bill personally at the Student Accounts Office in Rowley Hall. If your bill is paid by your parents or another party, this will appear as a line item. Therefore, the Office of Student Conduct and Conflict Resolution strongly encourages you to communicate with your parents or the other party about the reason for the charge and your plans to pay the bill.”

Restorative Justice

Answer
  • Description: A meeting where community members who have been impacted by an incident (including victims, perpetrators, and others) can have an honest dialogue. It is a non-threatening way to rebuild trust, community, and relationships. Restorative Justice focus on gaining understanding and reaching a mutually desired outcome or resolution.
  • Note: An unwilling student may not be sanctioned with Restorative Justice practices.
  • Instructions to student: “You must participate in a restorative justice activity provided by Student Counseling Services. A member of the Student Conduct staff will contact you with more information on the restorative justice activity date and time. The goal of restorative justice practices is to establish an option for addressing harm, to engage those harmed by providing them with an active role in addressing the harm and restoring community, while educating those who have harmed individuals, groups, and the larger Marymount community.”

 

Restrictive Sanctions

Restrictive sanctions modify a student’s privileges on-campus. These sanctions are typically not the primary sanctions used by the University. However, repeated or serious violations may warrant one or more restrictive sanctions.

University Housing Sanctions

Marymount University may impose housing sanctions when a student’s behavior also violates the terms and conditions of their housing license agreement. University housing sanctions are housing probation and loss of housing.

More detailed information about these sanctions may be found in Section 7.K of the 2023-2024 Community Standards Blue Book.

Sanctioning Model for Alcohol and Drugs

The matrix below provides a general reference for students and family members. There are a variety of mitigating and aggravating factors, such as non-compliance, injury of self or others, disorderly conduct, or disrespectful behavior towards documenting staff, that may affect a hearing officer’s decision.

Possession or consumption by a person under 21 or being present where a person under the age of 21 is consuming alcohol
1st Violation 2nd Violation 3rd Violation
Final Warning, Restorative Sanction(s), and Alcohol Education Class Disciplinary Probation, Housing Probation (if applicable), and Restorative Sanction(s) Extension of Disciplinary Probation, Loss of Housing, and Restorative Sanction(s)
More serious alcohol violations, such as providing alcohol to minors, possessing a common source (e.g., a keg), and alcohol transports
1st Violation 2nd Violation
Disciplinary Probation, Housing Probation (if applicable), Alcohol Education Class, and Restorative Sanction(s) Extension of Disciplinary Probation, Loss of Housing, and Restorative Sanction(s)
Possession or use of marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia or being present where a person possesses or uses marijuana or marijuana paraphernalia
1st Violation 2nd Violation
Disciplinary Probation, Housing Probation (if applicable), Mandatory Self-Assessment, and Restorative Sanction(s) Extension of Disciplinary Probation, Loss of Housing, and Restorative Sanction(s)

Possession and/or use of other Illegal Drugs

Cases involving the possession or use of other illegal drugs or the misuse of prescription or over-the-counter medications will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Factors that may be considered include but are not limited to, the student’s actions to seek assistance for drug abuse, the amount of the drug, the manner in which the drug was obtained, and the involvement of Arlington County Police.

Distribution of Drugs

The distribution of drugs will result in a review for expulsion.