The Office of Community Standards will notify students about accountability processes by email through the Maxient system. Maxient is the most trusted provider for incident reporting and student conduct case management.

When our office sends an official notice, you will receive an email from “notifications[at]maxient.com.” The email will show the sender as a Mount Holyoke employee or office with their name followed by “(via Maxient).” It is important for you to know that this is an authentic email from the College. It is not spam or a phishing attempt.

In addition to a brief explanation, the body of the email will contain a link to your notification letter. You may be prompted to enter your 7 -digit Student ID (which is your MHC ID found on your OneCard minus the first and last digit) number to ensure the privacy of letters sent through the system. Once logged in to the Maxient portal, you can access your letter, which will be a PDF document. Print or download and save the letter for your records as this link is only active for a limited time. If you have difficulty accessing your letter in Maxient — or want to confirm the legitimacy of the email — contact us at community-standards@mtholyoke.edu.

An Administrative Meeting is your opportunity to share your account of the incident with a Conduct Administrator assigned to investigate/adjudicate the reported incident.

If you fail to respond to the Notice of Incident, you will be unable to share your prespective and a decision will be made in your absence.

A family member and/or attorney may attend any meeting/hearing as an advisor to support you through the process. Per the Student Handbook:

• Any student can have an advisor present during an administrative hearing or Honor Code Council Hearing.

• The advisor does not address the administrator or the panel during the hearing, nor do they speak on behalf of the student.

• Advisors may assist the student in preparing for an administrative hearing and provide support through the process.

• Advisors are not present to act as legal counsel, but to assist and support the student on procedural matters.

For a complete list of Student Care & Support Resources, please visit Care & Support page.

The Honor Code Council is consists of 7 students who are trained by the College to hear cases and determine whether or not a violation(s) of the Code of Conduct occurred. The Honor Code Council serves as the hearing board for student group conflict when a group’s constitution does not have procedures for managing conflict or is referred by the Office of Student Involvement.

While many College expectations of conduct parallel the laws of society in general, the College sets higher and more stringent standards than those found elsewhere in society. The College focuses primarily on educating students about their behavior, but may impose sanctions to preserve a safe and healthy environment for the College community. The College uses a preponderance of evidence (i.e., more likely than not) standard to make conduct decisions.

Parent/Guardian notification occurs with any health or safety risk, change in student status (such as hospitalization, arrest, a leave of absence) or high-level student conduct situation.

Your student conduct record is kept by the Community Standards Office and is separate from academic records.

Your conduct history is not released to any third party without your written permission. Graduate and professional schools, state bar associations, government agencies, and/or independent agencies may request a clearance to review your conduct history while attending Mount Holyoke College. The conduct office would only disclose sanctions of disciplinary probation and above to third parties.

Official conduct records are maintained for seven years from the date of the incident that led to the initiation of the community standards process. Suspension records are kept indefinitely.

Yes. The regulations contained in the Code of Conduct apply to student conduct that occurs at Mount Holyoke College, exchange programs, study aboard programs, on the grounds of the other four colleges within the Five College Consortium (Smith College, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and UMass Amherst), at any event sponsored by any of these institutions.

Since conduct cases are considered on an individual basis, there are no “typical sanctions” for specific violations. Sanctions and informal outcomes preserve individual and institutional integrity and, whenever possible and appropriate, help students to learn from their mistakes, repair harms, and regain their standing in the community. In determining sanction(s), the student’s present demeanor; past conduct record; the nature of the offense; the severity of any damage, disruption, injury, or harm resulting there from; and other factors may be considered.