This post was updated Feb. 18 at 11:38 p.m.
UCLA will no longer use a committee to evaluate student conduct decisions – except in specific cases – and will give students more time to appeal conduct decisions, according to new guidelines sent in a campuswide email Tuesday.
Monroe Gorden Jr., the vice chancellor for student affairs, and Jasmine JS Rush, the dean of students, announced the interim changes to the student conduct code in a Feb. 17 campuswide email. Gorden and Rush said the updated code has been effective since Jan. 1.
The student conduct committee, which is not mentioned in the new code, previously held hearings evaluating students’ responsibility in contested conduct cases before the dean of students issued a final decision. The previous code, last updated in 2021, said most students would have a student conduct committee hearing unless they admitted to the conduct violation before the hearing date.
The committee was a multi-member panel made up of faculty, staff, undergraduate students and graduate students appointed by the chancellor. The new code does not outline the student conduct committee and instead says an administrator will now decide on a case in most circumstances.
The new code says a panel – which will consist of five people maximum – will only be provided at the hearing if the director of the Office of Student Conduct finds it to be an exceptional circumstance. Otherwise, hearings will only consist of a singular hearing officer.
A student will also only have a hearing if the case reviewer gives the student a suspension or dismissal and if the student contests determination of responsibility in writing by the specified deadline.
“These changes establish a unified student conduct framework across all UC campuses and reaffirm our shared commitment to fairness, consistency and student learning,” Gorden and Rush said in the email.
The new code also allows the student’s case reviewer to consider a student’s answer to some questions but not others when assessing credibility. The previous code did not include this language.
The new code also formally introduces a Letter of Admonition – a notice the Dean will give to the accused student when their alleged behavior may have violated University policy or campus regulations – and an Agreement of Resolution, which is not a formal disciplinary action but a binding and specific, structured set of conditions that the student must agree to.
The new code states that a student’s suspension or dismissal must be posted on their academic transcript for the duration of the sanction.
The new code gives students more time to appeal their decisions, increasing the time frame from five to 10 days. Decision timelines will also take longer, with the new code introducing a general 90-day resolution target.
There are also updates regarding the use of artificial intelligence. The unauthorized use of artificial intelligence on school assignments will now qualify as cheating, according to the code.
The use of artificial intelligence to complete assignments – including ideas, words, designs or data – without proper attribution is prohibited and amounts to plagiarism, according to the new code.
Diego Bollo, the Undergraduate Students Association Council president, said the council is monitoring these changes.
Megan McEvoy, the chair of the Academic Senate, did not respond in time for a request to comment.
The changes will remain interim throughout the 2026 winter and spring quarters, with the UCLA Office of Student Conduct monitoring student, faculty and staff responses, Gorden and Rush said in the email.
“Together, these updates are intended to strengthen due process while encouraging reflection, growth and accountability – key components of student development,” Gorden and Rush said in the email.
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