First-Year Record Policy

Statement of Purpose

Georgetown University recognizes that students in their first-year of college may be learning to adjust to a new University and on-campus social environment.  This policy addresses students who may have had a lapse in judgment and/or decision-making during their first-year of college.  It encourages students to take responsibility for their decision-making by giving tangible benefits to those students who learn from their mistakes and demonstrate better decision-making throughout the remainder of their Georgetown career. 

Definitions

  1. Disciplinary Record:  A Disciplinary Record is created and maintained by the Office of Student Conduct when a student is found responsible for a violation of the Code of Student Conduct.
  2. First-Year Student:  A Georgetown University student in their first year of college.
  3. Internal Record:  An Internal Record is created and maintained within the Office of Student Conduct when an incident of alleged misconduct is referred to the Office of Student Conduct.

Disciplinary Records vs. Internal Records

Students are advised that potential employers or graduate schools may request information about a student’s Disciplinary Records at the University.  The Office of Student Conduct will only share information from a student’s Disciplinary Record with individuals from outside the University when it has received written consent from the student.

However, the Office of Student Conduct will not disclose the contents of its Internal Records with any individual outside of the University, except in cases permitted by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 and enumerated in the Georgetown University Bulletin.

Statement of Policy

When a first-year student is found in violation of the Code of Student Conduct, they will receive a Notice of Administrative Action that will detail sanctions that must be completed as a result of the violation(s).  Additionally, the Office of Student Conduct will create and maintain a Disciplinary Record regarding the student’s violation(s). 

Under certain circumstances, if a first-year student satisfactorily completes their sanctions on time and commits no other Code of Student Conduct violations during their time as a Georgetown University student, the Office of Student Conduct may maintain the student’s violation(s) as an Internal Record instead of as a Disciplinary Record.

Policy Provisions

The following provisions detail the circumstances which the Office of Student Conduct may maintain a first-year student’s Disciplinary Record as an Internal Record.

  1. This policy may only be applied once and only if a first-year student committed one of the following violations:
    • On-campus noise violations;
    • On-campus alcohol violations:
      • Possession or consumption of alcohol;
      • Possession or consumption of alcohol in an alcohol-free location;
      • Possession, or consumption of an open alcohol container in a public area;
      • Possession or use of alcohol-related paraphernalia.
  1. This policy may be applied if a first-year student violated more than one of the Code policies listed above, provided that:
    • the violations occurred during the same incident; and
    • the student did not also commit a Code violation that is not listed above.
  1. This policy may only be applied if a first-year student satisfactorily completes all sanctions on time that were issued as a result of their incident.
  1. Upon satisfactorily completing all sanctions, the student’s Disciplinary Record will be transferred to the Office of Student Conduct’s Internal Records.
    • If the student receives no other violation of any kind during their time as a student, their incident will remain in the Office of Student Conduct’s Internal Records.
    • If the student is found Responsible for any other violation of the Code during their time as a student, the Internal Record will be transferred back into their Disciplinary Record.