Sec. 11–402.  Behavioral Misconduct

1. Behavioral misconduct may consist of any of the following activities:
   1. Local, State, or Federal Law Violations – any behavior that may violate any federal, state, or local law, ordinance, or regulation;
   2. Weapons – possesses, uses, or displays firearms, facsimile firearms, ammunition, explosives, or other items that could be used as weapons, including but not limited to sticks, poles, clubs, swords, shields, body-armor or make shift body-armor, masks, helmets and other garments, such as sporting protective gear, that alone or in combination could be reasonably construed as weapons or body-armor on property owned or controlled by the University, without written permission from the Dean of Students, unless authorized by federal, state or local laws; or, violates Policy 8-1060, Campus Carry, of the Handbook of Operating Procedures;
   3. Dangerous Materials – unauthorized use of a hazardous substance (chemicals, fireworks, explosives, etc.) with the intent to cause harm, threat, or fear;
   4. Threatening or Endangering Behavior – any behavior that threatens or endangers the health or safety of any student, employee, or visitor to the University;
   5. Theft – use, possession, taking, or removal of property, services, or resources of others without permission or authorization;
   6. Hazing or Hazing Activity – any intentional, knowing, or reckless act, occurring on or off of the campus of an educational institution, by one person alone or acting with others, directed against a person, for the purpose of pledging, joining, being initiated into, affiliating with, holding office in, or maintaining membership in any organization, and for which consent may not serve as a defense. Hazing includes but is not limited to:
      1. any type of physical brutality, such as whipping, beating, striking, branding, electric shocking, placing of a harmful substance in or on the body, or similar activity;
      2. any type of physical activity that involves or results in sleep deprivation, exposure to the elements, confinement in a small space, calisthenics, or other activity that subjects the person to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the person;
      3. any activity involving consumption of a food, liquid, alcoholic beverage, liquor, drug, or other substance, in addition to those described by Paragraph E, that subjects the person to an unreasonable risk of harm or that adversely affects the mental or physical health or safety of the person;
      4. any activity that subjects a person to conduct or circumstance that adversely affects the mental health, physical health, or property of others, and which affects were reasonably foreseeable;
      5. any activity that involves coercing, as defined by Section 1.07 Penal Code, a student to consume a drug or an alcoholic beverage or liquor in any amount.;
      6. any activity that induces, causes, or requires the person to perform a duty or task that involves a violation of the Penal Code. See Texas Education Code, Section 37.151(6) for more information;
   7.  Alcohol Misconduct
      1. engages in unauthorized use, possession, sale, distribution, or consumption of alcoholic beverages, on or in university property, including but not limited to a classroom, laboratory, auditorium, office, athletic facility, or residence hall;
      2. engages in the improper use, possession, sale, distribution, or consumption of alcoholic beverages, including but not limited to underage possession of alcohol, underage consumption of alcohol, providing alcohol to a minor, public intoxication, minor driving under the influence of alcohol, or driving while intoxicated;
   8. Drugs
      1. engages in the unauthorized use or possession of a drug, or possession of drug paraphernalia;
      2. engages in the unauthorized sale or distribution of a drug;
   9. Harassment – hostile or threatening conduct that:
      1. is sufficiently severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive to create an objectively hostile or threatening environment that interferes with or diminishes the impacted party’s ability to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by the University; and
      2. is personally directed to one or more specific individuals.
         1. When harassment is sex or gender based, the harassment provision in HOP 3-3031 applies over this policy's harassment provision.
