Back to Office of Student and Community Life

Community Standards Resolution Process

Working together to repair harm and rebuild trust.

As a community of care, we strive to provide our community members with a safe and healthy learning environment. To achieve this goal, we promote an environment in which our members treat themselves and our community with respect and dignity. When individuals violate our Community Standards, it negatively impacts our community. Consequently, the Office of Student and Community Life, in conjunction with the Bantam Network Residential Learning Community, work closely with all involved parties, guiding them as they work together to repair harm and rebuild trust.

Resolution For Social Policy Violations

Formal Adjudication

The process for most incidents involving members of the Trinity community will be overseen by the Office of Student and Community Life and the Bantam Network Residential Learning Community:

  • Incident Report: Reports come from many sources, including members of the community. Upon receipt of a report that alleges a student has violated Trinity College policies, the Office of Student and Community Life and the Bantam Network Residential Learning Community will evaluate the report to determine whether the allegations are viable and the best way the matter should be resolved.
  • Outreach: When a community member’s name is recorded as being involved in an incident, either as a witness, victim, person of concern, or alleged, they will likely be invited to play a role in the resolution of the incident.  Students are generally contacted by email to attend an initial meeting with a Standards Educator, who will review the incident report and alleged policy violation, as well as options for resolution.
  • Administrative Resolution: Once the Standards Educator has had the opportunity to hear from or meet with all relevant parties involved in the incident, they will determine: which parties are responsible, each party’s level of responsibility, and the appropriate sanctions.
  • Outcome: All responsible parties will be emailed an outcome letter which includes the decision, any assigned sanctions, and due dates.  For more explanations about outcomes, refer to Understanding and Completing Sanctions.
  • Appeal: For matters that have been resolved formally (i.e. via Administrative Resolution), students have the option to submit an appeal to the Office of Student and Community Life.  Information on how to appeal will appear in the Outcome letter.

Informal Adjudication

Some incidents reported through the Community Standards Incident Report Form and the iCare Wellness Referral Form might be determined to be best addressed through informal means. For example, a roommate conflict could involve individual and group meetings that result in roommate mediation, conflict coaching, and revised roommate agreements.  A vandalism incident with a known or unknown offender could be resolved with a community conference involving students, Campus Safety, and custodial staff.

These methods typically do not involve assigned Community Standards sanctions for the responsible party or parties, but rather serve as an opportunity for community members to have a voice in identifying harms and rebuilding trust.

Title IX

If the documented incident involves sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, dating violence, or sexual discrimination, it will likely be referred to the Title IX Coordinator. For more information about Title IX and how incidents are resolved, please visit the page: https://www.trincoll.edu/title-ix/

Bias Incident or Hate Crime

If the documented incident involves a possible bias incident and/or hate crime, it will likely be referred to the Trinity Campus Climate Incident Response Team. For more information about Trinity’s response to such incidents, please visit their page: https://www.trincoll.edu/incident-response-team/

Resolution For Academic Policy Violations

Academic Integrity

Incidents involving academic integrity or intellectual dishonesty are reported to the Office of Student and Community Life and can be adjudicated in two ways:

  • First Violation Resolution Process: If the violation is determined to be the student’s first violation, the faculty member may decide to offer the student the first violation resolution process as an option. For this process to move forward, the student must accept this option and admit to the violation. Please refer to the Student Handbook for more information on this process.
  • Hearing Panel: A student may face a hearing panel, if it is determined that he/she is ineligible for the first violation resolution process, he/she is not offered the first violation resolution process as an option, or he/she declines the first violation resolution process as an option. Please refer to the Student Handbook for more information on this process.