         2. Sec. 13-204 of the Institutional Rules addresses verbal harassment. 
   10. Property
       1. Unauthorized Use – engages in unauthorized use of property, keys, equipment, resources, supplies, buildings, or facilities owned or controlled by the University or The University of Texas System;
       2. Unauthorized Entry – engages in unauthorized entry into or onto property owned or controlled by the University or The University of Texas System;
       3. Damage – damages, defaces, destroys, or tampers with property of the University, property belonging to any student or employee of the University, or property of a visitor to the University;
       4. Water and Fountains – enters, remains, or is in the water of any fountain or other artificial body of water on the university campus that is not designed and maintained for recreational or therapeutic purposes; dumps, throws, places, or causes to be placed any material, object, trash, person, animal, waste, or debris in the water of any fountain or other artificial body of water located on the University campus;
   11. Technology Misuse
       1. ​engages in unauthorized use of an information technology resource owned or controlled by the University or The University of Texas System;
       2. engages in unauthorized access or entry into a computer, computer system, network, database, software, or data;
       3. engages in unauthorized downloading, copying, or distribution of computer software or data;
   12. Stalking – a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person's safety or the safety of others and causes that person to fear for their safety or suffer substantial emotional distress. (Please note that Stalking as defined here is separate from the gender or sex-based stalking rule included in HOP 3-3031.)
       1. A "course of conduct" means two or more acts in which a person directly, indirectly or through third parties, by any action, method, device or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens or communicates to or about a person or interferes with a person's property.
       2. "Reasonable person" means a hypothetical person of average caution and prudence under similar circumstances to the complainant.
       3. "Substantial emotional distress" means significant mental suffering or anguish that disrupts or impairs usual functioning. It may but does not necessarily require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
   13. ​False and Misleading Information
       1. ​engages in the falsification of academic records, including but not limited to altering or assisting in the alteration of any official record of the University or The University of Texas System and submitting false information or omitting requested information that is required for or related to any academic record of the University or The University of Texas System. Academic records include, but are not limited to, applications for admission, the awarding of a degree, registration materials, grade change forms, and reporting forms used by the Office of the Registrar;
       2. furnishes false information to or withholds material information from any university official, Faculty Member, or staff member acting in the course of their duties;
       3. alters or assists in the alteration of any official nonacademic record or document, including parking permits and athletic tickets, of any university office or of The University of Texas System.
   14. ​Unauthorized Surveillance or Distribution
       1. ​engages in surveillance or recording of any type without the consent of the person or persons being surveilled or recorded in areas where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy;
       2. engages in broadcasting or distribution, without the consent of all involved parties, of a recording or other surveilled material, that meets the definition of Unauthorized Surveillance in Sec. 11-402(a)(17)(A).
   15. ​Disruptive Conduct
       1. ​engages in conduct that interferes with or disrupts university activities, including but not limited to any teaching, research, administrative, disciplinary, public service, learning, or other authorized activity;
       2. engages in promoting or inciting conduct that interferes with or disrupts university activities, including but not limited to any teaching, research, administrative, disciplinary, public service, learning, or other authorized activity;
   16. ​Failure to Comply
       1. failure to comply with the directives of any university official(s) acting in the performance of their duties, and who has the authorization to issue such directives;
       2. failure to identify oneself to a university official(s) when requested to do so. 
          1. A person provides identification by giving their name and complete address, substantiated by a current driver’s license, voter registration card, or other official documentation, and by stating truthfully whether or not they are a student or employee of the University.
       3. failure to comply with rules, regulations, procedures, policies, standards of conduct, or any other directive of the university, including but not limited to schools, colleges, departments, or labs;
   17. Targeted Residential Disturbance - engages in conduct that violates federal or state law, or city ordinance, either individually or in concert with others, and in close proximity to a University employee's residence, that intimidate the employee or otherwise diminishes the employee's or their fellow residents' ability to maintain the peaceful enjoyment of their home.
   18. Violent Conduct – any conduct intended to physically harm or injure a person;
   19. Animal Cruelty
       1. Intentionally, knowingly, or recklessly torturing or in a cruel manner killing or causing serious bodily injury to an animal;
       2. Failing to provide proper care or safety for an animal in a person’s custody, including but not limited to failing to provide necessary food or water, unreasonably abandoning an animal, or transporting or confining an animal in a cruel manner;
       3. any other conduct with an animal that may violate any provision of federal, state, or local laws;
          1. Conduct occurring solely for the purpose of or in support of fishing, hunting, or trapping; or wildlife management, wildlife or depredation control, or shooting preserve practices as regulated by state and federal law; or animal husbandry or agriculture practice involving livestock animals shall not be interpreted as a violation of this rule.
   20. University System Violations – any conduct that violates any provision of the Regents’ Rules and Regulations of The University of Texas System;
   21. Retaliation – any action taken to adversely affect the terms or conditions of an individual’s academic experience or employment with the University, or other institutional status of a student, employee, university affiliate, visitor, or applicant for admission to or employment with the University, because an individual has, in good faith:
       1. reported or intends to make a report under university policies or rules;
       2. opposed an unlawful practice;
       3. participated in an investigation or conduct proceeding; or,
       4. requested supportive or protective measures;
   22. Residence Hall Manual Violations – any conduct that violates any provision of the Residence Hall Manual.
   23. Institutional Rules or other University Policy Violations – any conduct that violates any provision or rule defined in other chapters of the Institutional Rules on Student Services and Activities or the Handbook of Operating Procedures.

IV: Procedures for a breach of professionalism or Code of Conduct

1. Reporting
   1. Any member of the academic or clinical community may report concerns regarding a breach of professionalism or the Code of Conduct.
   2. Reports should be submitted to the Office of Student Affairs.
   3. Anonymous reports will not be considered
   4. All reports will be reviewed confidentially and investigated as appropriate.
2. Actions
   1. The Associate Dean for Student Affairs or the Associate Dean’s Designee will perform an initial assessment, including meeting with the student and all parties based on the information contained in the referral. 
   2. Based on the assessment, the Associate Dean for Student Affairs may:
      1. Determine no further action is required
      2. Create and monitor a remediation or coaching plan
      3. Refer further investigation to the MSASC if
         1. severity warrants
         2. a breach of the Code of Conduct is identified
         3. there are recurrent (more than 2) breaches of professionalism
         4. failure to adhere to or complete a remediation or coaching plan
   3. For events referred to the MSACS
      1. When the MSASC receives information that a student has allegedly breached the Code of Conduct, had a severe or recurrent breach of professionalism, the MSASC will perform an initial assessment.
      2. The MSASC will perform a thoughtful deliberation of all concerns and viewpoints brought forward by the student, the referring party, faculty members involved and legal counsel specializing, applicable laws and statutes, and ethics.
      3. Pending an investigation, hearing, or outcome of the allegations against a student, the MSASC may take immediate interim action appropriate to the circumstances including instances when the continuing presence of the student: (i) poses an immediate or potential danger to persons or property, or (ii) disrupts the academic process, or any activity authorized by the University. This may include immediate removal from patient care, clinical, curricular duties, and extracurricular activities.  Immediate interim action is not a presumption of guilt but designed to protect the student and the others.
      4. Based on the information obtained, MSASC will determine if an investigation is merited, or if the referral shall be maintained without further action. 
      5. If further investigation is merited, MSASC will conduct an investigation into the allegation(s), which will include an opportunity for the student to hear and respond.
      6. After conducting the investigation, MSASC will:
         1. Determine additional action is required in instances where the preponderance of the evidence supports the finding of violation. Examples of additional actions that may be taken by the MSASC include, but are not limited to:
         2. A required mention of the incident in the MSPE
         3. A behavioral mentoring contract with designated persons
         4. Require a repeat administration(s) of the Criminal Background Check or Urine Drug Screen required at matriculation (may modify the drug panel to assess for specific drugs)
         5. Require a fitness for duty evaluation
         6. Require the student to complete a chemical use assessment
         7. All actions available in the Academic Standing Policy
         8. Issue a No Finding Letter in instances where the preponderance of the evidence does not support the finding of a violation; or
      7. The student has the right to file a grievance in accordance with the grievance policy